Boomerpreneur Blog

Home Is Where The Boomer Business Is

Since more than 95% of our Boomer business start-up clients start with their business offices at home, I frequently think of the topic of working from home.

What often flashes through my mind is my personal experience almost twenty years ago as a home-based entrepreneur.

Back in 1988, when I launched my first entrepreneurial training company, it was not yet widely accepted that home-based businesses were really “professional”. 

In particular, large corporate prospects often inferred a lack of ambition or sophistication when a new business chose to locate at home.

In fact, I had to go to some lengths to conceal the reality that my desk and file cabinet were physically located in my spare bedroom. I rented an outside mailing address and put it on my business cards. I would borrow the conference room in a nearby office meeting for important meetings with clients, I’d name-drop contacts I’d made during my corporate career at other large local corporations.

I’m an enthusiastic reader and I often browse the shelves at my local library for business how-to books. Once, early in my entrepreneurial career, I came across a book that totally changed my outlook about being a home-based business owner.

The book, “Working From Home” by Paul & Sarah Edwards pulled together every tool, resource and secret to creating a fun and very rewarding experience as a home-based business owner. Suddenly, I realized that working from home need only be a choice of location, not a limitation on the scale of one’s goals.

As my business grew, I eventually obtained a contract that required that I maintain office space in which to conduct client meetings and training sessions and I moved out of my home office.

But, as often happens in life, I made a full circle and returned to a home office again in 2005, after my wife and I renovated our house, partly to include a brand-new home office!

How To Look Big In Your 50+ Business When You're Really Small

During your first year in business you must continually work at perfecting a subtle, yet critically important game of projecting an image for your new business that says: "I'm established", "I'm experienced and connected", and most importantly, "I'm successful".

Most of our start-up clients in our Virtual Incubator Program are solo owners, many running their new businesses out of their dens, with no other staff.

So, it can be a real challenge to come off to prospective customers as the experienced, successful service provider that you know in your heart that you really are.

I started my first business at home twenty years ago, and I very quickly faced the reality of "looking big when you are really small" when a consulting client asked to meet me at "my office", which at the time consisted of my dining room table!

Fortunately for me, I was familiar with a nearby office building that not only rented offices but also its address for use by home based business owners.

I immediately called the building manager, introduced myself and asked if they had a conference room I could use for a hour to conduct a client meeting. Wanting to entice me to move into the building (which I later did), they were more than happy to assist me.

So, I directed my client to their address for our meeting.

On the way to the meeting, I stopped by the local office supply store and purchased a set of plastic letters that spelled out my company's name. I placed these on the tenant board in the lobby of the building, just to give a bit more credibility to my professional image.

I think that you can see from my personal example that "playing the identity game" sometimes requires imagination and ingenuity.

Here are a few tips on building and maintaining a top-notch identity for your business:

1. Start with a professionally designed logo that "knocks their eyes out".

2. Use your power logo on an equally impressive business card. Don't just drop by your local office supply store and quickly order some business cards from a catalog. Remember: your business card is a mini-billboard for your business!

3.  Use a well-thought-out and well-recorded message on your business voicemail.
4. Pay a bit more to use a truly artistic website designer. Websites are today to what business cards where twenty-five years ago. Prospective customers will not take your business seriously without an eye-catching and well worded website to tell your business's unique story.

5. Consider buying and using a professional appearing "leave behind" with your logo printed on it. Popular items include: pens, envelope slitters, and notepads.

6. Make sure that any correspondence, bids, or client reports are error-free, printed on substantial paper and bound professionally, in necessary. Use your power logo on every page.

7. Return phone calls and e-mail inquiries quickly. Be sure to include a closing "signature" on your e-mails that includes: your name, phone number, e-mail address, website address, and short passage of text presenting your business's unique offer, such as "the fastest delivery in the three-county area".

What's Life Like As a 50+ Business Owner?

If you're like a growing number of Boomers, you're quite interested in exploring starting your own business.

