Category: Uncategorized

The Name of Your Business Is Important!

The name of your business is important. It can refer to your product or service, but more importantly it should be about an identification with your customers singularly or collectively (i.e. your target market). Ideally your name will be easy to pronounce and have a rhythmic flow of sound.   If your name stirs emotions, it is even better. Do you go to overstock.com because you just know you’ll find a good deal?

If your business has a name and you are working as a “dba” (doing business as), your business needs to be registered with your city or county. Registering your” dba” means no one else in the city/county can use the same name. Of course the name might not be available for your business website. This may not be so bad because on the internet, a business’ reason for being should be apparent in its name. If you intend to do business nationally or internationally on the Internet, you may want to consider trade marking your name.

You can have some fun when trying to come up with your name. Brainstorm, consider a number of names before deciding.

Single Word – Single word business names are easy to remember. (But don’t expect to find a single word domain available) Two words combined also works well. If your consignment shop only sells new, upscale clothing, call it, Upscale. The weekend entrepreneur who tunes pianos can be Intune.

Foreign Words – You can choose a language associated with your business for your name especially if your product is ethnic. Use and Italian or Greek word if you are selling these ethnic foods. In my city, there is a great Italian restaurant called Ciao Bella. If you are importing items from Ecuador you may want a Spanish sounding name.

Play on Words –A business name that is a play on words can be very effective. If your new business is installing home theaters, Sounds Good, Surround In Sound, Vision to Behold plays on sound and meaning, and conveys the idea of home theater.

Some people have come up with very unusual and inventive business names. (not all of these businesses are still in business). Since I promised to do different from usual blogs on Wednesdays, enjoy these business names from http://people.delphiforums.com and other sources.

Many Happy Returns. Tax Preparation, St. Petersburg, Florida
A Den of Antiquity. Ashville, North Carolina
Crapo Appliance Service, Redmond, Washington
Effin Computers. On Site Computer Repair, Connecticut
It’s A Crewel World. Salem, Massachusetts
Amigone Funeral Home.   multiple locations in NY
Cane and Able.   Mobility products   Langhorne PA
Sherrill’s Eat Here and Get Gas. Tipton IN
Leaven and Earth. Bakery, Berkeley, CA
Citizen Canine. Dog Kennel, Oakland, CA
Doggie Style. Dog Grooming North Highlands, CA
Murphy’s Paw. Doggie Gift Store, Pleasanton, CA
Fideaux. Outfitters for Dogs & Cats Napa Valley & Sonoma County
Hades Manufacturing Corporation. Temperature Measuring Equipment, Farmingdale, NY
Hard Wok Cafe. Chinese Take Away, Melbourne Australia
The Yuppy Puppy. Dog Grooming Shop with Velvet Sofas, Melbourne Australia
Dirty Dogs Done Dirt Cheap. A Mobile Dog Grooming Service, Melbourne Australia

Choosing your online name (domain) can involve several different problems. Price and Inappropriateness.

Price: One word names are hard to find. www.uniquebusinessnames.com currently has for sale: Burglr ($1934), Fexy ( $12670), Cazy ($5589)

Inappropriateness: Often the owner never meant to be inappropriate but the letters get misread. www.teacherstalking.org    Are teachers talking or is it “how to” for stalking a teacher? How might the word “therapist” get misread in a url?     Have some grown-up entertainment and visit two collections of inappropriate domains.     http://www.boredpanda.com/worst-domain-names/     and http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fun:Unfortunate_website_names

August 21, 2013
A Business Plan – Does a Halfpreneur Need One?

My Business Plan

Does a Halfpreneur need a business plan? It is a question that has no right answer. Yes, No, and Maybe are all correct.

YES!

If you will be applying for a business loan, a business plan will be required by the bank.

You will need a business plan if you are seeking business investment. Potential investors invest in people, their ideas, their track record, the market and other factors. Your business plan will define and explain your business and its potential.

If you will work with partners or a team, a business plan defines the agreements between partners. For a management team the business plan establishes where you are starting off and where you intend to take the business.

