Going Your Own Way
Baby boomers are rewriting the rules of retirement again. This time they're tapping their nest eggs as entrepreneurs
Be the boss. Buying an established business is easier than ever. There is an increasingly well-organized market for the purchase and sale of small businesses. "Not so long ago if you wanted to sell a small business, you asked around to your lawyer or your accountant, or you placed an ad in the local newspaper," Campbell says. "Now there are brokerage networks where a business can be listed for sale [ www.bizbuysell.com]."
There's plenty Nicholson loves about being self-employed. He spends all day doing something he enjoys--and can always take off when he wants to see a museum. But it's not all a bed of roses. "I now work six days a week, 10 hours a day, and make less money than I've ever made in my life," he says. Plus, being the employer instead of the employee presents new challenges, especially since the couple pride themselves on being detail-oriented, hands-on managers. "My wife and I often remark how we seem to be working for our employees rather than letting them work for us," he says.
Going it alone. If being a boss to others sounds like a bummer, there's good news. The Internet and globalization make being a one-man band easier than ever. Consultant Thomas Frey of the DaVinci Institute sees more and more boomers adopting what he terms the "empire of one" model. This is a business that outsources everything. Products manufactured, for instance, in China or India are sent to a distribution center in the United States, with customers in the United Kingdom and Brazil. Manufacturing, marketing, bookkeeping, accounting, legal, and operations needs are all outsourced to other businesses around the world. "The empire-of-one business model is one with great appeal to former corporate executives with global contacts and good ability to manage things remotely," Frey explains.
But even if you go it alone, there are going to be plenty of hassles. Running a business is not like working at your favorite hobby except that you're plugging away at it all day. Hobbies don't need customers. Businesses do. And focusing on attracting customers will be a critical, if unglamorous, aspect of your new career. "There's a lot of people who would like to be entrepreneurs, and they're experts at whatever their field is," Challenger says, "but they don't want to spend a lot of their time looking for new business, and that is key to an entrepreneurial business."
Talk to entrepreneurs, boomer and otherwise, and you'll often hear about how the key to success is having passion about what you do. No arguing that. But Nicholson reminds any potential small-business people out there to keep all that passion talk in perspective. At the end of the working day, you still have to make at least a bit of money. "No sense in deciding to become an outstanding potter making and selling the world's most desirable clay pots when you really don't like to sell what you make," he says. "Becoming an entrepreneur means becoming a hustler, at least to a small degree. Otherwise, be resigned about being happy working for someone else."
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