Why Do You Young-ish Entrepreneurs/RE Investors Fail?

[Ola Dantis]

I cannot count how many times I've seen a post on BP from someone young-ish saying how they just want to quit college (or their job) and "jump" into Real Estate. When I see these posts my brain immediately chuckles (not me because I am a nice person, but my brain is kind of judgey).

As an entrepreneur, I feel like some people (young and old) cannot fully appreciate the level of commitment required to take on REI and be really successful at it.

Apparently, the facts are in: young entrepreneurs are more likely to fail than their older counterparts [Research: American Institute For Economic Research].Read more here: https://www.aier.org/article/its-a-disservice-to-urge-young-people-to-become-entrepreneurs/

Snippet from the article: "It turns out that succeeding in business is extremely difficult. It takes maturity above all else to achieve it."

QUESTION: Do you agree that younger RE Investors are more likely to fail than those starting at an older age? 

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

I love your hesitation to label a generation, @Steve Vaughan. There's way too much of that happening these days. At the end of the day, there are rock stars and crap bags in EVERY generation. There always has been, and there always will be. There are so many things that younger generations are doing better than older ones. I also agree that lack of capital and experience are factors. 

Naivety is also a factor. Younger people are more easily swayed by elders who, of course, tend to be more conservative. Entrepreneurship isn't secure or easy. Naturally, parent-figures are going to push their kids into college, which they believe is the safe route despite mounting evidence that's it's a financially poor move. 

Then you have the impatience produced by our Netflix-binging, Amazon-primed, bring-my-groceries-to-me society. Success in anything, especially entrepreneurship, doesn't typically happen fast. Social media, texting, and e-mail are great, but they're destroying our social and communication skills. Every time you order your pizza online rather than picking up the phone and dialing or, heaven forbid, pick it up in person, you miss out on an opportunity to interact with other human beings. And sadly, that's something all generations will need to practice doing more and more.