Author: Mary Ann

Encore Entrepreneur vs. Encore Entrepreneur

Approximately 25 million Americans between the ages of 44 and 70 are interested in starting new businesses or nonprofits in the next five to ten years. According to the U.S. Small Business Association, 15 percent of workers between the ages of 50 to 64 are self-employed, and that figure increases to 25 percent when considering entrepreneurs who are 65 and older. A 2010 survey by the Kauffman Foundation found that Americans 55 to 64 start business ventures at a higher rate than any other age group. In 1996 approximately 14 percent of 55 to 64 year olds were entrepreneurs, now almost half the working members of this age group have started their own businesses.

Ken Haley

So what do we call these older, new entrepreneurs? The press, book authors, academics love to label people! They sometimes call them boomer entrepreneurs and they are now also calling them encore entrepreneurs.

Boomer entrepreneur is obvious. Encore entrepreneur? It’s time to enter a fuzzy, new stage of life – the encore years and the accompanying encore career. This new stage of life can begin anytime after 40 and can last well past 70.

Marc Freedman has popularized the idea in his books Encore and The Big Shift, in which an encore career means a new second career that an individual would feel good about, and would use their experience in a meaningful way to improve the quality of life in his or her community. Marci Alboher in The Encore Career Handbook concurs with this concept of an encore career.

Using their books and definition, an encore entrepreneur then would also be a social entrepreneur. Social entrepreneurship is defined as using entrepreneurial techniques to achieve social change. It includes nonprofits and for-profits businesses with a social purpose. By this definition, all those 55 -64 years of age who start businesses that do not include a social purpose and improving the quality of the greater community are not encore entrepreneurs. Boomer entrepreneurs, yes, but not encore entrepreneurs.

So much for definitions. The popular press is calling older entrepreneurs, encore entrepreneurs. If someone is making a transition to being an entrepreneur after the age of 50, the author of this blog also considers them to be an encore entrepreneur. My guess is that any older entrepreneur is starting their business for profit as well as to do something that brings them meaning and pleasure.

Two examples!

Example 1

Feather a Bee – photo on a Ken Haley cell phone case

Channel 9 in Eugene Oregon considers photographer Ken Haley to be an encore entrepreneur. Ken does incredible nature photography, but he is not a social entrepreneur. He hopes his photographs will inspire a response and if they sell, that’s a plus. He sells cards, posters, prints, and cell phone cases. His work can be found at http://www.redbubble.com/people/kensabe

Example 2

Judi Thompson-Henderson

Judi Townsend-Henderson became an encore entrepreneur in her mid-40s, creating a mannequin recycling business. Her recycling business is credited with saving 100,000 pounds of mannequins from landfills in a single year. Learn more at http://mannequinmadness.com/.

I will be using both terms. If you are over 50, look for blog posts on Encore Entrepreneurs, Boomer Entrepreneurs, and their half-time variation – halfpreneur.

July 22, 2013
Wednesday ”WResources” – Part-Time Business Ideas from “Educational Sites”
Career experts say it’s much healthier to be continuously thinking about your opportunities rather than waiting for something bad or good to happen. So even though you are happily employed, you’ve begun to start thinking about self-employment or a “working retirement.” Your problem is that you are getting no quick inspirations or ideas. Here are two research ideas to get your brain engaged.

(1) Research your opportunities in your current field – is consultant work available? – Is there a subpopulation that is not being well-served by your industry that you could serve better in your own business? – Is there some business or activity that they could “outsource” to you?

(2) Explore and research new areas of work that interest you. Some fascinating ideas may emerge from some “educational sites” on your computer.

Ideas to Solve Your Puzzle

To learn about new fields visit:
Ed2go.com partners with more than 1800 colleges to offer online courses that can be used in your current line of work or in a new field. Ed2go offers many courses in areas of computers and technology as well as in writing and publishing. It also offers “start-a-new-career” courses including: Pharmacy Technician, Pet sitting, Special Events Coordinator, How to Start an Arts and Crafts Business…..

