It gives you 6 excellent tips to help you get a kick start into a new game when time and your life savings are on the line.
Here is an excerpt:
“There’s a big difference between starting a company as a young entrepreneur with stars in your eyes and launching a business at an age when you need reading glasses. If you’re a twentysomething student with an idea for a better search engine, like Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, you can start over if the idea is a dud.
If you’re a retiree looking for a second career, you have a lot more to lose–including your life savings.
The upshot is that many people elect to hang up a new business shingle when friends their age are settling down to a life of leisure. The challenge is figuring out what to do and how to do it, without betting the farm on a venture that might not pan out.
Why are some successful in building a (post-retirement) business and how can you accomplish the same feat? Here are some guidelines to steer you in the right direction.
1. Find the market gap in the business you know. Sometimes the best way to determine what business to go into is to identify a need that isn’t being served by the business you came from. One of my friends used to be in the car wash business and knew that he sold three times more car wax than his competitors. After he retired, he set up a consulting company teaching his methods to other car washes. He knew there would be a demand, and he had the expertise to meet it.
2. Consider turning your hobby into a business. My father-in-law loved building computers, so after retirement he set up a small home computer building and repair business. An ex-banker in Savannah, Georgia, turned his love of local history into a tour business. You could do the same thing with gardening (be a consultant), baking (open a local cookie-making business) and so on. The added bonus is that if it’s a hobby, it won’t seem like work.
3. Investigate franchising. If you can find a home-based franchise that interests you, the cost will be relatively low, and you get pre-built systems and support materials so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. This also reduces the risk of failure, and you get startup training as well as ongoing assistance that you wouldn’t get as a solo operator.
4. Use your connections. You’ve spent a lifetime building your network; now use it. I know a retired fruit and vegetable buyer who used to serve as a middleman between farmers and airline food services. Over the years, he developed contacts in Dubai. After retirement, he became a broker between the farmers and customers in the Persian Gulf. It was an ideal part-time business with no employees required.
5. Keep upfront expenses to a minimum. Nieukirk, the ex-Caterpillar painter turned home builder, didn’t need an office and had to purchase nothing more than a van, some ladders and a number of tools. Starting small ensures that you can preserve most of your savings, avoid capital-raising efforts and associated debt, and back out gracefully if the business stumbles or the life of an entrepreneur doesn’t suit you as well as you expected.
6. Avoid a 40-hour work week to start. Don’t get yourself into a situation that requires your full-time attention from day one. You’re not 20 years old anymore, and you might not have either the energy or the desire to work 40, 50 or 60 hours a week. Get your feet wet with a part-time commitment. You always have the option to add hours if business is good and you’re having fun.
If you play your cards right, you’ll find a way to be productive and make money even after your core earning years are behind you. You may not set the world on fire, but you’ll put some extra money in the bank and enjoy yourself to boot.
Then again, as they say, a spark can start a fire. Colonel Harland Sanders was 62 when he sold his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in 1952. By the time he sold his franchise operations in 1964, Kentucky Fried Chicken was a household name. So remember, you’re never too old to be an entrepreneur.”
It never ceases to amaze me how constant the keys to entrepreneurial success remain.
Keep Learning,
Steve
Your Success Champion.
PS - If you find this material helpful, please comment here.
No matter what kind of business you are building, no matter what kind of product you are marketing, unless you have covered the basics with a simple 7 point marketing plan the odds of success are no greater than a role of the dice.
You don’t need to gamble with your business though. Nor do you need a lot of elaborate analysis.
If you think through and research the true answers to Al Lautenslager’s (Guerrilla Marketing) 7 simple questions, you will significantly improve the probability of success.
What is the purpose of your marketing?
Who is your target market?
What is your niche?
What are the benefits and competitive advantage?
What is your identity?
What tactics, strategies and weapons will you use to carry out your marketing?
How much money will you spend on your marketing; what’s your marketing budget?
When I see people or companies struggle, often time, they have not thought through one or more of these points.
So far in this 5 part article series, I have introduce the first 3 of the 4 Success Saboteurs & How to Capture Them.
#1 is Multi-tasking - Trying to accomplish more than one thing at a time and getting sparse results.
#2 is Distraction and interruption - Losing 20 to 40 minutes of production for each interruption
#3 isFriction - Being subject to anything that does not support you
The last of the top 4 is one every successful entrepreneur I know identifies as most persistant challenge: Mind Chatter
Do you ever try to sit quietly and find it difficult to concentrate on one thing for more than 15 seconds? Do thoughts, ideas, conversations, and memories race through your mind like a film running at high speed?
