Being an entrepreneur is liberating, fun, exciting, but at times it can also be lonely, quite frightening and tough. According to Forbes the reality is that 90% of startups fail and the pressure is a real and ever present risk which bears down on every founder.

Many entrepreneurs are young, optimistic and bright eyed going into this knowing the risks and being prepared to take them. Some more established and dare I say “older” would-be entrepreneurs worry about their pensions, their kids, their mortgages and never make the leap of faith to move from employment to start up entrepreneurship. Let’s face it, If everything goes wrong its really hard to get back onto the career ladder later in life.

My co-founder, Karen, and I set up Collaborative Conveyancing to use natural language processing and AI in the home moving process. We aren’t your typical entrepreneurs, we aren’t based in London, we aren’t in our 20’s and we are not experts in technology. But as 50 something old entrepreneurs we have had a series of successes and failures over the years including building and selling quite a successful business. I still feel the pressure of failure now as much as I ever have.

Joining Geovation in London is a busy open plan office, with a young vibe and modern flexible approach to work and learning. Yes its got a lot of younger people in the hub but that doesn’t mean older entrepreneurs shouldn’t apply or don’t get benefits.
Geovation brings all those things you’d hope for early investment, a base in London for meetings, relationships with HMLR and OS, but it also brings a community of people that you can ask questions of, training and introductions to experts where you might have gaps. For example, one training session provided by Geovation introduced us to an expert in fund raising and that session significantly changed my views on raising finance. Following this we raised money from grants and individuals which powered the business forward.

Whilst we are not the typical start up in Geovation we have learnt and developed significantly from the Geovation programme and I have no doubt we are a better business for applying and being given the chance. Whatever your location, experience or perspective to risk, the Geovation programme will help you improve your chances of success.