Last but maybe not least, you will need a business plan to set a value on your business if you sell your business, when you do estate planning, or if you divorce.

NO!

You may not need a business plan if you are running a small business that you are self-funding.

If your business is based on your hours or space and growing it larger is not in your plans, the b plan may not be needed. For instance many coaches do not have business plans. If you are going to walk dogs, board birds when their owners are on vacation, or make and sell custom quilts, the business plan probably is not necessary.

If your plans to be a Halfpreneur are very temporary, such as you will be doing small home repairs until you find full time employment again, a business plan may not be needed.

MAYBE!

If you are a Halfpreneur who wants to sell a product or service, a business plan provides a structure for outlining what will be important for setting up and successfully running your business. It can help with setting reasonable and measurable goals.

If you are starting off part-time as a trial run for full-time entrepreneur or you do not want your profits completely tied to space in your extra room or the 10 hours per week that you have to devote to your business, then a business plan may be useful.

A business plan can start off just a document to guide you and your new business. It may never go any further than your desk, but it gets you off on the right foot, thinking like an entrepreneur of business person.

A business plan generally includes such sections as: Executive Summary, Company Description, Products and Services, Market Analysis, Strategy and Implementation, and Financial Analysis. It might also include sections on Management Team and Web Use. A copy of your resume is often a part of the Executive Summary or just a part of the plan.

If you decide that a business plan is not necessary, you should at least have a plan that contains short and long term goals that you are committed to being accountable for.

The Plan

www.bplan.com offers information on business plans and starting a business, business plans that you can review for free, and business planning software (not free, but reasonably priced).

Need help setting your goals. The Halfpreneur offers coaching. Contact Mary Ann, the Halfpreneur,at 508-752-2600 (Career Development Services) or at thehalfpreneur@gmail.com

August 19, 2013
Job Loss After Age 50 – FRET or Start FRETTING

change

Recently at a lay-lead service at a local Unitarian Universalist church, the lay leader, Don Rawding, gave a sermon on “Change”. After discussing some less than adequate ways of dealing with change such as deny it, lash out at every person, situation and event involved with it, ignore it and hope it will go away, get stubborn and refuse to change, he suggested the best thing to do was FRET: Face reality, Reflect, Evolve, and Thrive.

Job loss and “forced retirement” are changes that many older but not old workers must deal with. Many workers need to have income throughout their 50s and 60s and maybe even into their 70s. Others want to work for a variety of reasons: colleagues, they still enjoy their professional work, their job gives their life meaning, structure. If we have a job at this age we’re advised to keep it since we will see more SSI income if we wait and retire at 70!

Hit with job loss, many do take these less than adequate strategies.   “Those higher ups will see their mistake and hire me back in no time.” “It’s all the fault of ______ (fill in the blank).” “I’ll just keep posting resumes on Monster and someone will eventually hire me.” “One of these days my lucky number will come up.”

FRET struck me as a good model for dealing with this change. Face reality. Older workers with great up-to-date, in demand skills do sometimes get new jobs in their fields at pay comparable to their former jobs. But age discrimination is real. Older workers are seen as more expensive, not up-to- date on skills, and 30 and 40 year old managers do not want to hire someone who is the age of their parents! If you want a job, the research suggests that nonprofits are the most likely to hire you, but your skills must still be a good fit.

own your own business

Face Reality – I have a collection of books going back at least 20 years. The advice in almost all these books is that if you lose your job in your late 50s or 60s, start your own business.   A few books published between 2004 and 2007 projected that older workers would be needed and ageism would become a thing of the past within a few years because of the smaller generation that is coming along. The authors of these books did not foresee outsourcing, the potential of computers, or the Great Recession.

accomplishments

Reflect – What have you accomplished thus far in your life? What gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment? It does not have to be what you did in the work force? It may be the family you raised or what you have contributed to a church or some other organization. It may be a hardship or a trauma that you have overcome. What skills have you used? Is it important that you continue to exercise these skills? It may be useful to write down your accomplishment s and skills. There is something about seeing things in writing. Is there anything that is unfinished that is still important to complete?   Are there areas of life that need to be enlarged? Maybe you were a workaholic and have forgotten what leisure and play feel like!