But running a small business seems so different from what you're used to in the corporate world, that you may be wondering: "What exactly is life like when you run your own business?"

There is some variation in daily routine between different types of businesses, but most share the traits listed below.

1. You set the schedule for each day. People in typical corporate administrative jobs often face a more rigid schedule of meetings and in-office work.

2. You won't gain absolute freedom from reporting to a superior. Your new "bosses" will be your customers - but see the next bullet point.

3. Unlike the corporate world where you generally cannot choose your boss, you can often choose your customers so that you select people with whom you enjoy working. You can choose a type of business that typically has employees (such as a retail business), or you can create a "virtual company" that relies upon outside contractors for needed assistance rather than employees.

4. All problems end up on your desk, no matter who else may have caused the problem. If you have been a divisional executive, you are experienced at handling problems quickly. But some corporate employees become used to passing problems onto support departments.

5. You must respond quickly to customer needs, demands and problems, because this responsiveness is often why your customers agreed to buy from you in the first place. As a result, you often must make decisions based on incomplete information.

6. It has been said that one of the traits of successful entrepreneurs is that they are comfortable with "ambiguity" - unclear circumstances.

7. You will have to fight the tendency to think about your business every waking hour of the day. You must learn the difference between dedication and obsession.

8. You will sacrifice leisure time in the beginning. If you have been working 60+ hour weeks, chances are good that you had to give up the bowling league a long time ago. During your first year in business, you may have to also give up your family trip to Disney World.

9. You will have to become somewhat proficient in a variety of management skills (we will discuss these in detail later). Although as your profits grow, you can hire outside contractors to do more of the work for you.

10. You will have to take some financial risk. It is not uncommon for business startup expenses to total $10,000 or more. Your investment in the business during its first year can easily exceed $30,000 if you are truly trying to grow the business.

11. Because you will likely have to give up some things you enjoy during the first couple years of your new business, it is very important that you start a business you enjoy, or you will become resentful about the demands on your life.

12. Your income can be quite unpredictable in the beginning. It is not uncommon to go from an $80,000 corporate salary to a $30,000 owners draw your first year.

13. Since you cannot realistically cut your family living expenses by much, the difference between your old salary and your new self-employment income will have to be made up by investing your savings, borrowing money or a combination of both. This is part of the financial risk you take to do "your own thing".

14. You are paid by your customers partly for your ability to stay up with the latest solutions to their problems. This demands that you continually acquire new knowledge and learn new skills.

The Greater Risk Can Be Not Doing Something That Excites You

I read a lot of material every month on how the Boomers are approaching the period of life after age 60.

And what I'm seeing reported in virtually every major newspaper and magazine is that more and more of the 50+ Boomers, often called the "Leading Edge Boomers", are showing an increased willingness to take a calculated financial risk in order to launch a business or non-profit built around work they really enjoy doing...and in some cases have been yearning to do for years.

A prominent example of major media coverage of this topic is an op-ed column in the August 13, 2007 issue of Time magazine (see page 54).

The author, Dan Kadlec, starts by saying: "Money experts warn it's a bad idea to use some of one's retirement savings to start a new venture".

But Dan reports that about a third of self-employed people over 50 didn't strike out on their own until after age 50.

So, there are a whole lot of experienced, talented, smart people who are carefully considering how to utilize a bit of their retirement savings to achieve true satisfaction in their work by bringing to life their long-thought-about business or non-profit venture.

The real food for thought in Dan's piece comes at the end, where he says: "If you overdo things you'll risk your financial security. So be careful. But remember there are other risks in play too, like the risk of losing your sense of purpose by missing the chance to do something that excites you".

Building A Support Team For Success

In their corporate positions, many Boomer managers are particularly adept at working in teams and with support staff.

The same leveraging of talent is critical to growing your new business.

Many new Boomer entrepreneurs are what I call "owner-operators" where they are the "chief cook and bottle washer" for their businesses. The variety of demands on their time as the new CEO can be a bit mind-boggling at times.

