Small Business & Post Retirement Career: Five Things to Worry About

You always wanted to start your own business but somehow you ended up in corporate world, administrative job, in something other than business etc. Now that you are retiring you think about making your dream of self employment (business) come true. Most people (Retirees) do that, in fact about third of the retirees turn to self employment ⁽¹⁾.

I used the word “worry” on purpose to get the potential late career starters (business starters) attention and it is true if you don’t worry about these five things in the beginning let me tell you, you will have a lot more to worry about in future.

So let’s get to things you need to seriously consider, take care of when starting your own small business.

Five Things to Worry About

Childs Play

Small business is not a childs play if that’s what you think after years of experience in corporate world, remember it demands effort, brain, perseverance and resources. If you don’t have that chemistry in you, you better get it because that’s what small business is all about when it comes to managing it efficiently and effectively.

You have to put good efforts, with effective and efficient management (brain) of things (resources) consistently (perseverance).

You need to forget about your glorious past, great experiences/expertise, whatever happened to you good or bad erase it, it’s time for new beginning, it’s time to think like a new born, like a curious kid. Begin like you are a kid and you need to learn and play safe.

You may also like to read: "Impulse Buying Causes/Reasons"

Easy Money

It happens and it gets really bad after that, most late starters it seems just can’t help it, they put whatever they get from their retirement into their new business ⁽²⁾. Don’t treat your retirement funds as the easy money to start the whole thing (new business).

Embrace it you know nothing and thus need a lot of thinking and consideration before utilizing the easy funds.

And for that you have to consider others opinions by socializing and making networks with the likeminded people, people that are in the same type of business etc, so much so that you get the clear picture of where you need to focus in terms of investment (investing your easy money).

And then try to spend it objectively; think like you have nothing to begin with, be critical of your investments, consider the money you have as outsider’s investment.

Lastly don't all your eggs in one basket!

Do it Yourself Attitude

This is your new beginning, this is not your glorious past (corporate world) where people used to get things done for you, here you are the manager, the subordinate etc all in one. It’s about survival of the fittest and you need to be fit in almost everything (that affects your business in one way or another) to take full control of things related to your business.

“Unrelated Confidence” The Silent Killer

You had been really successful in your corporate life, yeah, you managed things like a pro, you were the boss, you knew all the ins and outs. Well that may be true but here (small business) it doesn’t carry much weight especially if you are going to start something unrelated to your past experience/expertise.

Don’t let that unrelated confidence of your past niche take control of your new niche, understand and embrace it that what you are getting into is entirely different business. Once you admit that you will set yourself to learn, to train yourself accordingly.

There is an interesting article on similar situation where companies/corporations get it wrong in similar fashion, read "Cristiano Ronaldo Left Soccer to Master Chess"

Strategy is The Key

It is essential to have one rather a very good one, without it you won’t be able to sustain it for long. This is where “brain” takes the key role, get your goals right, your objectives, Product/Service strategy, your overall strategy, talk to people , correspond with small business consultants, small business strategy buffs, small business development centers or SCORE and read THE JOURNALS that are authority on small business. 

Make yourself clear about the facts and myths, the do’s and don’ts, the best and worst practices, approaches so on and so forth and be creative, don’t just follow people, don’t just take be the giver, be a bit different, try to stand out.

That’s it, it is by no means the absolute list of things you need to take care of when starting your own business but these are some of the major things you must never neglect or overlook.

Now I invite you to share your own thoughts on starting small business, what you think should be the priorities, what are the key things you think every small business owner need to consider before starting a new business. Share your ideas, thoughts let’s explore it further :).

You may also like to read: "Six Red Flags: That Means You Need to do Customer Survey"

References

1.       Gangaram Singh And Alex DeNoble, “Early Retirees as the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs,” Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice 27, no.3 (spring 2003), pp. 207-226.
2.       Andrea C. Poe, “Start a Business. . . Even after 50: Neither Shy nor Retiring, People over 50 Are proving There’s Life-and Profits-after Retirement as They Launch Second Careers as Entrepreneurs,” Entrepreneur online-Entrepreneur Extra, August 19, 2003.