Some describe this like standing in a dark room full of people all of whom are speaking to you at once.
Regardless of your experience with this, Mind Chatter keeps you from focusing your thought energy on the desired outcome and inhibits the realization of success.
It turns out that Mind Chatter is actually most often caused by a collection of subconscious memories playing in a constant loop all at the same time. Sort of like listening to 10 radio stations all at once, while you are trying to play a musical instrument of your own.
What we know about subconscious memory is that it can, in fact it must, be cleared and so silenced.
“Any conscious intention you set to succeed, can and will be frustrated and possibly completely thwarted by one or more ‘counter-intentions’ that are lurking within a subconscious (limiting) belief that you cannot, will not, or do not deserve it.” - The Secret to Astonishing Entrepreneurial Success.
Mind Chatter not only keeps you off balance and in constant interrupt, but it also disrupts the flow of subconscious energy so vital to the manifestation of your success.
It is the 4th success saboteur.
In my next post I will provie you 3 simple steps you can take to capture and disable all 4 of these success saboteurs.
In the mean time, I would appreciate your comments.
As you scan back through each of the 4 success saboteurs, consider how they effect you and your productivity.
I would be interested in hearing how you deal with them now, before I give you the magic keys.
As always, I am standing for all that is possible for you.
With sincere gratitude,
Steve
Your Success Champion
PS - Watch you email for the launch of 2 fantastic new products my team and I have been working on.
Before we get to the free interview, let me tell you what I am up to.
I am in the process of creating an amazing new product which compiles one on one interviews I have conducted with many of the top entrepreneurial success gurus of our time.
No matter where you are with your entrepreneurial endeavors right now, the golden nuggets of insight provided by these incredibly successful thought leaders will not only inspire you but will absolutely propel you to the next level of success.
You will learn how to build and grow your business from people who have done it.
This week I had the amazing opportunity to interview, author, motivational speaker, entrapreneurial/intrapreneurial success coach, Christine Comaford-Lynch.
I have literally marveled at her career and accomplishments from the first moment I learned of her back when she launched her extraordinary book, “Rules for Renegades - How to make more money, rock your career, and revel in your individuality”.
Christine Comaford Lynch is a 5 time CEO and company founder - and all five businesses grew to be either acquired or taken public with an average 700% return on investment. She has served as a board director or in-the-trenches advisor to 36 startups, and has invested in over 200 startups as a venture capitalist or angel investor.
Now, as the founder of Mighty Ventures, Christine has made it her mission to help entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs discover their dream of financial independence.
This interview was SO powerful and provides so much practical insight I want to give you access to it, right here, right now, and for FREE.
To listen to this amazing interview, just click the arrow below:
Christine Comaford Lynch
Christine is so committed and determined to accelerate the direction and growth of entrepreneurship worldwide, she is hosting a FREE event on June 6th and 7th in Irvine, CA called The Rules for Renegades Summit.
This event will give individuals who want to start living the life they have always dreamed of, a head start in the right direction as well as provide them with invaluable tools and mentors to aid them for the best chance of success. Not only will she be there to teach you LIVE, she has invited some of her good friends and inaccessible mentors and masterminds to the event as well to reveal their wisdom.
I’ll be there and I am bringing my entrepreneur-bound daughter, Emily.
Let me encourage you to register for the Rule For Renegades Summit right away. Seats are going fast.
I will keep you posted on the progress of the Entrepreneurial Success Gurus audio series. I may even post a few more interviews on my blog.
You know what would really help? Your comments.
Please let me know what you think of the interview and how I can provide more of what you want to help you accomplish more and win big in life.
Sincerely and gratefully,
Steve
Your Success Champion
PS - Please share this post with others you know and care about. You will be helping them.
In the last two weeks I posted the first 2 parts of this 5 part article series, the 4 Success Saboteurs & How to Capture Them.
#1 is Multi-tasking - I heard lots of resonance with that one.
#2 is Distraction and interruption - I heard that email is a big problem for people.
This week is #3Friction:
Friction is an inefficiency created by anything that is not supporting you.
It can show up in a variety of ways.
A poorly performing computer or communication system creates efficiency friction.
Poor or ineffective interpersonal communications within your team or organization creates multiple kinds of friction.
An uncomfortable, noisy, or cluttered working environment can create yet another kind of friction.
These, and literally hundreds of other causes of friction. While you think of areas where friction might show up for you….
I like to use athletic analogies.
Imagine an runner competing in the 100 meter race. It is a flat our, hold nothing back sprint to the finish event.
