"I should not have left my job at 36 to start a company." That sentence sounds strange at first. Most people expect me to say I should have stayed in my stable job longer. Instead, I think I should have left earlier, around 30. The job was not bad. It paid well and the team was great. It gave me financial stability, and valuable experience that still influences the way I lead today as a health tech leader. But stability can quietly limit your growth. It feels comfortable. It feels safe. But without realizing it, you stop stretching yourself. Your salary grows steadily, your routine becomes predictable, and your confidence comes from familiarity rather than new challenges. I regret staying in a place long after it had taught me everything it could.

If you are wondering whether it's the right time to start your own business, switch careers, or build something you have always dreamed about, this is what my journey taught me.

Why Starting Earlier Matters

If I had started building my company around the age of 30 instead of 36, several things would have been different.

More Time Before Major Uncertainty:

Business is unpredictable. There will always be market changes, economic downturns, unexpected competition and global events that nobody sees coming. Starting earlier would have given me a longer runway before facing major disruptions like COVID. Those extra years could have been spent experimenting, testing ideas, improving products, and making smaller mistakes before larger challenges arrived. Anyone can make mistakes. The goal is not to avoid them. It's to only make them while the stakes are still manageable.

You Take Risks Differently:

Age changes how you think about uncertainty. At 30, you are generally more willing to explore opportunities. You are comfortable trying different ideas, open to changing direction and you don't expect immediate success because you know you have time to recover. By 36, life looks different. Financial responsibilities increase, family expectations grow, and every business decision suddenly feels heavier because more people depend on its outcome. The willingness to take bold risks naturally decreases. That does not mean you can't build something successful later in life. It simply means that the emotional and financial weight of each decision becomes much greater.

Waiting Was Not Completely Wrong

I don't believe waiting was a mistake. Those six additional years gave me something I could not have learned anywhere else. It gave me clarity. By the time I started my company, I understood the industry much better. I had learned from experienced leaders. I understood what good management looked like and what poor leadership looked like. All of that became incredibly useful once I became responsible for making decisions myself. It's easy to criticize management when you are an employee. It's much harder when you are the one responsible for strategy hiring, and long-term survival. Corporate experience gave me context. It helped me avoid mistakes I probably would have made much earlier.

People often ask me whether I regret starting late. I don't. My only regret is staying after the learning had stopped. Every workplace teaches you something. Some teach technical skills. Some teach leadership. But there comes a point where you are no longer growing. You are simply repeating what you already know. That's usually the signal that it is time for a new challenge. The important thing is recognizing when growth has slowed.

Signs You Might Be Ready for Something Bigger

Many people wait for the perfect moment. Instead of looking for certainty, pay attention to these signs:

• You have stopped learning new skills.
• Your work feels repetitive despite promotions.
• You constantly think about solving problems outside your current role.
• Fear of staying the same feels greater than fear of change.
• You are already preparing yourself financially and mentally for uncertainty.

Starting something new is not easy. You may feel like you are too young or maybe too old. People start with curiosity, learn as they built and improve one decision at a time.

My early corporate career gave me knowledge, discipline and perspective that still shape how I think today. Whether your next chapter is entrepreneurship, leadership, freelancing, or a completely different career, do not stay somewhere simply because it is comfortable. And if you are struggling with where to begin, remember that you don't have to quit tomorrow, or have to have every answer. You simply have to start moving toward the future you want before comfort convinces you that waiting is the safer choice. Because years from now, you probably would not regret taking a thoughtful risk. You will regret the opportunities you never gave yourself the chance to pursue.

Are you struggling with starting out currently?