Freelance and Solo Business: How to Find Your Strengths from Your Experience After 50

I am Akihiro Saito, and I support the creation of business systems using videos and help increase sales. On note, I share content about solo business, philosophy, psychology, and more.

When you try to start a freelance or solo business in your 50s, there is a wall that many people hit.

That is,

"I don't have any special strengths."

This is a common assumption.

When you look around, it seems like there are many people who are active as experts or have notable achievements.

On the other hand, when you look back on your own life,

"I've just been working normally," "There's nothing I can teach others," "I don't have any qualifications or special success stories."

You might feel that way.

However, in reality, in many cases, it is not that you lack strengths.

It is just that you are not aware of your own strengths.

Strengths are hidden in what you take for granted

When people try to find their strengths, many start looking for special abilities.

Experience of being number one in the country. A track record of generating large sales. Difficult qualifications. A glamorous career.

Of course, those are also strengths.

However, for a solo business starting in your 50s, such special achievements are not necessarily required.

Rather, what becomes valuable is,

"Things that were taken for granted by you"

.

For example,

・Being able to listen carefully to others
・Being able to explain complex things in an easy-to-understand way
・Being able to work steadily over many years
・Being good at facilitating smooth interpersonal relationships
・Being good at organizing problems

Because these things are second nature to the person themselves, they are difficult to recognize.

However, from the perspective of others, they can be of great value.

Looking back on your past work

A recommended way to find your strengths is to take stock of your professional life.

Please try to recall the work you have experienced so far.

Among those,

“Things you were often asked to do”
“Things you were evaluated for”
“Things you were thanked for”

Try writing these down.

What is important here is not your position or job title.

It is your specific actions.

For example,

If you were in sales,

・You were good at new business development
・You were good at building relationships with existing clients
・You were good at handling complaints

Even in the same sales role, your strengths are completely different.

If you were in an administrative role,

・You can process things accurately without mistakes
・You are good at business improvement
・Your document creation is easy to understand

and so on.

If you focus on “what kind of contribution you made” rather than the content of the work, your strengths will become visible.

There is value in the experiences you struggled with

Your greatest asset in your 50s is not just your success stories.

It is, in fact, your experiences with failure and hardship.

What were struggles when you were younger have become great lessons when you look back on them now.

For example,

・Repeatedly changing jobs
・Struggling with interpersonal relationships
・Quitting a company
・Seeing sales decline
・Struggling to balance work and family life

These experiences are extremely valuable to those who are currently in the midst of them.

This is because people empathize more with personal stories than with theory.

There are words that only someone who has experienced the same troubles can convey.

In fact, many instructors and consultants turn the experiences they have overcome into value.

Remembering what others have said to you

Others often see strengths that you might not notice yourself.

If you don't know what your strengths are,

「What do you think my strengths are?」

is also recommended to ask people around you.

When you ask friends, colleagues, or family,

「Easy to talk to」
「Easy to consult with」
「Good at explaining」
「Provides a sense of security」

you might be told about characteristics you hadn't realized yourself.

In reality, the reasons you are chosen in business are not limited to specialized knowledge.

Your personality and the sense of security you provide are also of great value.

When you reach your 50s, your life experience itself becomes a source of trust.

Strengths become valuable when combined

You don't need to think about your strengths as just one thing.

In fact, combining multiple strengths creates uniqueness.

For example,

Sales experience × Parenting experience

Accounting experience × Side hustle experience

Caregiving experience × Coaching

Management experience × Communication skills

By combining them in this way, your own unique value is born.

There is no need to compare yourself to others.

This is because the combination of experiences you have built up in your life is one of a kind in the world.

From your 50s, experience becomes an asset

When you are young, you can compete with knowledge and physical strength.

However, it is different from your 50s onwards.

Life experience itself becomes a weapon.

The path you have walked so far.
The walls you have overcome.
The knowledge you have learned.
The people you have met.

All of that becomes the foundation for your future business.

"I don't have any strengths"

If you think that, please stop for a moment and look back on your past.

There, you have the experience you have built up over decades.

And that experience can be a hint to solving someone else's problems.

What you really need for a solo business after 50 is not to search around for something new.

It is to realize what you already possess.

Your strengths are not somewhere in the future, but are lying dormant within your life so far.

When you can articulate that experience as value, your business after 50 will begin to move forward significantly.