Jeff is a trainer and coach who focuses on guiding baby boomers to launch new businesses. His writing has been published in Forbes and Next Avenue (PBS), and is frequently quoted in Fortune, Inc.com, CNN Money, and many other outlets. Over his twenty-five years as a business startup coach, thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs have sought his guidance in creating businesses to fit their lifestyle.
Alan: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Jeff.
Jeff: My pleasure.
Alan: How did you get started in your own business?
Jeff: I started in 1988 at age 40 by opening a marketing consultancy, Creative Market Solutions. This was spawned from my MBA in marketing at Northwestern University and 18 years as corporate sales and marketing executive.
Alan: Why do you focus on baby boomers?
Jeff: First off, I have known from a long time (since early 90’s) that we boomers were not going to look at retirement like our parents, (i.e. just completely stop working in their early sixties and live a life of leisure). We like to be in the center of the action. Because of my belief in this social trend, I expected my boomer peers to be interested in looking at ways to work outside of a corporate job. Starting in 2001, the stream of inquiries on how to start a business really started to grow…the oldest boomers were turning age 55.
Alan: Knowing what you know now, would you do anything different if you were starting over?
Jeff: Yes, I would find marketing partners much more quickly to build my stream of prospects more quickly than I did. Also, I wouldn’t have let myself believe that I could do everything in the business all by myself. It’s a lot more fun when you work with a talented support team:
Alan: What is the biggest challenge today for baby boomer entrepreneurs starting out?
Jeff; New entrepreneurs need to understand that nothing gets done in their business, unless they push it forward. Entrepreneurs that worked in corporate are used to having functional support for area such as accounts receivable, account payable, accounting, sales and finance. These groups would take care of various parts of the business, often beyond the scenes. For a former corporate employee to go out on their own, it is necessary to change the mindset so that unless they take action, nothing gets done. For example, the entrepreneur must make sure the invoicing for the month has been completed. While they can hire someone to do the actual work, they still need to make sure it done. If they don’t, it will impact their cash flow.
Alan: What are the top 3 challenges for baby boomer entrepreneurs?
Jeff: Number 1: focusing on a single business idea that is both fun to do and can produce an attractive stream of income (good starting point – figure out how to make $2000 per month). There must be a business case for the idea.
Number 2: Finding appropriate coaching and support to teach them new skills that enable them to focus primarily on marketing, sales and delivery. Too many times new entrepreneurs are caught up in the minutiae of business operations and don’t spend enough time in sales and marketing, which is the lifeblood of any business.
Number 3: Technology can be overwhelming. Look for affordable tech help to automate as much of the business as possible.
Alan: What is the best way for a baby boomer to minimize risk in their business?
Jeff: Define in writing exactly what they will sell, to whom and why their product/service is superior. Add to this a realistic projection of the money that can be made from the product/service. Try out the idea with a sale or two or project or two to see if the business is viable.
Alan: Are there advantages for baby boomers starting a business after the age of 50?
Jeff: Absolutely! Baby boomers are very well networked, which is a big advantage over someone that is younger. In addition, being seasoned in business we have seen ups and downs in the economy and in business in general. We don’t panic when an unexpected problem happens. We’ve experienced unexpected challenges and have solved them. That confidence in our problem-solving ability is a huge plus for the new boomer entrepreneur. This problem-solving ability extends to being able to research areas that are new to us and learning new skills. Learning new skills is simply a problem need to be solved. We figure out how to acquire the new sills.
Alan: Are there disadvantages?
Jeff: Yes. We have less stamina when we are older. We also are less willing to put in long weeks of work (corporate burn-out factor). Often baby boomers are caring for an elderly parent and family medical needs can create a challenge in finding the time to run a business.
Alan: What advice would you give to a baby boomer starting a business?
Jeff: Be very confident that there are consumers or businesses who want to buy the problem solutions you can offer. You do this by getting initial sales and feedback on the product/service to verify you are meeting the need of the market. Also, make sure the product/service is packaged and promoted properly. The risk of running a business today is much less than you may think – almost all our startup clients at bizstarters invest less than $25,000 for the first year and most run their businesses for a cost of under $500 per month.
Alan: What resources (books, podcasts) would you recommend to a baby boomer starting a business?
Jeff: Regularly read three websites: Entrepreneur.com, INC.com and USA Today Small Business section. View our Business Startup for Boomers podcast series on You Tube.
Alan: Jeff, this information will be a major help to our readers. What is the best way for our readers to reach out to you?
Jeff: Visit bizstarters and click on the orange button in the top right to request a free coaching call. I don’t give you a sales pitch, rather we talk about where you are now and how you’d like to do entrepreneurial work.
Alan: Jeff, thanks so much for your time today.