Ivy Hartman: 76 million baby boomers are expected to retire over the next 20 years. However, a growing number of baby boomers are already leaving their corporate life behind and are starting their own businesses. Recent research state that over five and a half million people over 50 have already started with their own business and sbtv.com is happy to welcome to boomer expert and CEO and founder of bizstarters.com, Jeff Williams. He’s an author and coach for this growing generation of small business owners. Jeff is also an expert firsthand having started two businesses after you were 50.
Jeff Williams: Yes.
Ivy Hartman: Well, talk about your experience starting a business after 50.
Jeff Williams: Well, it seem pretty seamless to me. I started my original business just before I was forty and I already had ten years in at that point. I didn’t really think so much about being over 50. As a matter of fact, I just kind of reflected it a couple of years ago but hey, you know I started two businesses after 50.
The point that I’m trying to make though is that—I won’t say that the process is ageless but you get so excited by opportunities when you’re entrepreneur because it was always new ones of everything. You don’t really think about while on this point in my life or this point in my life. You just kind of go forward and you know maybe I don’t work quite as long work weeks as I used to but I still have a lot of energy and excitement about this whole thing.
Ivy Hartman: Well, you’ve spent over 20 years advising people, entrepreneurs for over 50, so in addition to having done it yourself you’ve spend all this time working with people on this age range who are entrepreneurs. What are the most popular forms of business started among your clients now?
Jeff Williams: Well, there are four categories. One major category is two sub categories and that’s services. Probably in terms of numbers of start up it’s either selling the services to consumers. For example one of the businesses we help once slices at home chef who comes in once a week, brings the recipes or a little of cook some of your recipes and basically he prepare gourmet food for enough for a week, freeze it and leave. And we pay our monthly for doing this.
Ivy Hartman: Wow!
Jeff Williams: This appears that time starve, you know two income working families. The second categories are business related services and in that area, we helped a lot of consultancies lunch. One of my most recent ones that particularly life is kind of the posture boy from boomer entrepreneurship is a fellow name Ken who at age 52 was downsize, the whole division downsize on a major corporation and he was an award winning health and safety engineer inside of this company in manufacturing.
And he came in and said, “You know, I don’t really want to go back.” And so now, we helped him start—three years ago he lost his own health and safety consulting, he just passed the $300,000.00 year market in the business.
Ivy Hartman: Wow!
Jeff Williams: Well, he’s very fulfilling to look at Ken.
Ivy Hartman: Isn’t that a good story too?
Jeff Williams: Yeah! It actually yes and he’s what they call the be to bear and business-to-business type of services.
Ivy Hartman: Okay!
Jeff Williams: So we got—excuse me! We got to the consumer end it service; we got to be the big services. The next category would be web based product sales or some kind. Sometimes it starts with eBay and evolves into something else and as a matter of fact eBay knows this corporately and you know about four to five years ago it really start to push an eBay stores with the concept that people start selling a couple of items and they realize to have a category.
Ivy Hartman: Right!
Jeff Williams: Women shoes, or sports memorabilia, so now, you know a very intelligently they moved in to the whole store thing and about six months ago eBay launch a new marketing initiative to get you let them build your website for you.
Ivy Hartman: Oh, really!
Jeff Williams: Yes. They are not business now in competition with yahoo with some other people. So we probably about 25% of start ups were some kind of web based.
Ivy Hartman: Okay!
Jeff Williams: And good example of that is a woman who came three years ago train as an artist—sketch artist and water color artist, had lost her job in her late 40s and decided out would you want to do something for home? So she started something called the little artist something called The Little Artist Store and it sells all kind of supplies specifically for sketching.
You know chalks something like that. Books, videos and they worked from home, they crave their create their own eCommerce website and her husband does the financial stuff is kind of kind of the money guy and she’s the public persona for that company.
Ivy Hartman: Thank goodness for the internet. You can sell stuff on there and watch web streaming TV.
Jeff Williams: Well, you’re absolutely right! I mean the web allows you to be international business today open.
Ivy Hartman: Which is exciting?
Jeff Williams: Oh, absolutely!
Ivy Hartman: Now, is there another popular category for eCommerce business?