Fabjob.com sells guide books (~$15.00 – $30.00) on starting specific businesses or entering a new field. More than 100 guides are available including Become a:

Personal Chef Spa Owner
Art Gallery Owner Technical Writer
Dog Day Care Owner Organic Farmer
Genealogist Image Consultant
Doula Brewery Owner
Party Store Owner Funeral Director
Romance Writer Tea Room Owner
Cake Decorator Coffee House Owner
Fitness Club Owner Virtual Assistant
Personal Trainer Web Developer
Life Coach Butler
Real Estate Agent Psychic !!!!!

At the very least, a visit to their website will getting you thinking about all the alternatives you have to not knowing what you want to do, unemployment, underemployment, involuntary retirement, failed retirement, retirement, or just not having enough money.

OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a free and open digital publication of high quality university level educational materials. These materials are organized as courses, and often include course planning materials and evaluation tools as well as thematic content.

OpenCourseWare are free and openly licensed, accessible to anyone, anytime via the internet. Whatever you may want to learn or train for, there is probably a site on line that provides you with online training or gives information on where you can obtain such training. The consortium currently consists of 62 institutions offering 5,737 courses. A number of other institutions offer open courseware but are not part of this consortium including Harvard University and University of Massachusetts, Boston.

If learning online or from a book is not your learning style. Go online and look into what your community college is offering. Besides courses leading to certificates and Associate degrees, many community colleges offer noncredit courses that can prepare you starting your own business.

Online exploration and research is one way of discovering new options. More ideas for discovering your “perfect” part-time biz will be the focus of future posts.
July 17, 2013
Entrepreneurs and Education
Is it necessary to have a degree to start a business? No. And contrary to popular opinion, a fulfilling career is also quite possible without a degree. The issue is that we have become a credentialed society and many people believe that a BA is essential to achieving a middle class standard of living. Until very recently, having a four year degree usually ensured higher earnings during one’s working life. With the “college bubble”* this idea is being questioned. Still, parents and guidance counselors urge high school students to go to college. Two out of every three high school graduates will enroll in college right out of high school, but only 30.7 percent of them will have a four year degree by their mid-twenties.

Going straight to college may not be a good idea if:
- You are burned out before even starting college.
- You received average grades but are not really interested in academics and don’t see yourself excelling n college.
- You are only going to college to figure out what you want to be when you grow up.
- Finances are a problem and you or your parents will be taking on huge loans to fund your education.
A four-year degree is not necessary for many jobs, neither is a degree necessary for starting a small business. For some careers and some types of self-employment you do need the credentials. You cannot claim to be an accountant or a counselor without the appropriate degree. A career or a part-time business may require some training: on-the-job, mentoring, certificate, apprenticeship or an associate’s degree. The weekend dog groomer or fitness consultant will need some training before setting up their business. Does this mean you can be a halfpreneur while attending college or even start your own business right out of high school? Yes!

Now, I am not opposed to going to college. College teaching is a major part of my halfpreneurial career. I am a part-time instructor at three different colleges: a community college, a private college that specializes in business education, and a state university. There are excellent reasons to attend college and if finances are tight, community and state colleges and universities are often a good deal. However, there are still those individuals who are not interested in or ready for college, but have a passion, talents, or skills that they want to use. For these individuals starting a business may be the way to go.

I would strongly recommend that the young entrepreneur or any potential entrepreneur take some classes, even if they do not get a degree. My short list of recommended courses includes:
- English 101 and 102 – writing skills are essential in business.
- Public Speaking – you will be talking to people – can you persuade, convince, educate?
- Basic computer skills – Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, html.
- Accounting and Business – Introduction to Business, Marketing, Advertising, Business Law.
- Applied Arts – Digital photography, graphic arts, and web design may be helpful.
- Foreign languages – Spanish, Chinese, any other language used by a large number of people in your community.
- Courses in any program relevant to what you want to do – Criminal Justice, Hotel Management, Education, Holistic Health, Fine Arts, Communication.
- Self Assessment and Career Planning – helps students of any age figure out what they what to be when they grow up.
With or without degrees, entrepreneurs are usually life-long learners, so you might as well get started at a community college or in a program that provides certification in your field of interest.

If you want to be a halfpreneur or full time entrepreneur, there are advantages to stretching your entrepreneurial wings while still young – you may still be living at home, have little or no debt, and no family obligations.

What about “paying your dues” and having a job first so you develop a work ethic? Anyone who wants to start a business will need a work ethic, as well as reliability, academic skills and the “job” skills to succeed against the odds facing a beginning entrepreneur. As for the would- be- entrepreneur, a first job is great if it is teaching you the skills you will need to start your business.

