Home » Culture » "You're never too old to start again" So says a later-life tech innovator

"You're never too old to start again" So says a later-life tech innovator

by Startacus Admin

"You're never too old to start again" - so says David Morgan who at 56 went from unemployed to developing his first App - A Job Tracker for the unemployed...

At 56 after a period of unemployment, I managed to get funding via the government New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) startup scheme. This pays me £65 for 13 weeks, then £33 for 13 weeks. I also obtained a loan from CWRT at a reasonable rate of 6% with a low start repayment plan. I have used this funding to learn a computer language called Livecode to develop mobile phone applications. To get the NEA funding and the loan I had to develop a detailed Business Plan with a cash flow forecast.

Having spent the last six months completing job seeking records to provide to my Jobcentre Plus adviser my first thoughts were how to help unemployed people. As there are 2.4 million unemployed people, and according to DWP’s own statistics 90% have a mobile phone. I felt this was a sizeable market to provide a useful mobile app to. Possibly 1 million Android phone users.

So five weeks into my training I have developed a first ‘proper’ app – called A Job Tracker. [I did build a test demo sales slider]. The

massive effort to create such an app is almost beyond explanation as it involves jumping through all sorts of technological hoops that even young developers struggle to achieve. So you could imagine at 56 how difficult it is to enter into this area for a first time. Probably the same odds as me winning a Wimbledon final against Andy Murray.

The idea of A Job Tracker is very simple. It aims to help unemployed people keep good records of job seeking activities and therefore avoid losing their job seekers allowance and other benefits – so called sanctions. The App lets unemployed users enter: the date for the activity, the method of job seeking with a description of the activity and its results - building a profile of their activities over 2 weeks before signing on. Failure to keep good job seeking records leads to sanctions for a high percentage of unemployed job seekers and can result in a loss of benefits ranging from 4 weeks to 3 years.

So spending a few minutes every day with A Job Tracker can save ‘diligent’ unemployed people from a life of extreme poverty or even homelessness. I like to think of the App as job-seeking-brain-training. The app forces you to view everything you’ve done that fortnight and judge whether you’ve done ‘enough’ to try to get a job and convince the Jobcentre Plus ‘coach’ who effectively approves your benefit payment. It also lets you develop a plan for the next two weeks – so you can complete the paper work plan diary every unemployed person is given to complete before signing on . Another benefit of using A Job Tracker is it helps unemployed people keep track of the date by entering activities each day. A lot of unemployed people complain about drifting, losing track of time.

With the NEA scheme you are racing against time to succeed. You don’t have the luxury of a cushion of money from a previous job and you have a new loan to repay with the risk of losing the small benefit you get weekly. It’s a lot of pressure. On top of that as a one-man business you have to think about marketing and sales.

I have been using Twitter to promote the app alongside its new parent website that I had to build quickly. Twitter said my campaign was among the top 30% in terms of Twitter advertising success and I'm using Google Play for distribution of the app which can be found here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dm4.yourapp

The lesson is you’re never too old to start again.

If you like what you see here on Startacus, why not become a member of our growing community? It's free! And you'll get all this - exclusive access to our Business Toolkit, discounts and offers galore for your business via our member only business deals, the chance to network and connect with loads of fellow self-starters, and maybe even become our celebrated 'Self-Starter of the Week' and tell the world your startup tale! Join right here for free

Subscribe to our newsletter

If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.

Our Latest Features

How To Get The Very Best From Your Startup Team

Sid Madge, founder of Meee shares his tips on starting as you mean to go on, by getting the very best from your staff in 60 seconds

Meet the Rebelots – How Rebel Energy is using automation to support vulnerable customers

Bwalya Kasase, Business Process Consultant at Rebel Energy shares insights on how the renewable energy supplier uses digital workers to improve the customer experience

Peppy Raises £6.6M for its digital health platform

Peppy secures major investment to help scale its existing menopause, fertility, pregnancy and early parenthood support, and support the introduction of a range of new services.

One Year No Beer launches new £500K crowdfunding campaign

One Year No Beer, the alcohol-free support service fundraises to scale its business following reports indicating huge surge in alcohol-related deaths since Covid.

Junk Kouture - empowering young people through creativity and sustainability

The lowdown on Junk Kouture, the Irish-based global platform that's on a mission to unleash the creative brilliance of young people

Show your workings: how entrepreneurs can sell innovations into the healthcare industry

Considering selling your startup's tech innovation to the healthcare industry? These tips from Evelyne Priestman, Health Economist, Health Enterprise East should help...

Crowdfunding success for Wilton London

Wilton London exceeds crowdfunding target to support its aim of becoming the UK’s number one eco household cleaning brand

TestGorilla - innovative screening tests to help you hire the best

TestGorilla is a startup that's on a mission to help you identify the best candidates and make your hiring decisions faster, easier, and bias-free

her1 Secures €5.5M Series A For Wellness Products to Support Women Through Different Life Stages

Major investment for her1, the digital health impact company that's dedicated entirely to female wellbeing...

Smart Nano NI awarded £42.4m funding from UKRI

Major boost for the NI economy as nanotechnology consortium, Smart Nano NI awarded £42.4m by the Strength in Places Fund to support development of new technology for medical devices, communication and data storage.

Published on: 21st April 2014

If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.

Peppy Raises £6.6M for its digital health platform 27th Jul 2021 Peppy secures major investment to help scale its existing menopause, fertility, pregnancy and early parenthood support, and support the introduction of a range of new services.
One Year No Beer launches new £500K crowdfunding campaign 26th Jul 2021 One Year No Beer, the alcohol-free support service fundraises to scale its business following reports indicating huge surge in alcohol-related deaths since Covid.
Smart Nano NI awarded £42.4m funding from UKRI 22nd Jul 2021 Major boost for the NI economy as nanotechnology consortium, Smart Nano NI awarded £42.4m by the Strength in Places Fund to support development of new technology for medical devices, communication and data storage.
Ntropy Raises $3.2M for its innovative data platform 20th Jul 2021 Ntropy secures major investment to help with expansion of its team, support market growth and future product development.