Evolve – Make some changes in your life. Do you need to develop your computer skills, exercise, lose weight, get training or a certification? Is it time to try something new or go back and enjoy some activity that you have not done in years?   You may very well have 20 to 30 years of good health ahead of you.

Thrive – What will happen if you successfully combine the fruits of your reflection and evolving actions.

OOPS – For some individuals, there may be too much of a gap between FRE and T. What if you have no idea what thriving will look like for you?   Keep the idea of thriving in mind and add “TING”. Start FRETTING.

sitting meditation

Take Time (the second T) More reflection. Give yourself the time to figure things out. Don’t rush into any decisions.   What do you want your life to look like at this point?    Where do you want to live? Is it time to downsize to a smaller house? Move to another area of the country or the world. You need or want income, how much do you need or want?   How much work time and leisure time do you want? Is there something that you have always wanted to do? Do you have a passion, expertise, talent that can become a new career?   Are there problems that you see in your community, your region, your country, the world that you can solve?   If you have never figured out what you want to do when you grow up, now is the time!   If this is too much to consider on your own, some career counselors, and many life, career, and retirement coaches can help you with your self-assessment.

Innovate. If you do not want to be underemployed, you probably have to consider starting your own business. Consider the problem that you can solve, the service that you can deliver, the craft that you make. What makes it different from the other solutions, services, crafts that are there?    How can you make yourself standout? Better service, a more targeted niche? Some type of customization?   Check out your competitors on line in and in real time.   It is good to have competitors – it means that people are willing to spend money on what you are offering!

Network. Use your virtual and real time connections. There is FaceBook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as well as Blogs. There are the associations and organizations that you belong to in real time.   Networking can help you market and sell or get any help you may need.

giving

Give.   Give of yourself. Give samples; have a free gift on your website. Let people know who you are. Practice generosity. When you are thriving adopt a charity. Give a percentage of your sales to Trickle Up or a similar organization. According to the psychologist Eric Ericson you are at the psychosocial stage known as generativity, a stage of life characterized by finding meaning through enriching the lives of others. A generative person constantly envisions a better world for themselves, their families, and their society. What do you imagine when you picture the good that will outlive you?

What Do You Imagine?

August 9, 2013
Over 50 and Out-of-Work – Review and Comments

Like most Boomers, I am very aware that long term unemployment (unemployment lasting more than six months) during and since the end of the Great Recession is a major problem for those 50 and over. Then last week I discovered the web site www.overfiftyandoutofwork.com and the web site of the individual that made their documentary, Set for Life – http://www.staythirstymedia.com/201307-081/html/201307-sipprelle-down-cloud-ladder.html.

These two websites document the lives of the long-term unemployed and the lack of interest demonstrated by Congress and the Senate. The jobless rate for those over 50 remains around three million and does not include the underemployed, those who have be forced to take disability of Social Security at 62, or those who have dropped out due to discouragement.

“Set for Life” is an award winning video for sale on the site and the web site also offers more video stories if you click the Videos tab. There are 100 stories of unemployed older persons and a section giving information from the experts. Becoming entrepreneurial is not mentioned. Everything focuses on obtaining employment.

On the tab “Interact” you can read comments from other unemployed individuals. Despite the tough times they are all going through only one mentions self-employment. (at least only one self-employment comment one 7.28.13) Everyone else can only think “JOB”. The Boomer generation challenged many of society’s norms, but they very much bought into the idea of having a job and getting a paycheck and benefits. Of course, many Boomers are starting their own businesses, but my question is “Why are the long term unemployed Boomers not considering self-employment?” At least considering working for yourself seems like an obvious Plan B, that should be considered as one moves past six months of unemployment.

The right side panel lists the tags and entrepreneur is mentioned only twice. Then there are 13 entrepreneurial resources and two do not even relate to the over 50 age group. These articles/resources are also found under the tab “Resources”.