Jamaican Asafa Powell, set a new 100-meter world record in Italy, at the Rieti Grand Prix in 9.74 seconds despite easing at the end on September 10th 2007. Check it out, it only takes 9.74 seconds:
Now imagine Asafa trying to run tha race dragging a 100 lb sack of sand.
Friction will rob you of creative energy, curtail your productivity and inhibit your success.
Have you thought of any people, places, or things that create friction for you?
I would love to hear what yours are. Please share them by commenting on this blog.
Next I will give you the 4th and final of the 4 Saboteurs.
The world has changed. Shouldn’t your retirement strategy follow suit?
You’re destined for a longer, more active retirement than any generation before you — and you want the cash to do it in style. Forget nest eggs. There’s a revolution afoot in retirement planning, and expert Patrick Astre divulges the investment secrets that create multiple income streams for life.
It is time to consider a totally new way of thinking about life, money and retirement. It is time to abandon your traditional, linear approach to life — a predictable transition for childhood, to marriage and children, work, and then retirement — and embrace the freedom and the rewards that come from living a nonlinear life.
Those of you who follow this advice won’t have to wait until retirement to travel, enjoy a hobby, and live the life you truly desire.
Those of you who are already in the midst of retirement will find sound and practical advice to help you enhance your cash-flow strategy and begin living a limitless retirement.
You’ll be able to do those things now and will still be able to fund your needs when you are too old, or too ill, to work and to pursue leisure activities.
This book shows you how to become financially independent by providing common sense strategies and an easy-to-follow financial roadmap to accumulating the assets that will generate a series of income streams throughout your life.
I can not recommend it more confidently than these experts:
“This is absolutely a must-have book for anyone reaching for financial independence.” –Lynn Parrott, VP John Hancock/Manulife Financial
“This is one of the best financial books I have read. It’s clear, easy to understand and a great guide for anyone who wants to build and preserve wealth toward retirement.” – Arnie Pechler, MBA, CFP, CSA, LUTCF, Vice President, Farmers & Traders Life
As always I welcome your input and comment. Please let me know if you enjoy this book and if this is the kind of information you are looking for.
Thank you for your visit
Gratefully,
Steve
Your Retirement Success Champion
PS - I will be doing making many more recommendations, suggestion and reviews in the future. Please consider subscribing to the feed to be kept appraised.
She outlines the top 25 Influencers; the individuals, groups and trends that will have a substantial impact on business this year.
Here are 6 that I thought were particularly interesting:
Mortgage Crisis
Continuing fallout from the mortgage crisis will undoubtedly affect you and your business in 2008. As banks wrestle with the problem of bad home loans, it may reduce their capacity or willingness to hand out money to entrepreneurs.
A Generational Shift
The first baby boomers are becoming eligible for retirement, and the nation is on the verge of a generational shift as those under age 44 assume more power. Boomers are itching to leave corporations and start their own businesses. Services that help them, such as small-business counseling, mentoring or virtual back-office support, should fare well. Older boomers are looking for meaningful part-time work that helps them leave a legacy; savvy entrepreneurs who create flexible opportunities can reap rewards from their talents.
Shrinking Middle Class
Working longer, commuting farther, sinking financially–that’s how The Trends Journal described the average member of the U.S. middle class last year. What can entrepreneurs do? Believe that the high cost of oil will have real consequences on buying power, and make it easy for clients to work with you, whether it’s with convenient locations or via the internet and other technologies.
College Entrepreneurship Programs
Used to be, people didn’t think about going to college to learn how to be an innovative business owner. That was before the rise of college entrepreneurship programs. The latest trend on campus is teaching entrepreneurism outside of business school, even to English majors.
Socially Responsible Companies
Consumers care more than ever about corporate social responsibility. The “Edelman Trust Barometer 2007″ found that top concerns include employee treatment and open communication about a company’s conduct and impact, whether good or bad. “People are looking for responsible products, and they’re willing to pay a premium,” says Chris Deri of PR firm Edelman. “Take advantage of your smaller size and be nimble enough to be responsive to those demands.”
The 2008 Elections
The Entrepreneurs’ Organization surveyed its U.S. members about the presidential elections. Nearly 50 percent of them ranked the contest important or very important. The survey found that affordable health care is at the top of their wish lists, but it’s just one key item among many in this presidential race. “Everybody’s concerned about the economy,” says Alan Carsrud, executive director of the Global Entrepreneurship Center at Florida International University. But the presidential election isn’t the only one to watch. What happens in Congress and the state legislatures can have just as much of an impact on your business.
I usually limit my blogging to 3 days a week, but this morning I was so inspired by what I just finished reading I wanted to share it with you right away.
