One Size Does Not Fit All: Uncovering Older Entrepreneur Diversity through Motivations, Emotions and Mentoring Needs

Policymakers and scholars have increasingly drawn attention to the growing challenges emerging from the ageing of populations, particularly in advanced economies (OECD 2006; Finlayson 2009; Platman 2003; Weber and Shaper 2004; Wainwright and Kibler 2014). In the British context, one of the more visible policy interventions has been to increase the state pensionable age (SPA), in addition to promoting the extension of people’s working lives through the removal of ageist legislation and the implementation of the 2010 Equality Act (BIS 2011). Scholars have also observed how governments, particularly in Anglo-American economies, have started to transfer retirement planning from the state, placing more responsibility upon individuals to plan their financial activities and secure a comfortable retirement (Langley 2006; Finlayson 2009). While these interventions can be viewed as a reaction to manage the increased costs associated with ageing populations (Morris and Mallier 2003), working in retirement age beyond the SPA often brings difficulties to older employees who can face age-related discrimination in organisations (Porcellato et al. 2010), in addition to health problems (Black 2008) and the need to meet caring responsibilities (Walker et al. 2007).