How over-50s are using skills from their careers to reinvent themselves as entrepreneurs
JOE BIDEN may have stepped back from the US presidential race, aged 81 – but in the UK some people are happily still working in their 80s.
For them, staying in employment makes sense for financial reasons and because they still enjoy their jobs.
The current pension age is 66, rising to 67 by 2028, but almost 450,000 people in their seventies and older have chosen to keep grafting.
And many older people are now using the experience and skills from their careers to reinvent themselves as entrepreneurs.
Research from accountancy tech provider Sage shows entrepreneurs over 50 — dubbed “oldpreneurs” — now make up 47 per cent of the UK’s sole traders.
Their experience means their firms are more likely to succeed.
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A study by the Harvard Business Review revealed a start-up owner aged 50 is almost twice as likely to launch a thriving company than a 30-year-old founder.
One such success story is Betty Scroggy.
After working as an office clerk for more than 40 years, she left to and set up a plant nursery.
She began Bali-Hai Mail Order Nursery in 2001 in Carnlough, County Antrim.
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With the help of son Ian and husband Tommy, Betty grows and ships more than 2,500 types of rare plants across the UK, Europe and Japan.
Betty, 80, said: “Our family has a long history of gardening, so it felt like a natural progression for me after years of working in an office.
“Skills I learned in my previous job, like record-keeping and customer service, have been the backbone of the new business and made it an easier transition than you would expect. It can be stressful at times but you really cannot beat the freedom of being your own boss.”
Betty’s success proves it is never too late for a new start.
Sage’s Andreas Georgiou added: “Our research shows age is not a limitation — it’s an opportunity.”
A report from thinktank Phoenix Insights supports the new trend, suggesting a third of adults expect to “never really retire”.
CEO Andy Briggs said: “With a third of our workforce now aged over 50, we must capitalise on this generation’s skills and knowledge to help individuals, businesses, and the economy to flourish.”
Top tips for oldpreneurs
HERE are our top tips on how you can join the ranks of the oldpreneurs . . .
1. Consider a gradual transition to the new role, could it begin as a side hustle?
2. Make your new business a passion project. Now is the time to do something you really enjoy.
3. Work out what you need to earn, use new technology to keep you on track to manage your business.
4. Need financial support to get started? Take a look at Visit startuploans.co.uk.
Get hol working for you
NEED some sunshine but don’t have enough annual leave days left?
Then ask your boss for a “workcation” – doing your job from a holiday resort or any spot other than where you usually work.
If you can flexi-work from home, then your manager may allow you to do so from further afield.
Here Molly Johnson-Jones, CEO of jobs platform Flexa, explains how to make the request.
1. CREATE A WORKCATION PLAN: Demonstrate how you will continue to carry out your role effectively and the steps you can take to minimise the impact on the wider team.
2. OUTLINE YOUR CORE HOURS: If you are abroad, set a window when you will be working in-sync with the rest of the team.
If you are in a different time zone to the rest of your group, detail how you will manage this.
3. HIGHLIGHT THE BENEFITS OF A WORKCATION: Explain why you want to take one, and how it will benefit you personally and professionally – such as for work-life balance and wellbeing.
Promoting healthy boundaries and habits is in the employers’ interests too, as happy and healthy staff are able to thrive in their roles.
4. MENTION FIRMS THAT ALLOW WORKCATIONS: Airline Tui and nutritional food brand Huel already offer Work From Anywhere schemes.
Citing real-life instances is a great way to show how workcations can function in practice at a range of different companies.
5. HAVE A BACK-UP PLAN: Boss not keen?
Look at other options including a four-day week.
Or consider changing jobs to an employer who is more accommodating.
Job spot
JD SPORTS is recruiting for floor managers, sales assistants and night-shift delivery assistants at a number of locations.
See careers.jdplc.com for further details and to apply.
Build up women
THE Government has pledged to build 1.5million new homes but the construction industry will need tens of thousands of additional staff for this.
To help, Bellway Homes is backing the Women Into Home Building campaign to train more female builders.
Shelly McLean, 41, signed up as an apprentice with Bellway in April 2023 and has already been promoted to a trainee assistant site manager.
Shelley, from Huntingdon in Cambs, said: “Without a programme like Women Into Home Building, there’s no way on this planet that I would have considered being a site manager. It has been lifechanging.”
For more information on this, email projectadmin@women-into-construction.org.
Job spot
FAST food chain Popeyes Chicken is hiring general managers and shift managers as well as team members for outlets nationwide.
For further information, head to more.popeyesuk.com/careers.
Garage giveaway
BIG-name businesses including Apple, Google, and The Walt Disney Co were all launched from their founder’s garage.
Now garage door specialists Garolla is giving away a £5,000 makeover for aspiring business owners to kickstart their own dream venture.
The prize will transform the space into a usable business work area with storage, office equipment, heating, and more.
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Alastair Mayne, Garolla COO, said: “Whether you want to set up your own fitness firm or a salon, there are no restrictions on the type of business that can enter, providing it can be done from a properly fitted-out garage space on your property.”
Sign up by August 30 at garolla.co.uk/win-home-business-fitout.