Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs

Baby Boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964 are participating in Baby Boomer entrepreneurship at amazing levels. Though Global Entrepreneurship Week and similar efforts are focusing upon getting young people to explore entrepreneurship, it is the Baby Boomers who are answering the call at unprecedented levels.

In recognition that Americans aged 55 to 64 start small businesses at a higher rate than any other age group, the U.S. Small Business Administration has decided to focus upon making resources available to this sector. A new site, http://www.sba.gov/50plusentrepreneur offers help to explore the benefits of business ownership at this age. The site seeks to offer helpful information to make choices about business ownership.

One of the key factors driving this development is a change in the way people in this age group seem to view retirement. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll says that 63% of non-retired adults in the United States plan to work into retirement. Most interesting is that this poll was before the current economic collapse and that people were making this decision for non-financial reasons. Most were saying they made the choice for the enjoyment they get from work. Most certainly, with the impact of the drop in the financial market, this group will swell due to people having financial concerns.

One smart entrepreneurial idea may be helping Baby Boomers who want to become entrepreneurs. The SBA site includes an Experience Corps comment that the number of Americans age 55 and older will almost double between 2007 and 2030 - from 60 million to 107.6 million. That certainly sounds like a niche market opportunity.

This is not a new trend. Nearly half the country's self employed workers - 7.4 million - are so Baby Boomers according to the U.S. Department of Labor. And a recent AARP study conducted by RAND Corporation discovered that one in three self-employed workers age 51 to 69 made the transition to self-employment at or after age 50. See the SBA site for more facts. Also see our directory on Entrepreneurship for New Entrepreneurs.

Shallie Bey

Books for Entrepreneurs - The Back of the Napkin

When Dan Roam wrote The Back of the Napkin, he probably never thought he was writing a book for entrepreneurs. But that is exactly what he did. The book is about discovering ideas, developing ideas, and selling ideas. That is the entrepreneurship process. That is the way to develop entrepreneurial ideas and the foundation of the entrepreneurial mindset.

When Dan Roam wrote this book, he did have in mind presenting you with a set of visual thinking tools to help you learn how to tackle problems by looking better, seeing sharper, and imagining further. He does a marvelous job of accomplishing this task.

I have developed for my readers a Squidoo lens (Internet Directory) that takes you on a tour of the Internet on the topic of The Back of the Napkin. This site has excerpts from the book, YouTube presentations by the author and practical examples of how entrepreneurs have used this method to implement their entrepreneurial ideas. This is a great place to start if you are a young entrepreneur seeking to participate in Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Here is a quick sample of one of the videos you will find there.

Shallie Bey

Normal rules apply

Building Relationships over time is central to Networking.

I spoke to someone earlier this week who I had met previously at his first networking event. I asked him how it had been and he said he didn't think it was for him as nothing had come of it. I meet many people who seem to think that a single appearance or one off appearances in different groups is enough. The phone will ring continually, your inbox will be full of orders and you can sit back and relax. Yeah, right!

The normal rules of building relationships apply. Think of it like making friends. It takes time. Often being in the same place without even talking for the first few occasions. Good networking groups will shorten the time that it takes to get to know the other members, but it takes commitment to the group & not just one or two visits. The purpose of your first couple of visits should be to assess whether the group is right for you and your business and whether you are right for the group.

Once you find groups that are right for your business commit your time to attend regularly and build those relationships.

- Make contact with other members
- Find things in common
- Get to know people and follow up
- As they get comfortable with you they will be ready to meet 121
- When you meet 121 find out how you can help
- Educate people about you, your business and your needs
- Do things to help
- Make introductions
- Build your reputation & personal brand
- Go out of your way to advocate others

Then guess what? Good stuff happens to you too.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Why networking can be a waste of time

I presented to a group recently on how to get results from networking. The first part of the session was all about the things to consider first. These first steps are discussed in a recent NRG podcast, why are you networking and are you prepared?.

During the session one person said that he attended at least 3 networking meetings a week, but was struggling to generate any results. In fact, one of the other attendees shared that this person had developed a reputation for himself as someone who never followed up!

We dug a little deeper and he said he had never asked himself why he was networking. That meant he had never identified where he should network and what he was actually networking for. He simply thought it was something he ought to do and so he attended everything he could. Where possible he avoided any commitment to joining and his idea of a good event was one where all the people were new. This meant he was spending all his spare time on attending meetings and no time on following up and building profitable business relationships. He was wasting a lot of time.

