{"id":2208,"date":"2012-10-08T07:47:02","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T11:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=2208"},"modified":"2012-10-08T07:47:02","modified_gmt":"2012-10-08T11:47:02","slug":"forbes-are-senior-start-ups-the-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=2208","title":{"rendered":"Forbes: Are Senior Start-Ups The Answer?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Elizabeth Isele, Senior Entrepreneurship Works<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unless you\u2019ve been hiding in the woods, you know that it\u2019s all about jobs these days, particularly if you\u2019re running for President of the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The federal job stats came out this past week.<\/p>\n

For older workers, the report was more of the same. The unemployment rate for the aged 55+ workforce fell from 6.2 percent to 5.9 percent. Which is sort of good news. But the average duration of unemployment is a little more than a year for this group of workers vs. 36.1 weeks for those under 55. That\u2019s a long time to be pounding the pavement.<\/p>\n

And many older workers really need a job. They\u2019re living longer healthier lives and are terrified that they\u2019ll outlive their retirement savings and want to be mentally engaged. Yet, as I write in my forthcoming book,\u00a0Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy \u2026 And Pays the Bills<\/a>, with an anemic job market tinged with ageism, lots of 50+ workers are taking matters into their own hands and becoming their own boss.<\/p>\n

New business creation by the 55 to 64-year-old age group is up sharply over the past 15 years\u2014from 14.3 percent of all entrepreneurs in 1996 to 20.9 percent in 2011, according to the\u00a0Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, 1996-2011.<\/a><\/p>\n

In June, an AARP\/Society for Human Resource\u00a0Management<\/a>\u00a0(SHRM) survey of 50 + employed workers revealed that one in twenty plan to start their own business; nearly one in five unemployed workers would prefer to do the same.<\/p>\n

And\u00a0research<\/a>\u00a0released by Encore.org, a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose, shows that approximately 25 million people\u2014one in four Americans ages 44-\u201370\u2014are interested in starting businesses or nonprofit ventures in the next five to 10 years.<\/p>\n

In my recent\u00a0AARP Great Jobs column<\/a>, I explain how older entrepreneurs have a lot of things working in their favor\u2013a strong work ethic, management experience, a well-established networks of potential customers, and with some tech-savvy, it\u2019s possible to set up shop from a home office.<\/p>\n

As a result, AARP and the U.S. Small\u00a0Business<\/a>\u00a0Administration have recently formed a multi-pronged collaboration to promote entrepreneurship as a career option for older Americans. The aim of the joint effort is to link 100,000 Americans over age 50 with small business development resources, including workshops, conferences and mentoring programs.<\/p>\n

To learn more about this mushrooming world of senior entrepreneurs, I lured the dynamic Elizabeth Isele, co-founder of the non-profit\u00a0SeniorEntrepreneurshipWorks<\/a>\u00a0to sit down with me at the Thornton River Grille in bucolic Sperryville, VA for a breakfast of French toast and coffee on Friday.<\/p>\n

Lucky for me, she lives near my country getaway and was free. That doesn\u2019t happen too often these days. She\u2019s also the founder and Author of\u00a0www.SavvySeniorsWork.com<\/a>\u00a0and a Senior Innovation Fellow at\u00a0Babson<\/a>\u00a0College and leads workshops for adults aged 40-85, who are either exploring the possibility of creating their own businesses, or are actively in the process of launching their own businesses.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth is clearly on to something. Little wonder she\u2019s been making regular visits to The White House recently to discuss ways to foster senior entrepreneurship as an economic catalyst and find ways to change policies to support seniors new business start-ups.<\/p>\n

KH: Tell me about the nonprofit you co-founded, Senior Entrepreneurship Works. What\u2019s the focus?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EI:<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s designed to help seniors aged 50+ build sustainable businesses, and create jobs. The focus is on seniors who are living another 20 to 30 years and cannot underwrite those years financially. The original premise was we\u2019ll just continue working longer.<\/p>\n

That was why I launched\u00a0SavvySeniorsWork.com<\/a>\u00a0 three years ago. But then, with the recession those jobs were cut back or just eliminated. No matter how well prepared seniors were to make the transition to stay employed longer, the jobs weren\u2019t there. So we help people think about the options. We would like to get 45-to-50 year old thinking proactively about what they\u2019re going to do. Our training programs are based on how someone can start his or her own business, and help them ask first if should they, and, if yes, help them create a value proposition and figure out how best to make it happen.<\/p>\n

KH: What\u2019s the biggest obstacle to getting started?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EI<\/strong>:<\/em>\u00a0The biggest obstacle is actually fear of entrepreneurship. We have to think of another word for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is so intimidating, and people think I\u2019m certainly not an entrepreneur. They have no concept of however they\u2019ve lived their lives at home and in the workplace often involves very entrepreneurial thinking.<\/p>\n

KH: If I am thinking of starting a business, what should I be focusing on?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

EI:<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Do you really understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur?\u00a0We all think entrepreneurially. But that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you can start your own business. So how do you translate what you\u2019ve done entrepreneurially in your life to starting your own business?<\/p>\n

Do you understand what the financial risk is? What are the emotional risks of starting your own business?<\/p>\n

You need to do serious research and make sure that this is a viable option for you, and you\u2019re not just grabbing at straws thinking well I\u2019ll start my own business, so I don\u2019t have to ever worry about getting a job again.<\/p>\n

For a senior, who has been dreaming about starting a business, sometimes it can be more of a dream fulfillment and that can be a problem. They\u2019re focused on the dream fulfillment, rather than identifying the customers for their dream business. That\u2019s absolutely key. Is there a customer for this business, or is it just something your dreaming about and\u00a0think will be spectacular?<\/p>\n

KH: In the pre-accessment, what questions should you ask?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EI:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0You\u2019ve got to get down to reality:<\/p>\n