A lot of people view being young in business as a disadvantage . It’s easy to see why, especially being involved in a business to business (B2B) company. Walking into a room full of older business owners who are twice your age who, before you have even met them, are already sceptical is not fun for the first time. It sucks. It can make you re-think every life decision up until that point, at least initially. However, your age can actually play to your benefit in this situation, as well as in other business scenarios. In this post, I’ll be talking about the various ways in which this is true, referring to my own experiences throughout.
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People underestimate you
The best part about the scenario above is when you pinpoint the exact moment that you’ve just blown away their pre-conceived misconceptions about you and seeing their smile as they realise that you know what you’re talking about. Honestly, this is a feeling like no other. It’s like a drug. Once you’ve tried it once, you can’t get enough. What’s better than an addictive drug which fuels your success?
Now at a glance, people underestimating you definitely sounds like a negative. But hear me out. The great thing about people underestimating you is that once you’ve blown them away, they’re infinitely more impressed by your offering, leading to a higher likelihood of a sale, although this is obviously a biased opinion. They aren’t expecting to be blown away by such a young person which just makes you look even better and even more knowledgeable in your industry.
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People are more willing to help you
When you’re young, people are much more willing to take time out of their day to help you. This is incredibly useful when asking for advice. This is helpful when adopting the approach I discussed in my new post in regards to learning from second hand experience through Reddit with the exception that this benefit allows us to experience this first hand through others. Older people who have already experienced everything you’re experiencing or may experience love to be of help and give you advice.
However, remember that advice is subjective. Advice from someone may go against the advice given to you by another. I use the example here of my personal statement when applying to University. I went to three different teachers for suggested changes to my initial draft. Every single one of them said something different. Take this out. Put this in. The number of contradictions were ridiculous. I soon realised the same could be said for advice as a whole, especially in business.
Therefore, it is important to ultimately use your own judgement. People, no matter how much you look up to them, do not have all the answers. I personally view advice like a Sat Nav (hear me out). Would you mindlessly follow the directions of your Sat Nav without first looking at where it’s taking you? What if it was taking you down a wrong turn? Would you still listen regardless and take the wrong turn? I didn’t think so. The exact same can be said for advice. Yes, it can be extremely helpful, but at the same time you should still think for yourself and consider the best course of action.
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You are more willing to adapt
This is especially true in regards to technology. Many family run businesses are yet to jump on the internet bandwagon. Often, this is the result of old and stubborn business owners who refuse to adapt to the already changed times. They fail to see the benefit of social media marketing. They fail to see the benefit of having a website. Rather, they rely on old school advertising methods like radio and newspaper. 9/10 times, especially for smaller business, such marketing efforts are ineffective and inefficient in regards to ROI. They are difficult to track and cannot be scaled as the business grows. This failure to adapt costs businesses money, both in terms of missed sales and the large costs of these more traditional forms of marketing.
But you’re different. You’re young and you’re hopefully not stubborn. You’ve grown up with this technology and you know how it works. You’d be surprised at how many business owners know nothing about fairly basic marketing channels like Facebook targeted ads and Google Adwords. If you want to get an edge in the business marketplace, I would suggest learning these basic, yet highly effective forms of advertising. Even if you do not currently have your own business, you’ll no doubt impress employers with this knowledge.
As you get older, remember these business owners who were older than you not understanding seemingly basic technological advancements like social media. Don’t be like this. Ever.
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You provide a new perspective
There are many people in the workforce who have remained in the same industry for 20 years or more. During this time, people often get complacent. They adopt certain attitudes leading to an anti-innovation stance.
“That’s just how we do it”.
Anytime someone says this, I can guarantee that there is a much more effective and efficient method of doing the same task. A fresh perspective of things, something which you can provide, can help identify these faults and thus gives room for innovation.
But how can the same apply for starting your own business? Well, the principles are the same. In a marketplace that has been around for a while, a general “that’s just how we do it” consensus can exist. Identifying these when starting a new business in such a marketplace is vital and serves as a way to differentiate yourself from the competition. Consider how this will impact your value proposition in the form of such things as quicker lead times or lower costs and make this clear to potential customers.