Business is Booming
“Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples”
– George Burns
Did you know that the highest percentage of new businesses over the past few years were started by baby boomers?
Not only that, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 60% of the countries workforce is 55+.
Actually, it makes perfect sense. People live longer these days. They’re healthier and more active. They feel they still have a lot to contribute, and besides, age is just a number. As a friend once told me, ‘I’m not done yet. There’s so much I want to do.’
Some people may be a bit skeptical about an older generation’s ability to not only have the stamina to get into the game and actually thrive. I’ve heard some people question why a boomer would even want to get into the game at their age and even question their ability to ‘keep up,’ but frankly, when you get down to it, older business owners have an advantage the quicker younger generation lacks – experience and perspective. That’s not something you can get from your Kindle.
I met a man recently, who I would guess was in his early 60’s. He took an early retirement but was bored and spinning his wheels. When he was younger he dreamed of having his own business but put that aside to provide for his growing family. His kids are grown now. His wife is still working. He thought he would enjoy spending his time doing all the things he put off doing because of his career but instead found himself missing the challenge, and started revisiting his old dream.
When he discussed it with his son, he was offered a bit of ‘paternal’ advice: ‘Dad, no one wants to buy from their father.’ He never considered that so he came to see me.
My ‘take’ is this: Success doesn’t come with age limitations.
- Harry Selfridge, who we spoke about in previous blogs, founded Selfridges when he was pushing 50.
- Colonel Sanders, perhaps the best known older entrepreneur, created KFC when he was 65 and grew it into one of the largest restaurant chains in the world.
- Grandma Moses began painting at 76.
Like everything else in life, success is founded on a vision, a plan and most importantly, the belief in yourself that you can achieve it.
While some might be afraid they can’t work as fast or are not ‘techy’ enough to keep up with younger generations, that’s all small potatoes. Those are simply tools and skillsets and aren’t indicators of success.
The great advantage we ‘boomers’ have is our experience and what it’s given us. Emotional intelligence. That’s something no amount of education can buy. We earned it. It motivates us. It’s invigorating. By continuing to use it, we can continue to grow it and strive to become the best we can be.
- We accept responsibility and understand it’s not all about us. We’re part of the larger scheme of things and realize our actions have implications far beyond ourselves, our families and our communities.
- We don’t need to always prove a point. With age comes wisdom.
- We understand that other people’s opinions are just as valid as ours and accept that other perspectives often open opportunities we didn’t see before.
- Although our hearing may be a bit less than it was when we were 20 or 30, we listen more.
- We get to choose our battles. We’re less emotional and more thoughtful in our actions and our responses to other people. We’ve learned we don’t need to be right all the time, and in fact, being wrong once in a while and demonstrating grace has a way of bring people closer to us.
- We’re generally positive people. We’ve learned to ‘go with the flow’ and understand that we’re not always in control, nor do we have to be – and that’s ok. We remember nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so; and that looking at the bright side – even with failures, always opens new doors.
- Our perspective shifts, from ‘me,’ to ‘we.’ We’re less myopic and more expansive.
- We know when it’s time to stop and smell the roses. We’ve learned from experience that work is only one part of life, but not all, and to be fully functional and at your best, you build downtime into your schedule.
The world has grown topsy-turvy and change happens quickly. It seems at least to some extent, that young businesses and entrepreneurs have difficulty ‘letting go and letting others,’ which oftentimes results in the inability to enable others to jump onboard and thrive. We’ve been there and done that – and because we have we have the ability to inspire, motivate and empower others to be part of our vision, and part of our legacy.
You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old”
– George Burns