The Pursuit of Entrepreneurial Initiatives at the "Silver" Age: From the Lens of Malaysian Silver Entrepreneurs

The growing literature in entrepreneurship suggests that the number of small businesses created and operated by silver (mature) entrepreneurs have a longer life span, and are generally more successful, than ventures managed by their younger counterparts. This is a phenomenon that the literature primarily attributes to various age-related advantages, such as the ability to accrue greater commercial experience, more personal networks and experience, and greater personal financial resources that can be used to fund the venture, thus leads to the inclination of the mature professionals to switch into entrepreneurial activities at a later stage in their career. This research aims to unlock the motivation of silver entrepreneurs in Malaysia with a specific focus on comprehending the internal and external factors that affect their intentions to start new ventures. A sample of ten Malaysian entrepreneurs participated in this study. A series of interviews were conducted among these entrepreneurs to probe into their motives and outlook on starting their own ventures. Reflecting on the typology of mature entrepreneurs as identified in the literature namely, constrained, rational and reluctant, the result indicates that the entrepreneurs interviewed could be categorised as rational entrepreneurs in which the main drivers for them to journey into entrepreneurial terrain are related to progression of their career, a way to increase personal wealth, for family security, opportunity recognition and the pursuit of a more balanced life. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.