If the pandemic taught us all anything, it’s that no one’s job is really safe. Between an illness striking down millions, shutdowns that made ghost towns out of downtowns, and then layoffs that were both willy-nilly and deadly serious, not a few of us got the hint that working for someone else doesn’t always, well, work.
And that is why we saw record numbers of people start their own gigs around that time, and in the time since. According to AmericanProgress.org:
- “Entrepreneurs filed 5.2 million ‘likely employer’ business applications between January 2021 and December 2023, slightly more than a one-third increase compared with the number of applications filed between 2017 and 2019.”
- “Entrepreneurs filed 450,000 likely employer applications in the fourth quarter of 2023, a 37 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2019.”
Millennials and Generation Xers get a lot of the ink when it comes to this surge in entrepreneurship. But the fact is there are more older American entrepreneurs (boomerpreneurs, if you will) than any other generation. In fact, 51% of entrepreneurs are 55 and older.
Reasons for boomerpreneurship
There are all sorts of solid reasons why older Americans make for successful entrepreneurs. Here are just five reasons why now is a great time to start a business if you are a baby boomer.
1. Fewer barriers to entry
Once upon a time, starting a business was an expensive endeavor. Leasing an office, hiring help, marketing, and advertising — the costs all added up, and it was risky.
But the online digital revolution changed all of that. Starting an expensive brick-and-mortar retail store is almost passe now. And if not that, it is certainly unnecessary. Just about any business can now be started online and that fact should be especially attractive to older entrepreneurs, since taking big risks is a younger person’s game.
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Given the ease and affordability that comes with creating an e-business, it just makes sense that boomerpreneurs would be attracted to that option.
2. They have more money to spend on start-up costs
Discretionary income becomes more plentiful later in life as savings add up, houses are paid off, and kids move out. That in turn makes starting a business as a second (or third) act much more viable.
Funding a business is often a challenge for the entrepreneur. But between the ease and affordability of starting online, and the easy access to capital and credit, that barrier to entry is not one most boomerpreneurs need to face.
3. They have experience
Boomerpreneurs have yet another superpower at their disposal — a lifetime of work experience. You bring skills, abilities, intuitions, and insights that have been crafted over a long career. That is invaluable, and makes your success much more likely.
4. They have connections
It is often said that business is all about relationships. And that is very true. Between getting customers, locating vendors, and calling in favors, the boomerpreneur has a leg up on the competition thanks to spending more years in the working world.
5. They are healthier
Finally, modern medicine means people are living significantly longer and healthier lives. And that means boomers have time and the ability to work longer too. A part-time endeavor, a side gig, a full-time small business — all are much more likely and possible now.
Bottom line
If you are a boomer thinking of starting your own business, don’t let those hip kids intimidate you. You have skills, abilities, experience, and options they can only dream of.
Yes we still need you, yes, we’ll still feed you, even if you’re 64!
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