US News & World report has written that, “Retirement is different now than it was just 10 years ago.” What’s caused the biggest change is how long we’re living. While previous generations might’ve lived 10-15 after retirement, you might live 20-30 years. That’s a significant increase. Now that retirement may last a few decades, you’ll need your money to last longer and you have more time to do things you couldn’t in the past. Forbes reported that, “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 something gives you the ability to earn some extra cash and enables you to do some extra activities like contributing to your favorite charity or taking your family on an extended vacation.
Thinking about starting a business in retirement?
I mean, why not? Starting a business can help you with the transition from your career to retirement helping you to expand your income and keep your mind sharp. It has benefits financially and beyond. To be clear, when talking about starting a business, I’m referring to starting a small online business. Not something that will require large amounts of investment that has the potential to make you go broke. Here’s the deal though: In choosing this path there will be challenges along the way. There’s no way to know when they will arise and what they will be. Before you even start thinking about what kind of business to start and everything that goes into setting it up, there are other important things for you to think about. They will help you to stay the course and focus on your goals when the challenges arise. If you’re starting a business at this stage of your life, don’t you want to have fun doing it? That’s why you want to take these things into consideration. What are they? Glad you finally asked.
Three things to consider before starting a business
I spoke to several retirement coaches to help answer that question to save you time Googling the answer. The question that was posed to them was, “What’s one of the first things you’d ask someone that was thinking of starting a business in retirement?” These conversations led to a series of articles. They are summarized below. So let’s get started. Ok?
Thing #1: Here’s One Question To Help You Know What Type of Business to Start in Retirement
Are you not clear on what type of business makes sense for you to start? To help you get clear, I spoke to Kevin Lyles, the Head of Education at Rock Retirement Club. The question he recommended you answer is, “What do you want to get out of the business? “That will lead to how I could counsel them because there are many possible answers,” he said. The answer to this question is important for a few reasons. Think about it. For the past 20-40 years, your career has accounted for most of your time. At this stage, that no longer exists and what you’re doing takes on new meaning. The type of business you choose to start becomes more important because it should support your vision and what you do with your time. That vision then guides the decision for the type of business to start. It also stresses why the answer to Kevin’s question is important. Your career no longer dictates how you’ll spend your time. You now have control over it. Kevin then shared five of the common answers to the question. You can read the full article here.
Thing #2: How to Silence Your Inner Critic When Starting Your Business
There’s a voice inside of your head. Have you heard it talking to you before? It’s usually the one that tells you why you can’t do certain things. It’ll give you reason after reason why something isn’t possible. “You’ve never done that before. You can’t learn something new,” it says. “Your friends will judge you” it exclaims. “You’re not good with technology,” it tells you. Did you know that voice has a name? It’s called a limiting belief. To share what a limiting belief is and help you silence it, I spoke to Reed Dewey of Whats-Next.org. “Sometimes limiting beliefs and assumptions get in the way of fully living life,” said Reed. Before you continue reading, please reread that quote. Now ask yourself, do you want to get in your own way of fully living life? Reed went on, “It’s ironic because it’s when you’re going through a transition when you need the strength and power to move forward.” That’s when we sabotage and cut ourselves off.
He went through a three part process to silence your limiting beliefs:
Clearly seeing the limiting belief and how it stands in your way
Once you’ve identified the importance of overcoming the limiting belief, you can start to come up with ways to overcome
Get to action. You can read the full post and details here
Guidant Financial said that 53% of small business owners rank their happiness at 9 or more. In a conversation with Ruth Tongen, a Certified Professional Retirement Coach, I asked her what it takes to get someone in that 53% “It starts with the vision of where you’re headed and why you want to go there,” she said. Ruth then shared with me her three-part plan to create that vision.
#1: Your Priorities- Structure, connection and purpose and meaning make up your priorities. They’re used as the foundation for people to start from.
#2: Your Values- She recommends making a list of all your values. Then shortening the list to 3-5. What you’re left with is a list that allows you to organize your life accordingly.
#3: Passions- The next step is to come up with a list of things that light you up and prioritize the top five. “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. You can read the full post and details here.
In closing
These are just three things you need to consider before starting a business in retirement. By doing so, you’re getting yourself in the right mindset for success.
Contributor: Mike Lieberman founder of Retirement Redefinition A site designed to help you define your retirement lifestyle and start an online business that fits it.