Once he worked out why he was networking he worked out where to concentrate his efforts. He now invests his time productively in the groups that are right for him and his business and he is saving himself a lot of time and effort too.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Getting to know you

I have written and spoken before about people referring business to people they know, like and trust. Maybe this is in the wrong order and it should be like, know & trust. Many of us make an immediate judgment about liking someone or thinking they like us! The knowing and trusting bit takes longer, but sometimes it is assumed quickly and disappointment follows.

Many people seem to think that attending one meeting with people is enough. You do not generally get results after one networking meeting, but after a series of interactions when you really get to know someone.

You get to know someone by meeting them regularly & by engaging in conversation with them. Regular attendance at a networking group is a great way of building up a good number of relationships where people get to know each other. At the appropriate time it becomes natural to take some of these a little further. Then you can find and agree things that build the trust you need for a long lasting and mutually beneficial business relationship.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Global Entrepreneurship Week Is Almost Here

Embedded Video

Is Global Entrepreneurship Week making you curious about how good an entrepreneur you can be? Well, the time to test yourself is coming closer and closer.

In November of 2008, during the week before Thanksgiving, the first ever Global Entrepreneurship Week will occur. It will encourage young people from around the world to explore entrepreneurship as a way of resolving many of the great challenges of the world.

In an effort to support Global Entrepreneurship Week I have scoured the Internet to collect some of the best advice on entrepreneurship that I could find. It is all organized on a Squidoo Directory to get you started.

This directory, called a lens by Squidoo, will 1) monitor the events leading up to Global Entrepreneurship Week, 2) Share insights on entrepreneurship, and 3) follow the progress once the event occurs.

Shallie Bey

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Can you do all your networking online?

With the explosion of Social Networking Websites you could be forgiven for thinking that you didn't need to go out any more.

The truth is that whilst these sites are essential parts of the overall mix they are no substitute for actually meeting people and building solid business relationships based on trust.

In a previous entry I mentioned Keller Fay research concluding that 72% of all Word of Mouth interaction takes place face to face. The report includes "... in their rush to jump on the online bandwagon, marketers have ignored one crucial fact: The real power of Word Of Mouth is offline, where most conversations still occur."

This mirrored our own findings into how networking works. Networking results follow from building trusted relationships first. Most of this trust building takes place to start with in regular attendance at face to face Group meetings and subsequently in follow up and 121 meetings.

Once you meet 121 there will, very likely, be a number of steps to take before you can advocate each other, but put the effort in and the rewards are there.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Waterproofs for the Economic Storm

We had a great seminar last week with this title from 2 NRG members, Sally Rainbow-Ockwell of Action Coach and Nigel Morgan of Morgan PR.

They spoke about the importance of existing clients and demonstrated some really practical steps that you can take to convert them into Raving Fans. In fact how you could halve your marketing spend and double your turnover!

Your Network is also something that can help shelter you from the downturn. Many people do not make the most of the people they already know or have met. At this time you may want to consolidate and spend less time looking for new connections. Do you really know all the people in your existing Groups and network in general?

Now is the time to make sure you really, really get to know those other members. Do the follow up with those people you have been meaning to. Arrange those 121s that are vital in building your business relationships.

Be more proactive as the storm clouds gather.

The amount of overall business is still growing!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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Getting in front of the right person

Most owners of small businesses will tell you they don't have a problem with selling once they get in front of the right person, but they hate cold calling.

They will also tell you that most of their business comes via Word of Mouth.

So why not just wait for referrals from satisfied existing clients?

The problem is that they don't have a big enough client base to survive on this alone. So they need to generate this Word of Mouth from other sources. That's where Business Networking comes in. By creating strong business relationships with other Business Owners you can generate that vital Word of Mouth to get in front of more of the right people.

The more help you can provide to your network in defining the right people the better. Defining your right people will also help you find the right Networking Groups for you. Those where at least some of the members are connected to them!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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A mixture of Networking and Pro Bono

I was talking with a lawyer friend in London last week from a small firm with 2 partners. Although small their client list is very impressive. People with the money to pay well when faced with the type of legal problem my friend is a specialist in. I asked how he had built his practice and he said "a mixture of Networking and Pro Bono work".

He went on to say that he does a lot of networking with other trusted advisers to his potential and existing clients. He also said there are other people very well connected with his clients that do a lot of unpaid voluntary and charitable work. He does as much Pro Bono work as he can for these people and their organisations. His clients, their advisers and these 'volunteers' keep him very busy in well paying, profitable work for others they recommend him to.

Do your potential clients have advisers and other contacts that you should be networking and sharing your expertise with?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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