If you’re over 50 and have a bit of time on your hands, now could be the perfect time in life to open up a business of your own. You’ve got a lot of experience to offer, and that could be reflected very well in a targeted product or service. Or even if you want to start writing a blog or selling your art, now is the time to start a business of your own.
But not all businesses are made equal. And when you’ve got a lot of experience to make good use of, you’ll want to focus on creating one that really puts you front and center. So let’s go through some worthy ideas below; keep them in mind if you’ve got the spirit for being a business owner right now.
Write and Create
Starting a creative business later on in life is a great way to make money right now. Why? Because you’ve had a lot of time to refine your craft, and plenty of experience in flexing those muscles.
And that means the products you come out with will tend to be of higher quality than those of a newly qualified student. Turn your lifelong crafting hobby into an online business with Etsy. Not a crafter or artist? What about turning your knowledge into a sellable product? How about writing? Ebooks, online courses, blog posts – you name it are great ways to monetize your experience and knowledge you have gained during your lifetime. The more you write, the more you’ll find your own style, and the more you’ll build an audience who are receptive to that style.
Sell Your Online Experience
Younger generations want to assume that if you are over 50 you don’t know anything about the internet. They forget we are the ones who invented the internet. You’ve been online for a long time, and you’ve seen the ups and downs that come with that. As such, you might be able to sell your online experience to relevant parties. Whether you’ve got experience in marketing or not, you know how to be relevant and interesting on the internet, and you can use that here to make money without even leaving the house.
Gen-X uses modern technology, in fact we invented a lot of it. You can thank us for such things as eBay, Yahoo!, Google, Wikipedia, Blogger, MySpace, and Twitter; all companies started by Gen-X peeps. The whole dot-com gold rush was built on the backs of many Gen-Xers. Many of the technologies invented by this generation have changed the way business and life is conducted online. From eCommerce to Social Media, it is Gen-X that primarily led the way.*
Let’s go through an example here. Say you’re in the legal field with a long-established Twitter presence – top attorneys & law firms collaborate with Hennessey Digital for law firm SEO, and you could very much offer the same service. Plenty of newly qualified lawyers out there are setting up their own offices as we speak, and you could be that online liaison they need to depend on.
Become a Consultant
If you’ve got a career’s worth of experience in the real world, or in a job that requires you to be there in person, you can easily become a consultant for other businesses. Start offering this service on the side and see what clients you can pick up.
They’re likely to be small businesses at first, but you’ll soon attract big eyes as you build your portfolio. You’ve got valuable insight into the way a field works, and if you’ve been in both a junior and managerial position, you can spot where either side is going wrong.
If you want to run a business past your 50s, get as much value out of the idea as possible. You’ve done all the hard work already, now reap the rewards!
