Entrepreneur Series – Get to know Mike Minett of The Positive Ageing Company
May 3, 2016
Positive Ageing is a business and online platform consciously and proactively dedicated to helping make ageing work better for everyone. Positive Ageing is not just any old business though, it is a movement created specifically to a need that each and every individual person faces in life… ageing. We had the privilege of sitting down with Mike Minett, Managing Director at Positive Ageing to discuss what it takes to be an entrepreneur and what keeps him motivated to keep going, even through adversity.
- What is your definition of an “entrepreneur”?
My definition would be “a creative business person”. If an entrepreneur wants to succeed I believe these three characteristics should be innate: determination, resilience and positivity.
- What was the idea behind the dawn of Positive Ageing?
My Mother worked in the ageing care, in Australia, for over 20 years and so as a family we grew up around the whole ageing, elderly care and mature space. She used to share her experiences and we also saw great ways families were going about it. My mum was always so proactive about this particular area so I think we followed suit. On the back of that, my brother pushed her to write a book about her experiences and it was basically 297 tips to help your family on their journey to ageing for health and well-being etc. During the time of this book being written, my brother and I were working in London in the Financial and Investment Banking sector. We noticed that many of our colleagues, who were already busily tending to their kids and family, were now involved in the lives and decisions their ageing parents and/or grandparents. It was adding such a huge layer of stress to their already busy worlds and we realised that there was space in the market to help these people on this particular journey. We were led by example from our mother and continued to build Positive Ageing to help employees get awareness of, understand and manage either their own ageing parents, grandparents or even maybe a partner. That was it; problem and solution.
- What makes Positive Ageing unique?
I’m going to say this statement quite boldly. At the moment we are the only start-up focused on “the challenge”, and what makes us unique is whilst we acknowledge the challenge, there is also a lot of opportunity at play and it is that positive and proactive approach, prevention being better than cure, early awareness that makes us different. Care providers or care support systems only care once something bad has happened. We try and get in so much earlier so that if you are aware of something happening, you can facilitate the prevention of it or if/when it does happen, you can deal with the problem at hand with a lot less stress than you would if you didn’t have these tools.
- Looking back, what’s one thing you would do differently?
I would have held more of the original equity.
- What piece of advice would you give to anyone considering starting their own business?
Tread carefully. Most people who are in a 9-5 job have dreams of owning and starting their own business but it takes a special breed of cat to be able to create, build and run a business. It most certainly is not for everyone or everyone would be doing it. There are people out there who are better suited to hold a regular, organised and secure job as opposed to jumping into the topsy-turvy world of entrepreneurship. Another fact that every start up entrepreneur should know is the reality that not all businesses go on to be the success that you had hoped for. Building and running a business brings a lot of stress in all areas of your life and in most cases, with little or no reward, during or at the end. However if you understand all of that, believe in the purpose of your business and go into it with open eyes, you can build something phenomenal for you and your family.
- What has been the biggest challenge or pitfall with Positive Ageing? How did you overcome this?
For all the wrong reasons “ageing” is considered a taboo and dirty word. Getting over this stereotype and breaking through and overcoming people’s perception of that word and the negativity that comes along with it has been our biggest challenge thus far. We are big on knowing and helping people understand that it is actually a word that binds us altogether and we can’t actually get away from it so why not look at and treat age differently rather than do what most of us do which is avoid it and hope it goes away. We hope to change people’s attitude to the concept of age.
- Have you ever thought about giving up and going back to the conventional 9pm-5pm field? What motivates you to carry on when you experience those days?
Yes, those days pop up a lot of the time along the journey and you start to question and doubt yourself and your abilities and whether the magnitude of starting a business is worth the trials that come with it are worth it. You just have to keep checking back to why you started the business in the first place. Go back to your original goals and plans and remember all the reasons you decided to start the business in the beginning. I wrote a book about Corporate escape; a book about following your personal dreams, leaving the corporate world behind. My personal dream was to always own, build and run my own business and I reached a point in my life where I thought, “If I don’t do it now, I probably never will!” And that became a promise to myself to make it happen and simply prove to myself that I could. As it happened, I could do it, I did do it and I learned along the way of how to do it better. There is something both magical and fun about having control over your dreams and destiny (good, bad or otherwise).
- Who/what inspires you?
Fellow business owners because I know the struggle and adversity that comes with it. I know how dedicated they must have been and are to pursue something that not many people do. I am also inspired by women in leadership, it’s not a subject talked about very often but I know and have experienced first-hand how challenging it is for them. As a Father of 3 daughters, it is something I am definitely conscious of.
- What’s one book everyone should read?
Apart from my book *laughs* – pretty much anything by Dan Kennedy.
- Something you do on a not-so-positive day.
It’s all about my girls. I have an 11, 5, and 1 year old so I am very lucky. They all run to the door when I walk in and very quickly I leave whatever bad day I’ve had behind to get re-energised for the next.
- To what do you attribute your success?
Supportive family and my curiosity and drive.
- What’s the biggest thing you struggle with as an entrepreneur?
Lack of time.
- What did you learn from the worst boss you’ve ever had?
How not to treat people.
- What did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a businessman. I didn’t necessarily know what business but I knew I wanted to be a business owner.
- If you could be anyone in the world, for a day, who would you be?
Barack Obama; one of the most powerful men in the world.
- Best piece of business advice you have ever been given/taught or read?
Work to a plan, and instead of “ready, aim, fire” turn that upside down to “aim, fire, ready” so rather than taking your time to get ready, to then aim and then fire to miss, believe in yourself to just go for it and deal with the consequences later. Reload, relearn and re-aim.
- One thing you do every day to stay positive?
At family dinner time, we go around the table and everyone has a turn to share something nice that happened that day. There is a shift in the atmosphere when you consciously dedicate time to focus on the positive rather than negative side of things.
- Favourite quote
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.” – William Edward Hickson
- Who would you most like to have dinner with and why?
My wife. Being an entrepreneur and parents to 3 kids means we don’t have much time for date nights. So, if I could take anyone out to dinner it would be her because she absolutely deserves that and much, much more. It is difficult pursuing your goals that you are completely dedicated to as well as managing time for personal relationships. However when you view something as a priority, you will always find a way. It is in the little things that make the biggest difference.
- What was your favourite subject at school?
History.
- What’s one thing you would want people to know about Positive Ageing?
I would want people to know that this is only the beginning. We have a lot of exciting ventures and opportunities up our sleeves. The best is yet to come.
You can purchase Mike Minett’s book, “Follow Me Out the Door” here.