What I found most interesting though were two articles under Employment on why members of Generation Y are better qualified for jobs than Boomers with years of experience. “Why Gen Y Is Better at Your Job than You Are” and “Why Your Business Should Consider Reverse Mentorship.” Why? They have grown up with social media and are more comfortable with all aspects of computers, plus they see the world of work very differently. This includes starting a business out of mom and dad’s basement instead of taking an entry level job or being unemployed.

The message presented in these articles is for halfpreneurs of all ages is: Business today is SOCIAL! Sounds like a topic for another blog post.

July 31, 2013
10 Tips to Stay Energetic and Overcome Stress

If you are starting or running a business, you will encounter stress and problems maintaining your energy. To successfully run your home-based or small business, it is important to make sure you stay relaxed, energetic, and passionate about what you do even if you have many other responsibilities like a family, another job, or health issues.

To stay energetic and meet your goals, you may need some strategies to balance the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual components of your life.

1. Breathe – Many people are shallow breathers, who are unaware that at various times during the day they stop breathing. Holding your breath is an automatic response to stress that creates a chronic state of mild hyperventilation which decreases your energy and puts a strain on your heart. Take time during the day to check on your breathing and see if you are holding your breath. Look at the quality of your breath – is it shallow and constricted or deep and easy flowing? Take breath breaks and breathe deeply into the lower abdomen several times a day as a way of reducing stress and increasing energy. Remember all the times you were told to take ten deep breaths!

2. Get regular and consistent exercise – Exercise is good for your body and your brain. Develop some exercise strategies that you can weave into your everyday life: walk, use the stairs, go to the gym, dance, ride your bike, get a personal trainer. Physical exercise increases blood supply to the brain and has been found to lessen stress, decrease the incidence of some disease states, and increase mood and motivation.

3. Eat well – Avoid fast food and processed food. Eventually the sugar, salt, and synthetic ingredients take their toll. The typical American diet is too high in fat and calorie content and deficient in antioxidants for brain and body health. How many times have you been told to eat more fruits and vegetables?

4. Have a hobby – If it is physical all the better. (Yoga, a martial art, Salsa) If it is creative or requires thinking even better. (write poetry, do photography, make quilts, play chess) So make the time and take a class or go online and learn something that you have always wanted to learn.

5. Stay energized in your work –. Keep learning. Take classes, go to conferences, read about what is going on in your field in books, magazines, journals, and online.

6. Surround yourself with people who give and take – This means having regular meals with family members; sharing information with other family members so they understand the stresses you encounter in your working life (entrepreneurial and other jobs); establishing support systems such as babysitting, parent-sitting, carpools, and responsibility-swapping to make your workload more manageable; making regular “dates” with each of your children, parents, and friends so you can have relaxed ongoing involvement in their lives.

7. Set boundaries with family members and clients, if you have them. – Have a system so that family members will respect your home-office work time. Close the door, post a sign, wear a special “I’m working cap,” turn on music that indicates that you are not to be disturbed. If you are a coach, consultant, or healer set policies on showing up for appointments, payment, and regular office hours.

8. Practice gratitude – Here are two suggestions. (1) Write a gratitude sheet each day, either at the beginning of the day or at the end. List everything you are grateful for and reflect on your day. (2) Pick a day at the end of the week and make a list of 20 or more things that went well for you during that week or things that you did well. Both methods are a brain dump of gratitude that allows you to reflect on your day/week, see the good, and re-energize.

9. Read, watch, or listen to something motivational and uplifting – Find books, videos, music, or audios that you can ponder or that brings joy to your heart. Uplifting music might be played while you are “on the job,” especially if you write, answer emails, or do some type of craft.

10. Engage in a daily spiritual practice – Don’t let the word “spiritual” get in your way. If the word does not resonate with you find another word or phrase. “A spiritual or growth-fostering practice includes three elements: intention, regular repetition, and presence,” (Nancy Eldridge – Action on Purpose Newsletter) There are many paths of spiritual practice. Some of the most common are prayer, meditation, reflective journaling, chanting, yoga, tai chi, communing with nature, social action, and artistic endeavors. Pay attention to what you feel drawn to do. You might revisit a practice you learned during childhood that you can now bring new meaning to or you may feel drawn to explore new practices.

July 27, 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