AARP hosts entrepreneur workshops
Baby boomers looking for the next phase of employment may want to look in the mirror.
AARP officials are encouraging workers over the age of 50 to start their own businesses. The retirement planning and advocacy group held two workshops April 16 in Waterbury and April 18 in Bridgeport for “encore entrepreneurs.”
The workshops, also hosted by the Connecticut Small Business Administration, included presentations from local business development groups and networking opportunities.
“A lot of people over 50 are in a position where they can take a risk,” said Nora Duncan, Connecticut AARP director.
Groups that participated included the Women”™s Business Development Council, national business counseling group SCORE and Social Enterprise Trust Inc., an entrepreneurial social advocacy group, among others.
After 50, many people no longer have children at home, have taken a retirement package or have a less traditional job, Duncan said.
Nearly 33 percent of AARP members in Connecticut are extremely or very interested in starting a new career or job and 17 percent of members are likewise very interested in starting their own business, according to Connecticut AARP data.
“(At 50) people assume, like they should, ”˜I have 20 years of work left in me,”™” Duncan said. “So they think about something they”™ve wanted to try for a long time.”
For some, that means starting a business, using the knowledge and skills they already have, she said.
At the Stamford Innovation Center, Peter Propp, vice president of marketing, said he”™s seen a lot of entrepreneurs over 50 ”” and even more over the age of 40 ”” come forward with new business ideas.
“They bring a lot of experience and knowledge and that”™s valuable for any startup,” Propp said. “The startup world is exciting and if these individuals get involved and stick with it, they”™ll have a lot of fun.”
Yet one trend Propp has noticed is that it isn”™t always easy for older entrepreneurs to be able to secure the startup capital they need, especially when it comes to technology and software companies. Often the investment community is very focused on young entrepreneurs, he said.
“It”™s just an extra burden that the older entrepreneur needs to be aware of,” he said. “It”™s not insurmountable, but something that”™s happening in the tech industry.”
But to Bharat Manghnani, a SCORE mentor and small business owner, there are no hurdles an entrepreneur over 50 years old would have to face that a younger one wouldn”™t.
“Age is not a factor,” he said. “The factor is how passionate you are about the business and the time you put into that business.”
Manghnani, 65, owns a diplomatic duty-free sales company in Bridgeport and is about to launch an offshoot business to help people obtain visas and passports. He says age isn”™t a factor when it comes to being an entrepreneur; it”™s about having a great idea.
“With any businesses, age doesn”™t matter,” he said. “You have to know what your cost is, what your profit is going to be. You have to understand all those things.”
“It”™s something you have to be very passionate about,” he said.