Has anyone started their own business?

Yes DH and I did 25 years ago when I was in my 40's and we are still going strong. If you have a good product then go for it! The main problems arise, I've found over the years, are when you take on staff and have all the regulations to contend with - very time consuming.

I would suggest joining a local business club or Chamber of Commerce. I found these to be very helpful and supportive. I knew absolutely nothing about business when I started - and 90% was export - but you soon learn and that's part of the fun of running your own company. Our roles shared out naturally with me dealing with all the admin - and I mean all - and DH doing the technical stuff as ours are high tec products. I don't think there isn't a job in admin I've not done myself - including cleaning when we moved into premises because our boxes were taking up the stairs! - and it makes me very irritated when employees think something is not their job.

At first we worked from home so you have to be very disciplined to do that - shutting the office door at night however tempting it might be to send that last email - otherwise it will take over your life!

Thanks for responding goldengirl. I haven't any firm plans for myself just yet but wanted to know how many older people took this option. Starting a small business is all the rage for stay at home mums these days. I wondered if the older generation were doing it too?

I've had a highly successful franchised business (a slightly different animal) and have tried setting up my own businesses in the years since selling up.
Main thing to remember is: It takes one helluva lot longer to get going/making a profit than you can possibly imagine!

If you are drawing a pension you're in a much better position to 'let it grow' without having the worry about earning money quickly to put food on the table.
Advertising has become less and less cost-effective over recent years, and finding effective advertising vehicles is a struggle. (Don't even think about local press/freebie mags/paper directories. No-one reads them anymore!)

Network, network, network. Word of mouth is worth its weight in gold.

I'm due to retire from my current routine and much-hated job in September, and once I have my State pension as a safety net, I'll be out there pimping my own thing once again. Nothing beats it
Good luck Mollie!

Good luck nannaanna. I've no plans but I'm wondering why we don't see more stories about 50+ women being innovative and creative. All the magazines I've read recently feature younger women - where are the women of my generation?

There are plenty mollie
Many of the women who attend our local mumpreneurs networking sessions are in fact grans
Funnily enough, at a recent GNLocal editors session at GNHQ I half-jokingly talked about setting up a Granpreneurs network!

Now that's an idea NannaAnna! I probably look in all the wrong places for my inspiration...

Last week my daughter and I by accident found a cafe a bit away from the main street and decided to have lunch there. The couple were in their sixties and had only opened their business last December. The food was fresh and delicious, lots of vegetarian dishes and some meat and also a choice of two salads. Each day the menu is different which I love as I get tired of no choice because I am a vegetarian. I had a quinoa lasagne and salad which was delicious. It was a small cafe with about eight tables and they were mostly full while we were there. The majority of the food was pre prepared, such as soups, lasagne, slices of interesting pies, salads etc so they could manage with no other staff.

Some of the other restaurants in this town could take some lessons from this couple in how to cook and serve meals that weren't around with the dinosaurs.

They sound like the sort people I'm looking for. I wonder if the cafe was a whole new adventure (I.e. they were tax collectors turned foodies?)?

mollie probably they are (tax collectors turned foodies). A friend of my daughter's opened a tiny cafe with a male friend of hers when neither of them could find work, also about 8 tables. They scrounged furniture off everyone (so my old diningroom table + chairs are in there) and went for the eclectic table sharing approach. Their first bit of work was cleaning and painting the place themselves, it had been a 'fast food fry up' type take away and they scraped fat off the kitchen walls with spatulas. Their business is thriving because it is child friendly (she has 2 small children herself) and it has become the 'go-to' cafe for mums in the area. They offer about 6 meals and then the usual teas, coffees etc. and open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

But you're asking about older people starting a business. I've had businesses in the past when my children were younger, some good, some not so good, but all along I learnt about running a business. When I retire hopefully next year, I plan to start something again, this time with my daughter as partner. Will reveal all when the time is right! A grantrepeneur network is a good idea.

