Everyone wants to end their careers on a high note. You’re most convincing when your best performance is in the latter part. Indeed, this may well be your exit strategy when you retire. Many, if not most, think of retirement as the days when you stop working and enjoy yourself. You’ve worked your whole life, and now it’s time to reap the rewards.
The million-dollar question is: Does it have to be that way really? Know that starting a business when you’re retired has a lot of perks.
For one, you could be pursuing something that you wanted all your life but didn’t have time to pursue due to the demands at work. Of course, it’s your choice. Know, however, that retirement offers great advantages for you when you set your sights on business. Best of all, these perks will come to you when you choose not to slow down.
You Get to Flex Your Muscle
Staying on the sidelines and retiring is the easy way to go. You can travel around the world, see the best views from the best vantage point in a hotel. And yet you can find it all boring. Hopping from one place to the other is an adventure that’s good until it isn’t.
Business offers you the challenge. Even better, it allows you to stretch yourself. Think about it. When you’re 60, finding work is an uphill climb. Employers are bound to shy away from you even with your experience and expertise. Starting a business solves that predicament. You overcome that obstacle. And you’re in good company too. The founders of some of the biggest companies today started a business when they were over 50 years old. Some of these companies were even started by entrepreneurs who were in their retirement.
You have the Funds
Chances are, starting a business when you’re young means you’re going to be cash-strapped. Finding funding could be a long, drawn-out battle. But when you’re retired, you’re in a better financial position.
This gets even rosier when you’ve worked for a well-established company. You’re pretty well taken care of. AT&T employee’s pension is a good example of this. Not only is there a substantial financial cushion waiting for you, but you’re also helped along the way.
What’s more, you’re done with your biggest financial responsibilities when you’re retired. The kids have all grown up, and you’re done with putting them to school. Plus, the house mortgage has all been paid.
You have the Reputation
A young entrepreneur can be at greater risk of running into unwise decisions. Bold and inexperienced, he could be a victim of his passion. But not with a tried-and-tested bull like you.
As you have worked for years now, your judgment calls are highly-likely more sound. Even better, you have a wider circle of influence, people around you who trust your gut by heart.
With your established reputation, you’re in a better position to build strong teams. And make the deals that have to be made. Even more amazing, you’ve honed your presentation skills, making you a top candidate to be able to close deals when it’s badly needed.
You have the Experience
Youth can certainly be wasted on the young. With all their ideas in mind, the young could not be so attached to success. They could see themselves as having more years to experiment. You don’t have that luxury.
As you’ve seen how a bad decision can destroy a company, you can go into business with the savvy that most of the younger generation don’t have. In a sense, you’ve got no place to go but up.
It’s good to note that many of the biggest issues why small business start-ups fail can be attributed to inexperience. Top 5 of these reasons as cited by CBInsights include:
- No market need (42%)
- Ran out of cash (29%)
- Not the right team (23%)
- Competition (19%)
- Pricing/Cost issues (18%)
Your Experience can help hurdle these challenges. You have, for one, a better grasp of the needs of the market and the competition.
You have the Passion
Now that you have the time, the money, and the Experience, all that remains is for you to apply your passion to it. Think hard. What are the things that you were passionate about but postponed for years now? What ignites you to work like you’re on fire?
The good thing about passion is you won’t even call it work when you pursue it. Find that, and you know you’re at the precipice of your most-awaited success.
