Smart Senior Entrepreneurship - AAL program

Nifu's task in the project was to make an overview of previous findings about seniors and their contribution to entrepreneurship and summarize the role of networks related to entrepreneurship, based on previous studies. Literature was mainly peer-reviewed articles in the Web of science, supplemented by national reports and the annual GEM, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, in which Norway is represented. Included interviews conducted by SSP. Methodology: Literature was mainly peer-reviewed articles in the Web of science, supplemented by national reports and the annual GEM, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, in which Norway is represented. Included interviews conducted by SSP. • Literature search on: • «entrepreneurship» + «age» • entrepreneurship + traits, entrepreneurs + characteristics and entrepreneurship + personality • entrepreneurship + network What do we know about seniors as entrepreneurs: • Many examples show that they are more altruistic than younger entrepreneurs • Many do not have ambitions for growth • Many people use experience from previous work • Most have well-developed networks Seniors as mentors: • There is little research on this topic, but from studies on seniors in working life, we know a lot about what they can offer: • Long work experience with a lot of practical knowledge • Have seen both good and bad times before • Most people have developed the ability to communicate • Most people have experience of developing relationships with new people • Many have better finances and do not have high income requirements What role does networks play for startups: • Many studies of the importance of personal networks • Classic study of Saxony in 1994 on entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley • Many people use networks to gather information about: - Finance and investors - The market and possible competitors - To find partners • Some are active in professional networks, many use family and friends • Network participants vary by location • NB those who succeed are ACTIVE in networks • Little research on the use of digital networks in connection with entrepreneurship Findings from workshops with seniors: • Believes that it is exciting with start-ups • Many are unsure of what they can offer, beyond their professional knowledge • Believes that the younger ones are better at technology • Admits that they know many people and can find answers fairly quickly • Knows a number of pitfalls and has learned from his mistakes • Believes that younger entrepreneurs: • Takes too many chances • Do things without thinking first • Is too confident Findings from workshops with startups: • Everyone needs information and understands that it can be found in different places • Most people believe that seniors have something to offer • Believes that seniors can find alternative solutions "always find a good Plan B" Conclusions: • There should be potential for seniors to act as mentors for entrepreneurs • Necessary with arenas to get in touch with seniors • Seniors must receive good information about the opportunities and what is expected • It is important to have good routines for collecting relevant information from seniors about what they can offer (it is not certain that seniors are aware of the value of their knowledge) • Good routines for collecting information from start-ups about what they need • Should be potential for a digital solution, but important to monitor usage and adjust as needed. • Important support related to the use of the solution • Since there is so little research on how digital tools can support connections between seniors and entrepreneurs, it will be valuable to research more and develop methods to measure the success criteria for networking measures of the type tested in the Smart SE project.

Project results: - We organized 2 workshops focusing on older adults and startups in each of the 4 pilot countries resulting in a total of 8 user workshops in addition to the survey - As described in WP 1, our scientific achievement is NIFUs literature review on seniors and entrepreneurs, with inclusion of the results from our workshops identifying needs & pains for seniors and startups. In addition to review of earlier studies and discussion of networking seniors to start-ups - Presentation of findings during the FOSA conference 2022 by NIFU - As described in WP 3, the end-user services developed during the course of the project is the Proof of Concept. This is a website offering minimum functions to validate the market needs. PoC here: https://www.wizework.com/ - The POC and testing in the 4 pilot countries had 288 unique visitors, but only achieved a 19% conversation rate - We organized 2 virtual and physical networking events during the pilot project - Developed a market insight study together with Ernst & Young exploring how the POC could drive value in the development sector including business model strategy, Go2Market strategy etc. Read report here ( Recommendations developed with EY and Interview list) - We think the learnings are the biggest output of the project and that the website is a result of the learning. There have been many learning points acquired ranging from regional insight around opportunities and challenges to user insight and Go2market strategy in the different countries. See below Key project learnings Validation: The main assumption is validated: seniors and startups can add value to each other and both groups recognise that - Both groups have difficulties finding each other - A digital matchmaking tool could be of value - The test results show that services provide and services needed seem to match - Also the desired type of collaboration is more or less aligned - This would imply that there is good reason to continue the project and take it to the phase Challenges: - However, we learned that there are also a few challenges - It takes quite a lot of effort to reach the seniors target group, make them aware of the opportunities of working with startups and activate them to engage in the matchmaking

People enter the workforce later in life, live longer, and seniors in growing numbers wish to contribute professionally to society for the second half of their life. As lifetime increases, there is also a growing need for seniors to stay longer active in work life, whilst keeping their skills up to date and using their lifelong domain expertise and network. Smart senior entrepreneurship has a goal to mobilise, facilitate and enable older adults into entrepreneurship. Through cooperation with the startup system which need the brain power, and involvement in their own or other young companies, we aim to encourage a flexible healthy ageing by utilising senior resources in entrepreneurship. Our project will develop a proof of concept for a digital solution for matchmaking of senior competence to the needs of start-ups, in cooperation with relevant business and end-user stakeholders from 4 European countries. The overall aim is to create awareness of senior core values, competence, skills and passion and how to transform these into sustainable business ideas by offering seniors a low threshold and motivate, facilitate and strengthen senior entrepreneurship.