What types of businesses can you or any other potential entrepreneur consider? Pay attention, this video has 101 suggestions.

If you are not sure of what you want to be when you grow up but you think you might like to own your own business, check out Profiting from Your Passions Coaching, the Services tab on this page OR take the Self Directed Search www.self-directed-search.com. The SDS is psychometrically sound career test that more than 35 million people have used. It is suitable for high school students through bored retirees. The cost is $4.95 and you get results sent to your email almost instantly. If you would like to discuss how your results match up with self-employment, call me or send me an email to set up an appointment.

*The College Bubble

There is controversy over the existence of the College Bubble. Is it a Bubble that can burst like the housing market did or should the problem should be given some other name? Students are taking on “good debt” for their education that will enable to make more money later, but many students now have high debt and several years out of college they are not finding positions that pay enough for their loans, housing, a car, etc. 85 percent of college graduates now return home after graduation because they cannot find a job. Most of these individuals will eventually find jobs and some will discover that there are plenty of positions in their field provided they are willing to move hundreds of miles away to areas with lower standard of living and less pay than they were expecting.

Research indicates that the price of college tuition has increased more quickly than housing and medical care in recent years. Check out this chart from AEI’s Mark Perry showing the rising cost of tuition outpacing basically every other good in American society for nearly two decades:

College Tuition & Fees

Mark Perry

Read more:

http://www.businessinsider.com/college-bubble-has-burst-2013-5#ixzz2YxmdE5Ac

http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/07/higher-education-bubble-college-tuition.html
July 15, 2013
Why Become a Halfpreneur?

Besides starting a part-time business as a trial run for full-time self-employment. There are at least three additional reasons why you might choose to become a halfpreneur – Money, Meaning, and Mission.

Money

Money is the most obvious reason. You may be on the halfpreneurial path because you know you will need more money a few years down the road perhaps for your children’s college tuition or for your retirement. However you may need more money in your life right now for your car loan, your mortgage, or the tuition you never saved enough for. If you really need cash immediately, you may have to consider a second job, since few entrepreneurial ventures pay quickly, however affiliate marketing is one means that some individuals have used to quickly bring in income.

Bum Marketing

Some individuals still swear by Bum Marketing as a way of quickly generating money. Unfortunately that second job may be difficult to find. Just ask anyone who is unemployed and wants to supplement their income or a retiree who needs to return to work for more money or because they are incredibly bored. Yes, there are retirees who put far more planning into their finances than into what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives and discover that with no structure in their lives they are bored and miserable. This leads to the second and third reasons for becoming a halfpreneur – meaning and mission.

Given a choice everyone wants to do work that they care about and find interesting. There are a few people who might say that it does not matter, that they don’t care what they do, but if given a choice they would pick something they care about before choosing something they found totally uninteresting, even if money was their primary motive for self-employment or employment.

What is interesting, worthwhile, meaningful is however highly personal. Our personal perspective on what is meaningful is largely based on our personality, our upbringing, the culture we are part of, and even our genetic heritage. So one person’s definition of “meaningful” might be working toward filling their

Solar Power

highest ideals, whereas others may define “meaningful” as raising their children and grandchildren, and others would say that meaningful would be contributing to a cause or campaign like developing the solar power necessary to get the world off of its gluttonous appetite for oil. There is nothing that makes one person’s definition of meaningful better than any other.

Meaning combined with passion is even better, and there are two ways this connects with your home business or small business. Your business may allow you to create income based on what you find meaningful or are passionate about. For example, you get the basic 200 hour yoga certificate so you can begin teaching yoga or you might run summer programs teaching urban and suburban families how to enjoy fishing as a family activity, if fishing is your passion.

Fishing for Families

Mom with home-based business

On the other hand, It may be your passion that you want your halfpreneurial venture to support . If your passion is your children and you want to be able to stay home and raise them, then starting a home-based business that provides sufficient income allows you to live your passion. Someone approaching retirement age may have

Travel

a passion for traveling and once thought that travelling is what they would spend their golden years doing. Now a hard look at their finances puts their dreams in serious doubt. Are there travelling halfpreneurs?

