Being a Millennial, Learning Online Marketing, and Building a Business at 40

There is a version of entrepreneurship that social media loves to show.

The founder who quits their job.

The overnight success story.

The person working from a beach somewhere after building a six-figure business in six months.

For most people, that isn’t reality.

The reality is finishing your day job at 5pm, making dinner, answering emails at 8pm, building a website at 10pm, and wondering if anyone will ever buy what you’re creating.

As I write this, I’m approaching 40.

As a millennial, I’ve watched the rise of social media, online marketing, influencers, side hustles, and now AI. In theory, there has never been more information available to help someone start a business. In practice, there has never been more noise. Learning what to listen to, what to ignore, and what actually works in the real world has been a journey in itself.

I work full-time as a Second Vice President at Northern Trust while also building Tech Media Éire, a business focused on helping Irish organisations use AI, Microsoft 365, and technology more effectively.

There are days when it feels exciting.

There are also days when it feels exhausting.

The truth is that building a business while working a 9-to-5 requires a very different mindset from the entrepreneurship stories we often see online.

The Bills Still Need to Be Paid

One of the biggest advantages of keeping your full-time job is financial stability.

The mortgage still gets paid.

The electricity bill still gets paid.

You don’t have to make desperate business decisions simply because you need money next week.

That stability gives you something many new businesses don’t have: time.

Time to learn.

Time to make mistakes.

Time to refine your offer.

Time to discover what customers actually want instead of what you think they want.

For me, that has been invaluable.

Tech Media Éire has changed significantly since it launched. Had I relied on it as my sole source of income from day one, I might never have had the opportunity to evolve the business into what it is becoming today.

The Hardest Part Isn’t the Work

Most people assume the hardest part is finding the time.

It isn’t.

The hardest part is managing your expectations.

You quickly realise that progress often feels painfully slow.

You might spend weeks creating something that nobody buys.

You might publish content that barely gets seen.

You might attend networking events where nothing appears to happen.

But then, months later, a conversation turns into an opportunity.

A blog gets discovered.

A referral arrives unexpectedly.

Someone you’ve never met says they’ve been following your work.

Business growth is rarely as linear as social media makes it appear.

Experience Becomes Your Advantage

One thing I’ve learned is that turning 40 isn’t a disadvantage.

It’s often an advantage.

By this stage, you’ve likely worked with people, solved problems, managed challenges, and built expertise that simply didn’t exist when you were 25.

The challenge isn’t acquiring more knowledge.

It’s recognising the value of the knowledge you already have.

Many people spend years becoming experts in something and never realise that expertise can help others.

In my case, years spent improving processes, simplifying workflows, and helping teams communicate more effectively became the foundation for a business.

The skills were already there.

The business simply gave them a new home.

When I launched Tech Media Éire, I certainly didn’t have all the answers. I was learning SEO, content creation, website design, social media marketing, AI tools, and sales at the same time. Some things worked. Plenty didn’t. There were days I questioned whether anyone would ever find my website or read my content. But every lesson, every mistake, and every small win moved the business forward a little further than the day before.

There Is No Perfect Time

If you’re waiting for the perfect time to start a business, you’ll probably be waiting forever.

Life is busy.

Work is demanding.

Families need attention.

There will always be reasons to postpone it.

What I’ve learned is that businesses aren’t built in giant leaps.

They’re built in small, consistent actions repeated over months and years.

One blog post.

One client conversation.

One improvement to your website.

One lesson learned.

Then another.

And another.

My Advice

If you’re approaching 40, working a full-time job, and thinking about starting something of your own, don’t compare your journey to someone else’s highlight reel.

You don’t need to quit your job tomorrow.

You don’t need investors.

You don’t need a huge following.

You don’t need everything figured out.

You just need to start.

Small steps taken consistently over time are far more powerful than grand plans that never leave the notebook.

Tech Media Éire is still growing.

I’m still learning.

I’m still balancing a career and a business.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned so far, it’s this:

You are not behind.

You’re simply building something while carrying responsibilities that younger versions of yourself may never have had to consider.

And that takes courage.

More courage than most people realise.

And one day, you’ll look back and realise those small steps were building something much bigger than you thought.