With Some Caveats, Retirees Happy In Post-Retirement Small Business
Usually Launched, Managed With Loved-One, Survey Report Shows
Ridgefield, NJ, May 9—Retirees who go into post-retirement ventures often do it for their spouse with positive results, according to a survey of more than 1,000 business owners.
While more respondents (59%) said they were happy in their post-retirement career, almost one in five said they were concerned about their choice of a second career, as reported in a new survey by Information Strategies, Inc. (ISI).
A majority (51%) of respondents said they started their second post-retirement business with a spouse or live-in.
Many (42%) said they went into the business primarily for their spouse or live-in.
On the negative side, in online responses and focus groups, 19% said they were losing money and feared for long-term financial security.
“What our survey found was that starting a business after retirement required changes in the way respondents utilized their skills and managed the enterprise,” said JoAnn Laing, ISI’s President & CEO.
Laing said more than two out of three respondents (68%) indicated they were working harder than they wanted to or expected.
Only a little more than one in ten (13%) indicated they would not do it again while just 25% reported a willingness to try another venture.
A majority of respondents (64%) indicated they expected to pass on or sell the business within five years.
“Many respondents (44%) said they had a succession plan in place, usually involving the spouse, live-in or children,” Laing added.
The survey was conducted over nine months and involved personal interviews, focus groups and online surveys totaling 1,019 completed questionnaires.
There were no statistically different results between firms with spouses involved than those enterprises run solely by the retiree.
The average age of respondents was 66 with most reporting their ages as between 60 and 70.
Almost four out of five respondents (79%) said the business interfered with other retirement plans such as travel, seeing children, grandchildren and enjoying more leisurely pursuits.
Almost half of all respondents (43%) indicated they had risked all or part of their retirement savings in the new business.
Of those, 23% indicated they were concerned about losing their invested retirement funds.
Just over three of five respondents indicated their business was conducted from a home office or nearby location.
Almost three of four respondents (72%) said they had turned a hobby or non-pre-retirement business interest into their post-retirement firm.
The survey is ongoing and does not include data from individuals who retired from one organization and joined another. Results from those respondents will be published at a later date.
Information Strategies, Inc., a marketing and management firm that advises corporations on how to sell to the SOHO, SME marketplace. It also provides information to more than four million SOHO, SME managers through a series of online newsletters.
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