Downsized? Don't worry. Become an entrepreneur

Have you been downsized or offered a good early retirement package by your company? Are you at an age where you find it hard to entice employers to look at your resume? Think about creating your own home-based business. In Business Week Online retirement author and speaker, Ellen Hoffman, wrote three years ago! about people's experiences with segueing into a new entrepreneurial lifestyle, one where you don't have to answer to anybody, you can set your own hours and practice from anyplace on the globe. What could be better?

How to do it? What pitfalls might you encounter?

John V.W.Howe founded Boomer Ezine and Retirement Jobs Online to encourage Baby Boomers to create their own businesses after leaving their careers. He wrote that a Barclays Bank report  from July 2001, called "Third Age Entrepreneurs - Profiting From Experience" demonstrates that older entrepreneurs are starting 50 percent more businesses than they did 10 years ago. They are better positioned, Howe says, because they have more experience to draw from and more financial backing to help with start-up costs and the time it takes to develop a clientele before earning money.

Still, there are pitfalls. Entrepreneurs need to be confident enough to sell themselves every day in ways they didn't have to do when they were employed. If you are squeamish about putting yourself "out there," about networking, about following up with potential prospects, about giving talks, about using the Internet, you will run into difficulty being an entrepreneur.

You want to find something you can relish doing because you'll be inclined to put in many hours without compensation. You want to plan for this move and possibly stay at your regular job while you are doing start-up activities. You need to be comfortable with making decisions on your own or know how to outsource or ask for help with pieces of the business that are not your forte.

Yet, there are many ways to learn to be more comfortable with these skills. You can take adult education courses. You can join Toastmaster's International to practice your speaking skills in a supportive group. You can take an Internet marketing course, as I'm doing right now, with the Blog Squad, two energetic and generous women who know about all ways of using the Internet to promote a business.

If you are leery of giving up the stimulation of work and want to create your own vision of work with no one to report to...if you want to be able to take a couple of months off to travel...if you don't want to commute anymore...if you don't want the annoyance of workplace politics, consider building your own business.

If you have entrepreneurial experiences to share, please comment here.

Comments

[Bea]

I really like the informative articles and resources written on your blog and look forward to more of it. While I am disconnected somewhat from the American lifestyle, I do think of returning to the states. Learning about new communities of people and resources to hook up with will go a long way with a transition back to the homeland, especially after being abroad for so many years. Thank you!