Jeff Williams: Yeah, the last category which is a probably about another 25% of our start ups are consultancies. Like Kent, some usually in a consultancy you’re not selling just a specific service for selling advice with your connections.
Ivy Hartman: Right!
Jeff Williams: And that’s pretty popular but I will tell that we’re really careful to people when it come to those they say they want to be a consultant because being consultant used to be a watch word for meaning, I’ve been all the jobs through six months and I can't find a job.
Ivy Hartman: Interesting! Because that when you say it to me and I think of the boomer generation, I think of “Wow! Experience! Experience! Experience!” And all but things that they gleaned from that and now they’re ready to impart that. I think my problem, I would have if I were a boomer is trying to conceptualize and make all that information concise enough to deliver to somebody.
Jeff Williams: Yes. That is a real challenge. I tell you probably that and one another obstacle are really cause a lot of consultancies to not grow the way they could. And the other one is that a lot of people become consultants and do not know how to accurately estimate how much time it takes to do certain thing they’re promised.
Ivy Hartman: Oh, I bet.
Jeff Williams: And therefore they enterprise themselves.
Ivy Hartman: So what kind—what are some of the keys to success in each of these kinds of business? The service, the consulting, or the web based sales.
Jeff Williams: Right! Well, I think the key to all of them is you have to very well defined niche and you can’t—it’s almost true to today that you cannot be too specialized and still be successful business. You can be really narrowly focused. For example, I have a friend back home in Virginia; he sells golf accessories just to let down the people.
Ivy Hartman: Oh, wow! That is very special.
Jeff Williams: If it seems really narrow but it’s not. I think it something like 8% the US population left handed that’s a lot of people, a lot of play golf and he’s got a very good business going. So you got to be very focused. I think one of the biggest problems we see when a perspective launch first coming to rest is they’re very fussy about their concept. And want to do this and this all at one time.
Ivy Hartman: Right!
Jeff Williams: Was a no, no. What do you got to start with? Start with your core concepts. So I don’t think that the number one thing.
Ivy Hartman: What if some of the estimate to start up cost first, b business from one of these tricky areas?
Jeff Williams: Well, let me start with lowest to more substantial, probably the lowest cost of consulting start up because you going to start with there with a website and business cards, you probably look at $500.00 or $600.00 to start.
Ivy Hartman: Okay!
Jeff Williams: Because consultants succeed or failed based on how good the role of access who they know. And who’s on the blackberry. The next level up from that were probably be web based products stores because you don’t even have to buy the product in many case state in have draft ship. And eCommerce sources can be bought for $25.00 a month.
In fact we use one this starters called one shoppingcart.com. It’s $29.00 a month. Fully feature shopping cart. Then you go up there is a service businesses. Now—when you gave the businesses quite often it requires employs possibly equipment trucks or whatever. Now, you’re probably looking more in the $10,000.00 to $25,000.00 and up category.
Ivy Hartman: Okay!
Jeff Williams: The one category that’s really quite a lot of investment that we don’t see too much anymore, not to retail.
Ivy Hartman: Really, now, what about franchises or investing on something that from bloomers?
Jeff Williams: Well, that’s one of the reasons we don’t see so many retails. Start up said, we call scratch starters because they think a lot of people realize that it’s fairly complex and very competitive or just a whole lot of stores in America, so a lot of people that might come to us for independent business start up help are going to franchise company for retail.
Ivy Hartman: Okay!
Jeff Williams: And they’re the typically investments over a $100,000.00.
Ivy Hartman: But you mentioned in the earlier interview that the boomers are really focused on them. I want to do something that I’m good work life leisure balance also.
Jeff Williams: Right!
Ivy Hartman: I’m not in this for the long haul. You know, I’m 60 years and I’m starting my business. I want to do these four or five years and then what? Would you advise things you want to do with their business?
Jeff Williams: Well, I think that may not be always being realistic about that. They may in fact want to continue just ‘til or 70 years or someday.
Ivy Hartman: Oh, I see.
Jeff Williams: But I tell you what my perspective and this is—this is kind of my personal plan. My personal plan is I don’t intend to “retire” but what I do wanted is I want to get to appoint where I can make 12 months income in about five months a year.
Ivy Hartman: And then can you that as long as you want?