Brainstorming

Yes, with a little brainstorming, we could identify several businesses that can be done from varying locations. For example, becoming a self-employed copy writer might never have been this 50+ year old individual’s first job choice, but it is very mobile and

Mobility – Work anywhere in the world!

pays well. OK, he may have to do some writing while he is traveling, but he does get to travel as much as he wants! Other ideas for work and travel include operating tours and starting import and/or export businesses.

A third reason for starting your own small business is that you feel that you have a mission. There is something else in life that you must do or you see a need that you can fill. While researching the term “mission” several equivalent terms kept emerging: purpose, life purpose, and calling, a long with some interesting definitions:

– an overall theme for your life which transcends your daily activities.

– an ongoing commitment to a principle that becomes who you are. It is not a belief or a goal to be achieved. It is not what you do but who you are being. It is not something that is discovered like interests, but a commitment you chose. It’s essence is contribution.

– the quality you have come to earth to develop, the type of service you are here to render, the segment of the planet or population you have come to enhance, improve, or heal. It pervades your entire life; it is much broader than one job, one business, or even your entire career.

Does everyone have a mission and is it a good reason to start your own business?   I have talked to people who say definitely “YES” and most people know from an early age what they are here to do. Most of the students in my Self Assessment and Career Planning courses, however, hope they will someday discover their mission. This may be more realistic. Mission may be something that we grow into as we live our lives and we may not discover that need that we can uniquely fulfill until we

Coach

have experienced a great deal of living. There are coaches, advisors, healers, yoga practitioners and others who start businesses to work with those who are experiencing what they overcame: PTSD, ADHD, cancer, drug abuse, divorce, bankruptcy, etc.

We probably have many missions over our lifetimes. Raising our children may be one mission, but we may have other missions.    And then I have spoke with people who seem to firmly believe that a paycheck is more important than meaning or passions or interests. If they had to admit to a mission or purpose they would say that it is to make money, which means they do believe there is a purpose to their life.

Now the halfpreneur is in business and the goal of any business

Care for your source of income

is to make money, however the need for money may very well overlap with needs for meaning, passion, and a sense of purpose or mission. If you choose to start your small business or home-based business just to make money, that is OK too. Just remember that every thriving business meets a need or provides a service.

July 11, 2013
Regular Employment, Self-Employment or Both?

For most of our past history (1945 – 1995) “regular” employment, working for someone and getting a paycheck and benefits has been the norm for most American workers. Since the 1990s this “regular” employment has been slowly fading, to the chagrin of many whose first work value is security. Dan Lacey predicted the decline of steady employment in The Paycheck Disruption, 1990 and Cliff Hakim’s book We Are All Self-Employed, 2003, stated the need for Americans to reassess their place in the marketplace. William Bridges predicted both the fading of steady employment in JobShift, 1994, and that each individual was his or her own enterprise, Creating You and Co., 1998.

So whether or not you start a business, every working person today has to regard themselves as self-employed. Working for a salary is renting your skills; we are all temporary employees. Over the past 15-20 years, more and more individuals have started small businesses as either primary or secondary forms of income.

If you are thinking about starting your own business, you are not only in sync with a number of authors but also in sync with an old tradition and with some of the past leaders of our nation.

Colonial Stores

The more people who own little businesses of their own, the safer our country will be … for the people who have a stake in their country and their community are its best citizens. —– John Hancock

The prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors for wages for a while, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself, then labors on his own account for another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him. This … is …the just, and generous, and prosperous system, which opens the way to all, gives hope to all. —— Abraham Lincoln —- “Annual Address before the Wisconsin Agricultural Society”

American Flags

Happy 4^th of July!

July 3, 2013
What Is a Halfpreneur?

So what is a Halfpreneur? I coined the term when I was taking a coaching course (Profiting from Your Passions) that was designed to help individuals change course and start their own businesses. Most of my colleagues wanted to have full-time businesses and help others escape their cubicles and start their own businesses. The trouble was that I liked my full-time job and the part-time business that I had on the side. I liked having both and I knew many others who were part-time entrepreneurs and had “day jobs.” So a halfpreneur had one foot in employment (paychecks, benefits) and one foot in self-employment (additional income, better use of talents or skills, passion, mission ….) However, since creating this term, new definitions have kept emerging.

