Re-Launch Yourself at 55+

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RE-LAUNCH YOURSELF

The 55-64 year-old age group is the fastest growing among all ages in the startup game. It is no surprise that so many people are re-launching themselves through a startup venture, taking them down new tracks.

Here are some of the ways that opportunities present themselves-the options are almost endless, but this list of a dozen of them many help you narrow down the choice.

Deciding what business to start should never be a problem if you ask yourself the right questions. The most important of these is “What will excite me?” Others will include, “When?” My answer to that would be “Now.” If you delay too long, the moment will pass.

Passion Into Profit

Perhaps your private passions could become a source of revenue. Ask yourself if your passion, knowledge and practice of playing the trombone could be turned into a book-perhaps an e-book, or a not-for-profit business that can pay you a salary, or a website about and selling trombones.

You would find that the Web is a bit weak on the subject and that almost all the domain type URLs for ‘sliphorn’ and ‘slip-horn.com’ are available, even though ‘trombone’ is widely registered

There are endless examples of passion-based businesses. Here is one I especially like: John Lomas, a Brit in Vermont established Cotswold Furniture. “I was extremely unhappy”, he says of his past career. “One day I realized that I really enjoyed wood shop in school.” It all grew from there.

Service from Skill

Perhaps you developed a professional skill during your so-called ‘working’ career. You may even have taken it to a very high level. This skill and experience could be converted into a service business.

You will be no threat to your former employers, while at the same time your big company experience will be a very useful asset to you in your own enterprise.

Services for People Like You

You could think about services that tap into the fields appropriate to senior’s lives and where you have either expertise or have found not service to meet you own needs. Examples could include travel and transportation, investment services, yoga or fitness, or mobility aids. In franchises, Home Care Assistance looks rewarding.

Client Base Into Customers

During your time as an employed person it may be that you built up a strong relationship with the company’s client base. The clients who valued you could be converted into your own customers.

There are cases where a company will gladly part with customers that are not profitable. With the smaller cost base that you would have on your own, such sales could be profitable for your own business.

Married Bliss Business

Roughly one in five small businesses is headed by a husband-wife duo, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. That means 1.2 million husband-and-wife teams running businesses together.

This may be just the moment you have been waiting for. Earlier in the marriage, the career of one or both, children and other things may have been getting in the way

I have done it. It is not all roses, but there is a great deal to be said for it. I suggest that you work out very carefully who does what and the extent to which you both have similar motivations, before you jump in with both feet. If you do try, you may want to plan for the worst from the outset and have a kind of pre-business breakup agreement.

Releasing Enterprise Equity

With a smaller family to house and thinking about downsizing, you may consider releasing equity to invest in your startup by moving.

You can of course, achieve this without moving, but re-mortgaging your present house and taking on the repayments could be a burden that the new business might not support.

Part-Time to Start

To give yourself the space and some income while you work on your startup, you may find that your present employer is open to you working part-time. This way your skills and experience are not entirely lost to the firm. Also, the move could make space for a new recruit or save costs to the employer.

Any ‘try out’ like this can help you verify your business concept before you fully jettison regular income. One of the hazards of starting a business is that income can be sporadic at the beginning. A part-time start may be frustrating, but it can provide a cushion, before cutting the cord.

Partner Possibilities

To reduce risk and time-commitment, you may think of seeking partners for your venture, or finding another person doing a startup who would value your input and participation, and even an investment

Such opportunities can frequently offer win:win solutions. It may also be that a younger entrepreneur would value your experience and that your age and skills could enhance the chance of success in raising capital.

Lifestyle or the Next Google?

The word ‘startup’ may sound like too much of a challenge. You may think a startup will simply re-create the life you had when you were employed and were relieved to leave behind.

A startup does not need to be aiming at becoming the next Google or seeking venture capital. It can be a ‘lifestyle’ business. A lifestyle business is one where you have decided that you would like to live in a particular way or a particular place. Or, maybe you want to have the opportunity for travel or regular meetings with special kinds of people.

Set up a business that supports that objective. Examples might include a cookery school running from your own home, a needlecraft shop, a pottery, or a mountain guide service.

Kitchen Table Enterprise

Many startups can be conducted from home. There are special questions to consider like taxation or zoning, but a home start can considerably reduce fixed costs.

The second big advantage of starting this way is that you may be able to do so outside the working hours of your job before you leave. The business world is full of examples. Pope Bisect, a company that invented the Travelboard started that way 40 years ago and when Anita Roddick started Body Shop she mixed up her cosmetic products on the kitchen table.

Buy Your Way In

There are many advantages to buying an existing business, not least that there is much lower risk of failure. An existing business can generate cash flow from day one, if it is tried and tested-methods, products or marketing. Chances are that there is a customer base, though you need to ensure it is ‘transferable’ to you.

The application of your skills and experience can make a difference to the business you buy and multiply your investment better than on the stock market. If the purchase is well-managed, you can retain existing staff and suppliers.

Many businesses are sold with a ‘work out’ or ‘earn out’ clause, where the seller stays on for a while to ensure a smooth handover, or part of the price is held back while the sale proves its worth. I have a friend who sold his professional service business on that basis. It was particularly important for clients to get to know the new owner, before my friend went into retirement.

Spin-Off Startup

Spin-off startups are common enough. They happen on a huge scale when a multinational does an management buyout or de-merger, but they also happen on a small scale when there is a divergence of view on a company’s strategic future. When conflict happens, the best solution may be for the parties to go their separate ways and often the protagonists are souls released.

I started a business by spin-off. The international firm where I worked for many years encouraged me to take the subsidiary I ran off their hands. They gave me a year to buy the assets, saving us both money.

There is also the possibility of a ‘spin-in’, where an entrepreneurially minded person considers it best to start a new agency of a big firm so that branding and back-up is available from the word go.

A Franchise Future

Franchises are sometimes an option, especially for those who have no passion except for being their own boss. They are normally organized formally as big branded franchises, like McDonald’s, Subway or UPS Store.

Some are less well-known, like Wild Birds Unlimited (where obviously franchisees are passionate about the hobby of backyard birdfeeding and their businesses), or Pigtails & Crewcuts (appropriate for a empty-nest mother returning to the workforce). They can equally be informal franchises offered by a business that wants to expand, but does not have the capital.

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Source by William Keyser