Let’s just get one thing out of the way: I don’t like the word “boomer.” I’ve never gone “BOOM!” in my entire life. Demographically, I’m a boomer but personality-wise, uh, not so much. If you’ve got a better name for this demographic, I’d love to hear it in the comments!
It’s unmistakable though: whether we call ourselves boomers or not, women over 50 are starting businesses faster than ever. And I think that’s great news for our economy, for our communities, and for ourselves.
Here are my 50 reasons that women over 50 make GREAT entrepreneurs:
- Time flexibility
- Location flexibility
- Expand your own education
- Apply your own education
- Travel for your business
- Meet people from all over the world through online engagement
- Volunteer with more flexibility
- Add money to your kids’ college fund
- Get paid for your skills
- Sidestep age discrimination
- Apply the depth of your life experience
- Leverage the your lifelong contacts
- Long time residence in a community gives you credibility and connections there
- Kids’ schedules are not a factor or are less demanding
- Existing savings can help you get started
- You know what you want more clearly than ever
- You care what other people think less than ever
- You know life is short and there’s no time to waste
- It’s a great intellectual challenge
- It’s an opportunity for spiritual growth
- You’re not limited by a salary cap
- You get to be your own boss
- You can’t get laid off
- You can write off your gadgets, if you use them for work
- You don’t have to work in a stuffy office tower
- You want to avoid office politics
- You can work while traveling
- You can create residual earning opportunities
- It’s never been cheaper to start a business web site thanks to WordPress
- It’s never been easier to get PR thanks to social media
- It’s never been easier to learn those technologies
- You’re on Facebook anyway
- You can contract for anything you need for less money than ever
- You can be global from day one
- Deferred compensation programs like retirement accounts are generous for the self-employed
- Fill in the gaps of investment-based retirement income, especially when rates of return are low
- Flexibility to be available for aging parents
- Technology makes it less expensive to start a business than ever before
- You know how to get up from life’s knocks
- You have an idea that you want to see realized
- You want to make a difference in your community
- Creating success is empowering
- You want to achieve your potential
- You have more time on your hands
- You’re tired of giving so much of your time to an employer
- You want to stand up for your personal values
- You want to give more to charity
- You want to build wealth
- You want to create a legacy
- You know you really want to
Got more? I’d love to hear your reasons for starting a business.
image credit: opensourceway
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