Jeff Williams: Yeah! You’re right!
Ivy Hartman: But many small business owners struggle with, “Man when I’m ready to not be in my small business anymore, what do I do to—you know, do I sell it do pass that on to maybe another relative”, have you encountered this with any of your clients yet?
Jeff Williams: Yes! It really depends kind of what you’re perspective is the beginning. We do talked to our clients about this before we get going with our coaching. And as you know where do you want to be? In my case, I want to be able to sell one or two of my companies for multiple millions of dollars.
I have another company that I’m a partner and we set a goal of selling of five million dollars in five years. Now, I don’t know that will happen but that’s my goal. Now, other people coming to me and I say, “Listen, I listen I’d like to make $60,000.00 a year for five to six years then I just going to walk away.
Ivy Hartman: Okay!
Jeff Williams: You pay up the bills, close the bank account for the business and I’ll just stop doing it. That’s perfectly acceptable too.
Ivy Hartman: I think income after 50 is an interesting perspective to happen because when you think about when you want to put back your working hours but you want to keep having an income but also starting your own business and maybe sacrificing some of that retirement savings that you’d already had.
That’s an interesting perspective that you share with me just now about selling your business for a million or two or whatever. So really—you returning your investment is quite large and are you looking at it as small business investment or are you looking as a retirement investment?
Jeff Williams: Well, truly I kind of blend of both. But I tell you in my case I’m typical of a lot of people, only about 40% of the people over 55 rather going to get their pension. I might be eligible for any project. In my only years in the corporate role I never worked anybody for than seven years.
So my future has always been the current income I get from the business and the ability to save a lot money because small businesses can save up to 40% of their income in the third compensation of vehicles.
My wife for example, she’s retired, she’s not allowed to contribute her third compensation system anymore so that’s cut off. But I can continue until I’m 80 years old. As long I have a business, I’m allowed to put into sub-QO’s and sub-directed IRAs and profit sharing funds, the government gives that option. As long as I making a profit I can put that into the retirement. So you can like have second retirement fund in your life.
Ivy Hartman: Hey, that’s good news.
Jeff Williams: This is great.
Ivy Hartman: Especially to the people who are little worried about that. That might be prohibiting them from taking that lead.
Jeff Williams: Well, absolutely and particularly do you think you’re going to be a lower to be 90?
Ivy Hartman: Right!
Jeff Williams: It would have be nice to make another $500,000.00 after your 60.
Ivy Hartman: Yeah! Yeah! “Hey, I’m sold. All right, I know what I’m going to do. Starts that now and then think about my boomer business could be.
Jeff Williams: Absolutely!
Ivy Hartman: Even though I’m not in the boomer generation, it’ll be different for us when generation why reaches that age busy mark. How do you see that changing?
Jeff Williams: I think they’ll be able to further ahead then we will be as entrepreneurs.
Ivy Hartman: Really?
Jeff Williams: I think between the facts that technology is just second nature of them because you asked me earlier about the effect of technology on being successful for something played persons actually critical.
Ivy Hartman: Uh-huh.
Jeff Williams: Because it’s really what allows you to leverage the full capability. For example, I have three joint partnership relationships where I’ve never met the people face to face. It’s been facilitate through the internet, through email, we’ve to know each other then you could put your complete dial up on the website and all of your education or back ground that you can put your references up there and this people conduct you very easily through your website. And do it in their own time and their own schedule.
Ivy Hartman: Right!
Jeff Williams: And come back to it as, “Hey, it looks good.” So I do deals all the time. Partnerships all the time that are virtual. Now, eventually I always make effort to me and everybody.
Ivy Hartman: No, that’s absolutely not essential. But what about your clients who have been doing business on much more level they’re looking to maybe grow their business and they are over 60. Do they find that technologies side daunting a little bit, learning very slow?
Jeff Williams: They can, they can. But the good news is that there’s never been more people out there who are knowledgeable and ready to help. Particularly in the under 25 age group, there’s a lot of really smart young people out there who know computer technology forwards and backwards and they’re available and usually very economically.
Ivy Hartman: That’s right! That’s could advise. Jeff Williams has joined our featured advisers here on sbtv.com. So you can look for him on our team of featured advisers at our escort entrepreneur on—
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