I wrote this post in 2020, about six months after going live with Seep. I said, "who knows how this is going to go" and meant it entirely. I also said this post might quickly disappear. It didn't, and neither did I, so here's the updated version for anyone who's sitting on an idea and wondering if they've left it too late.
Recognise that entrepreneurship is for everyone
When I went to university in the 90s, the dream was a graduate scheme at a bank or a law firm. Entrepreneurship felt like something for people who lived by the seat of their pants, or for young people with nothing to lose. I had serious founder envy, but convinced myself it wasn't for me.What changed my mind, before I even had an idea, was reading that the average age of the most successful founders is actually 45. It sounds counterintuitive until you think about it properly. You've spent decades building a network, developing instincts and making enough mistakes to know what to avoid. That's not a disadvantage; that's exactly what a business needs.
Savour and use the disruptive moments
In mid-life, many of us are so locked into careers, mortgages and the hope of the next promotion that it becomes nearly impossible to stop and ask what we actually want. I'll say this more plainly than I did in 2020: my cancer diagnosis and treatment a few years before Seep launched was the moment that forced me to stop and look at what I wanted to do with the rest of my working life. It was also what gave me the confidence to do it. If life disrupts you and you have the chance to use that time wisely, take it.
Soak up some inspiration
A lot of people know they want to do something different but have no idea what. I was encouraged to not rush into anything but to steep my brain in lots of different things with no real agenda: meeting founders, investors, charities, advisors, people doing interesting work in all sorts of fields. As someone who plans everything, this was genuinely uncomfortable. But when my brain finally relaxed, the idea came, and once it arrived I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Find an idea that you think you can boss
My idea came to me in a supermarket. I like to shop sustainably and one aisle just wasn't working for me. On one side, the detergents and sprays, with some decent eco alternatives and a few exciting challenger brands. On the other side, the plastic accessories: sponges, cloths, dustpan and brushes, bin liners. Completely untouched. No design, no sustainability angle, nothing that felt remotely like it belonged to a conscious consumer. I couldn't understand why nobody had done anything about it.Then I waited for someone else to fix it. I scoured websites, shops, Kickstarter campaigns, demo days and found nothing. And then I realised that if someone else were to do it and succeeded, I'd be genuinely gutted. That's when I knew it was mine to try.
Take the pressure off and enjoy it
Five years in, I can tell you that not enough founders talk about what actually goes wrong. Nobody's journey is as smooth as it looks from the outside, so try not to compare your reality to someone else's highlight reel. There have been weeks where I've driven over 1,000 miles, had boxes of sponges collapse onto the drive of a Premier Inn in the rain, and wondered what on earth I was doing. There have also been moments I couldn't have imagined in 2020: becoming a B Corp, appearing on Dragons' Den, getting a listing in Tesco, receiving support from Deborah Meaden and Trinny Woodall, getting Seep into over 100,000 homes and helping people make a switch that matters.
What I loved, and still love, about founding in my 40s is that you're accountable only to yourself and to the instincts you've spent years sharpening. The decision-making muscle you've built over a long career carries you through more than you'd expect.
So here, five years on, is my continued ode to mid-life entrepreneurship. It's not always glamorous. But it's absolutely worth it.