I'm always delighted to hear about people setting up for themselves in a simple but effective way, young or old. It's inspiring! Usually the advice is 'write a business plan, borrow a lot of money etc.' so any enterprise that is done simply but effectively has to be good. I seem to be frequently reading about youngsters who do something in an unusual way or try something totally unique and catch myself asking why I'd never thought of that, it's so simple/obvious!

I wish your daughter's friends lots of luck. But why is it mainly the younger generation who do these things? Is my generation (I'm 56) pre-conditioned, worn out or busy elsewhere? Personally, I'm a sheep which is why I'm looking for sources of inspiration that are more like me! I'm too young to describe myself as retired (not worked for more than five years) and frequently catch myself thinking I'm too old to start again now even though that's clearly not true. So I'm looking for practical examples of people who don't factor age into new career decisions...

mollie after working in the new homes sector for many many yrs,DH and I upped sticks and moved abroad where we ran (by default) a successful bar/restaurant until we decided to retire "again" and move back to UK we where lucky to sell the business and our apartment to the one purchaser as a going concern and moved back to be near to family again.
Quite by chance 18mths ago I did the catering for my DDs best friends wedding as she was let down at the last minute and from then on I have been inundated with buffets requests for outside catering,I also supply the buffets for the local Council meetings on a monthly basis via a family member who came to a Christening I catered for.
I am selective in how many I do and try to keep booking to 2/3 a month and always keep my costs very competative as being too "greedy" price's you out of the market,but I do make a very good return doing something I find enjoyable. glamma x PS you also get to glamm up when you attend the functions.

There's a food theme going on here, has anyone noticed? Must admit I'd probably opt for a food-related scheme if... Glammanna, it must be very satisfying to be in demand! Well done and long may it continue...

I think it's very difficult for cafes and restaurants to compete against the growing number of chains. To produce "home made food from scratch, using fresh ingredients, takes much more time and money. In some less affluent areas, people may be unwilling or unable to pay for quality food.

I would think starting such a business, particularly in later life, would be stressful and tiring.

Maybe something like an old fashioned tea shop, which obviously doesn't involve preparing a selection of hot meals, would be less demanding. The few good ones that exist (usually in rural or semi-rural locations, or historic cities) always seem to be very busy.

Eloethan, you made an interesting point about starting a business in later life possibly being stressful and tiring. If you believe the media age shouldn't be a barrier because we 50+ ers have more energy, enthusiasm, enterprise, oomph etc than our grandmothers. And the government wants us to keep working at least to our 70s. Frankly, I'm already feeling a bit worn out at 56 and have noticed a lack of stamina etc so the thought of starting something that will need lots of energy etc is a bit daunting. I thought some home-based business might be a viable alternative when I began this thread (to mirror those set up by young mums perhaps) but no one has discussed these, just the food options. I wonder why? So many older women have excellent craft skills ...

Perhaps because it's not easy to make a profit from craftwork? I would imagine it takes a lot of effort and time to make something innovative that's cost effective and that people want to buy. Market research in this sort of situation is vital I would suggest.

Probably right about the profit and definitely about the research goldengirl.

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I do keep thinking of trying to "think of something" that I could possibly do to make some extra income to top up my state pension once I finish working at the supermarket.

But as yet nothing has sprung to mind as in maybe buying and re selling something, I do have a spare bedroom I could use for storage.

I will continue "thinking" maybe something will pop into my head at some time.

Many “own businesses” are lifestyle businesses and never grow beyond that, if they survive are often only marginally profitable.

If you have a skill you can use from home, Hairdressing, Accounts, Consultancy, you can do very well indeed, if can work out of the back of a van, Plumber, Electrician etc, again you can do well. You can expect to work much longer hours although it will be more flexible. The common thread is that you have to have a “skill” that others are willing to pay for.

Where you get difficulties is with overheads, rent, paid labour and all the other overheads a business has, this kills many startups.

It isn't necessary to think of something new and original. Look around at other small businesses for ideas of what you could do.