You Owe It To Yourself

As I do from time to time, I spoke yesterday at a local job club about my "10 Keys To Starting a Great Business After 50".

I didn't ask (it would be impolite) but i'm guessing that all of the 25+ attendees were at least 45-years old.

And for some this may be the first time in 15 years or longer that they have had to sweat through writing a new resume and hit the street looking for job interviews.

I started off by emphasizing one of my most strongly held beliefs - that any time you find yourself out of the corporate world after age 40 and after age 50 even if you still hold down a corporate position, you owe it to having your best possible future life to seriously examine the entrepreneurial life.

The typical corporate employer has a whole section of their HR department devoted to one task - prepare to lay off people the next time the company has even a slight financial downturn.

They have a plan to get rid of 40+ managers - what plan do you have if they do it to you?

For many years,  a sufficient "plan" was to brush off your resume every few years, ready to start calling everyone you know in your industry if they handed you the pink slip (today it's more likely to be e-mailed to you!).

But today you have whole industries imploding - by the end of 2008 more than 30,000 white collar managers will no longer work for Ford, GM, and Chrysler and (this is the key point) THEY WILL NEVER WORK IN THE AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY AGAIN!

No matter how talented they are at their jobs. No matter how many "superior performance ratings they received over the years - these people need to find a completely new line of work.

Your corporate employer plans ahead to get rid of you, why don't you take some time to plan an alternative work path for yourself.

If you do, you will quickly realize that despite some level of financial risk, you will almost never enjoy as much flexbiility in your schedule, freedom to pursue new ideas and unfettered growth in your income in any corporate job as you will being your own boss.

So, you owe it to your preferred future of work to seriously take a look at what kind of entrepreneurial venture can provide the satisfaction and reward you seek from your work.

Comments

[kare Anderson]

What a friendly and to-the-point blog (and mix of services you offer to inspire and guide people over 50 to design work they/we can enjoy in the adventure we want for the next chapter of our lives
Kudos! If it helps, here’s how to partner to attract customers, even in a bad economy
http://www.movingfrommetowe.com/2008/08/11/how-to-attract-customers-even-in-a-bad-economy/