True to my background as an educator, I can’t resist putting my definitions into categories and giving examples.

Photographer

THE TRUE HALFPRENEURS – those who work year round or have a continual passive income

– New Biz Halfpreneurs – the most entrepreneurial of the halfprenuers – those who start new businesses and run them by themselves or with others. Personally I know an industry sales manager who is also a part-time real estate agent; a full-time health care professional and Reiki Master who teaches Reiki and performs Reiki treatments; and a full time social services worker who owns and manages a bar and employs the bartenders.

–Professional Halfpreneurs – those who have a licensed profession, work for an organization and have their own private practice. Among my friends and acquaintances there is an agency social worker with a private practice and a teacher who offers tutoring.

– “Artist” Halfpreneurs – this includes artists, photographers, musicians, authors, speakers, and performers who work in their art and have a “day” job.

–Craft Halfpreneurs– those with a craft who work on their craft/”hobby” year round and sell their crafts at craft fairs, in consignment shops and/or online. One of my colleagues gets free empty liquor bottles from bars and turns them into lamps. He has friends who recycle liquor bottle glass into ornaments and cheese trays.

–OnlineHalfpreneurs – those who do all their work online or by phone. Online halfpreneurs may be coaches, internet marketers, affiliate marketers, or do online auctions.

– MLM Halfpreneurs – Due diligence is required for this option, but some MLM organizations are much better than others. I know people who love and are doing very well in vitamin and jewelry MLMs.

Decorated House, picture image

SEASONAL HALFPRENEURS – those who work only at certain times of the year

Depending on the season:

Winter – Christmas house decorator. (Decorate property and take down decorations after Christmas)

Fall –Researching, organizing and leading October ghost tours.

Summer – I worked with a client who decided with his wife to offer bass fishing outings (food, equipment instruction) to couples looking for a new shared out-of-doors leisure time activity. Offering before and after daycare for summer camps is a godsend for parents whose work schedules don’t mesh with the 8:00am -3:00pm camp program.

Spring/Summer – Yard sale shopper – buy “stuff” cheap and resell at profit in consignment stores, on Craig’s List, or online,

Professor

CONTRACT HALFPRENEURS – those whose work is contractual

–Adjunct professors – usually teach one or two courses per semester and the commitment of the college and the professor is over at the end of the term.

–Online contractors – get work assignments for writing, graphic arts, web site development through fiverr.com, elance.com, or other sites.

Trailer

ASSET HALFPRENEURS – those with something to rent

–The Landlord – owns property and rents out apartments, rooms, or a summer home.

–The Mini-landlord – rents out an empty garage, extra storage space, space for yard sales, or a garden.

–The “Rental Agent” – briefly rents out his or her boat, camper, rototiller, cement mixer

Landscape

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP HALFPRENEURS – those who start a business while still employed as a trial run to see if their business is something that they really want to eventually pursue full time or to see if their entrepreneurial idea is even feasible.

Consultant

ENCORE HALFPRENEURS – individuals over 50 who start new businesses or are in the process of planning/starting a business as they continue working. The Encore Years have been roughly defined as 50 to 70+. Encore halfpreneurs have often thought earlier in life of starting businesses but as older, experienced adults, the timing now seems right. Many gravitate to consulting, public speaking, writing, coaching, although I know one woman who makes and sells jewelry. Younger encore halfpreneurs may return to school to get the training or credentials that might be needed for their future business.

Working Retiree

RELUCTANT HALFPRENEURS – half-hearted, reluctant individuals who never saw themselves as entrepreneurial, but now are unable to find suitable, well paying positions.

–Forced early retirement – the early retirement package could not be turned down, but they are not ready to be retired and meaningful or adequate paying jobs are not coming through. They know that somehow their expertise, interests, or passions could become the foundation of their own business.

– Running out of money retirees – retirement was great but either they overspent or their nest egg has vanished during the Great Recession. Not wanting to be a greeter or work in a fast food restaurant, they may somewhat reluctantly decide to use their skills and start a small business.

–Long-term Unemployed – the options have become Welfare (Transitional Assistance), trying to convince a doctor and the government that you are disabled, or figuring out if you have what it takes to start a business that will provide some financial security and a needed boost to your self-esteem and self-efficacy.

Let me know if I need to put another category on my list.

June 23, 2013