The excerpt from the book I read in an article this morning is what inspired me though. I have adapted it here:
“Learning at an early age that we all have money problems - no matter how rich of how poor we are - is an important lesson. Many believe that if they had a lot of money, their money problems would be over. Little do they know, having lots of money just causes even more money problems.
The world is full of people who win millions and then end up deeply in debt just a few years later.
Money alone won’t solve your money problems. That’s why giving poor peopl does not solve their money problems.
Hard work won’t solve money problems. The world is fileld with hardworking people who have no money to show for it; hard working people who earn money yet grow deeper in debt needing to work even harder for even more money.
Education won’t solve money problems. There are plenty fo highly educated poor people.
A job won’t solve money problems. There are millions who earn just enough to survive but cannot afford to live happy and satisfied. Many people with jobs can nto afford their own home, adequate healthcare, education, or even set aside enough money for retirement.
What CAN solve money problems is financial intelligence. The truly financially wealthy take on financial problems and know that solving them will increase their financial IQ.”
I write a great deal about the personal and spiritual growth necessary to experience true and complete success.
I know from personal experience that having lots of money does not, in and of itself, create the gratification and accomplishment of success.
I also note in these reports that you will want to do a skills assessment and create an action plan to develop the skills necessary to maximize purposeful accomplishment of whatever you are truly and passionately commited to.
Developing your financial IQ is part of the action process.
As I wrote about in my article yesterday, there is a champion within you.
Let me encourage you to take on the Goliath of financial ignorance to accelerate your personal success.
Have an amazing day.
Gratefully and Sincerely,
Steve
“Your Success Champion”
PS - Please feel free to comment on this or any article. I am always open to hearing what you want to know about.
PPS - I will be back on Friday with the next of the 4 Success Saboteurs.
Chris Cade, a frequent visitor to the Champion Success Blog reminded me of a fantastic book I read some time ago called “A Champion Lives Within“.
I rifled back through my library and found the copy that my uncle had given me years ago. I re-read it and was reinvigorated and inspired to share it with you.
In it, author Boyd C Matheson shares the story of the five ‘principle’ stones that it took for David to slay Goliath. After defeating Goliath, you may already know that David become a champion of everything he did amassing large sums of wealth and riches. He was loved by everyone in the kingdom.
It is a wonderful reminder that we all can indeed live the limitless and successful life of a champion.
Matheson writes:
“…the Champion in David didn’t rest with just one victory. He kept his stones close by and lived the principle that each one conveyed. David was not only a champion of the king’s army, but by using what he had learned, he became a champion teacher, a champion salesman, a champion builder, and more. He was successful in each thing he did.”
Matheson reminds the young character in the story as I remind you:
“…you have been given all that you need to slay the Goliaths of this life and become a great champion. Remember to review the message written in this booklet often, and always keep the five stones near you to remind you of the five key phrases that will assure success and happiness.”
The Five Key Phrases (stones) are:
“I Am Different From Everyone:
I am unique. No one in the world is like me. I am proud of who I am and my unique qualities. The world needs me to be me. I don’t worry that I don’t have all the talents that others have. I am different from every other of God’s creations and I am the only one who can perform the mission God sent me to do. I am valuable because I am me.
I Am A Person Without Limitations:
I have the potential to accomplish anything I really put my mind to. I am not afraid of failure. I love a challenge. I write down specific goals for myself. I attach a goal line to each of my goals. I visualize myself reaching each goal.
I Am Satisfied Only With My best Effort
I enjoy the feeling I get when I know I have given my all. I understand that I do not have to be the victor in order to be a champion. I always give my very best, that I may avoid the dark valleys of mediocrity and enjoy the bright sunshine on the peaks of success.
I Am Determined To Succeed
Never, never will I give up! I continue to strive for success even when the road is hard. I don’t let discouragement pull me off of my designed course. I constantly hope, dream, struggle, and work with determination to become a champion. I know that determination is worth far more than natural ability.
I Am A Champion
I believe in me. I believe in who I am and in what I can become. I don’t allow others to determine my view of myself. I am a champion. I think positvely and know that the champion that lives within me will emerge in greatness and glory.”
With these five stones of wisdom you can slay the giants (limiting beliefs) of mediocrity, discouragement, failure and all the other Goliaths that will attempt to destroy your destined success.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly Matheson reminds us:
“In order for you to succeed and be a champion of life, love must be at the center of all you do. If you have not love for each of your fellow men, the five stones which you possess are worthless. Love all and do nothing save it be with love.”
In a future post I will share 5 ways you can incorporate these powerful keys into your daily life.