The key to growing your company when you are the sole manager is to wisely use a team of outside advisors and service providers.

Your team should be anchored around relationships with an accountant and small business attorney, accented with the assistance of an insurance agent.

These specialists not only provide focused advice when needed, but they can also serve as an informal board of directors for your business.

To increase your productivity and ensure good time management, fill out your support team with a group of key service providers including: a graphic designer; a website specialist; a computer repair guru; and possibly a QuickBooks-savvy bookkeeper.

Doing Well and Doing Good

My wife and I get most of our broadcast news coverage from two PBS shows - Frontline and NOW.

Recently on Frontline World, we saw a very inspiring segment that involved a 50+ entrepreneur who has used remarkable imagination and steely determination to make a difference in Africa.

One of the greatest health challenges among the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa is finding easy, reliable access to fresh drinking water.

In many villages getting access to any drinking water demands that members of the village, often the women of the tribes, hike miles to the closest stream or leaky pump to fetch water. Not only is the task exhausting, but often the result is consumption of tainted water which can lead to waterborne diseases, such as cholera, an often fatal disease among children.

Into this seeming hopeless environment stepped Trevor Field, a successful South African entrepreneur with a well-developed social conscience.

An engineer by training, Field knew from past business experience that many of the villages sat on top of water springs, but there was no affordable way for the people on top to access the water.

So, was born the "Play Pump".

The idea behind this technique is rooted in childhood play, specifically the merry-go-round, a common feature on school playgrounds when I was growing up in the 50's.

A circular device, closely resembling a colorful merry-go-round, is connected to a well drilling below it, and to pipping connected to a small tower holding a water tank at the top.

The water is pumped by the children of the village taking turns to continuously turn the merry-go-round until water accumulates in the elevated tank, which uses height to create water pressure and permit easy flow of the clean spring water whenever the villages desire.

Watch the 26 minute video clip from Frontline to learn more. Visit: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/10/south_africa_th.html

I was blown away once again by the power to act in the benefit of others that groups of entrepreneurs can generate. Many of us become self-employed in order to "do well and do good" at the same time and the Play Pump is a perfect example of this generosity in action.

At the end of June, the Play Pump non-profit enterprise, headquartered in Washington, D.C., will end its promotion: "100 Pumps In 100 Days".

Each pump costs $14,000 to manufacture and place, so I don't expect that too many of us BoomerPreneurs are in position to pledge a pump all by ourselves. But even a small donation - $50 or $100 - when accumulated from hundreds of entrepreneurs can give a significant financial boost to the campaign.

Learn how you can contribute at: http://www.playpumps.org/site/c.hqLNIXOEKrF/b.2589391/k.83AF/Make_a_Donation.htm

We boomers are leading once again

Those of us in the 50 and over age range are accustomed to sticking out in society.

We helped define the environmental movement by doing our part on Earth Day each year. I still go out of my way to bring recyclables home with me to put out at the curb for pickup.

Many of us supported the Feminist movement and their drive for gender equality, particularly in the workplace. I remember my time vividly as the second-in-command to the first female director in my division of a Fortune 100 company.

Whether your personal style has been to lead in just your own life or to have made a bigger splash in business, charity work or sports, you are have grown up as a leader in our society.

So, it shouldn't surprise any of you that we "Leading Edge" Boomers are leading once again - this time we're leading the newest entrepreneurial revolution.

For the past five years, people 50-62 represent the fastest growing group of new entrepreneurs in the U.S. The number of 50+ business owners has risen more than 29% since 2000.

In reality this isnt so new for us.

Virtually everyone of my childhood friends, as well as myself, were teenage entrepreneurs in the 50's, 60's and 70's. A good number of us used the extra money we earned mowing laws, babysitting, selling magazines door to door and shoveling snow to open our first bank accounts, which in my case blossomed into enough to pay my college tuition for several years.

For many of us older Boomers, we're just closing the circle - from teenage entrepreneur to adult entrepreneur.