3 Things to Consider When Starting a Business in Retirement
It’s been said for several years now that traditional retirement is dead.
There was once a time when your parents and grandparents lived about 10-15 years after retiring.
With an increase in our life spans, you might have 20-30 years in this next stage of your life.
This is important for a couple of reasons:
Your money needs to last longer.
You have more time to explore things you weren’t able to in the past.
This has led to an increase in the number of retirees and those who are in the later stages of life to look into starting their own businesses in retirement.
“According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, Self-Employment in the U.S., the self-employment rate among workers 65 and older (who don’t incorporate) is the highest of any age group in America: 15.5%.””
Starting a business allows you to get some additional income to supplement your retirement savings. It also gives you the freedom to do some things you always wanted to like donating to your favorite charity and taking the whole family on a vacation.
So you want to start a business in retirement?
I mean, why not?
A business can help from both the financial and mental standpoints. It can ease your transition from your prior work to retirement and keep your mind sharp.
Here’s the deal though:
When you decide to start a business, it’s not always going to be easy. You’re going to face some hurdles and not ones you can anticipate and plan for.
That’s why it’s critical to get yourself in the right frame of mind to set yourself up for success in the long term. This will help you to easily jump the hurdles and keep focused on your goals.
You’ve more than earned the right to enjoy yourself, especially during this stage in your life, so let’s make sure you’re having fun when starting your business.
In order to do so, there are things you need to consider. Let’s get to them.
3 Things to Consider When Starting a Business in Retirement
In order to best serve you, I reached out to some experts in this space and spoke to some retirement coaches.
I asked them how they would work with someone who was thinking of starting a business in retirement.
Below are summaries of those conversations.
How to Create a Vision For Your Retirement Business That Excites You
According to Guidant Financial, “53% of small business owners rank their happiness at 9 or more.”
Would you like to be in that 53%?
In my conversation with Ruth Tongen, a Certified Professional Retirement Coach, I asked her how someone can create that happiness in their business.
“It starts with the vision of where you’re headed and why you want to go there,” she said.
Ruth then went through her plan that consists of three-parts to create that vision.
Priorities- These are then broken down into structure, connection and purpose and meaning.Those are used to create the starting point she helps people to build upon.
Values- Write down all your values and narrow them down to 3-5.
This narrowed list helps you to organize your life and list accordingly.
Passions- For this she recommends creating a list of things that you absolutely love to do. Again narrowing it down to 3-5.
“Your values and passions may end up being the same things,” explained Ruth.
She describes this as the “sweet spot” when your values and passions dance with each other.
One Question To Help You Know What Type of Business to Start in Retirement
What type of business aligns with what you really want?
For you to get clear, Kevin Lyles, Head of Education at Rock Retirement Club, said to ask yourself the following question:
“What do you want to get out of the business?
Why is this question important?
Think about it for a moment. For the past 20-40 years how much time have you spent each day at work?
That’s a pretty huge chunk and it played a big role in the rest of your life.
Work Plays a Completely Different Role in Retirement
This means the type of business you start needs to align with how you want to live your life and spend your time.
The vision you create determines the type of business that makes sense for you.
At this stage, the control over your time is determined by you, not your career.
Kevin then shared some of the common reasons people want to start a retirement business. They ranged from, “I need the income.” to “Purpose and meaning in life.” Fortunately, you can do both of these when your career job is finished.
How to Identify and Overcome Your Limiting Beliefs
Are you familiar with that inner voice that’s always telling you why you can’t do something?
It’s the one that gives you all the excuses in the world.
“You’re 60 years old, you can’t learn something new,” it criticizes.
“What do you know about starting a business?” it asks.
“You’re not good with technology,” it tells you.
That voice has a name and it’s called a limiting belief.
To help quiet yours down, I spoke to Reed Dewey of Whats-Next.org.
“Sometimes limiting beliefs and assumptions get in the way of fully living life,” said Reed.
Stop reading.
Go back and read Reed’s quote again.
Now ask yourself, do you really want to get in the way of your own success?
Reed went on to share the irony that in these times when we’re doing something new, it’s when we really need the inner fortitude to succeed. Instead we self-sabotage.
He went through a three part process to quiet your limiting beliefs and move past them:
Once you’ve identified the importance of overcoming the limiting belief, you can start to come up with ways to overcome it.
The Right Mindset is Everything
In order to be successful in starting your business, you need to have the right mindset from get go.
These are just a few things for you to consider that will help set you on the right path.
Bio
Mike Lieberman is the founder of Retirement Redefinition. He created the site to help you define your retirement lifestyle and start an online business that fits it.