Retire, Reboot, Start A Business

More people in the second half of life are taking a turn as an entrepreneur

- Chris Farrell

Wondering what to do next now that retirement looms? How about starting a business? Seriously.

The 55- to 64-year-old age group accounted for 26% of new entrepreneurs in 2017, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. That’s a significant increase over the 15% figure from 1996. Research by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows the same age group has the highest rate of business startup activity globally over the past decade.

Older entrepreneurs have figured out one way to hike the odds of a successful startup: partner with the younger generation. This strategy offers what hospitality entrepreneur Chip Conley calls the “intergenerational potluck” advantage. “In music, art, science, and just about everywhere else, diversity—diversity of age, diversity of background, diversity of thought—ignites the creative spark,” Conley writes in his book Wisdom @ Work: The Making of a Modern Elder. “Why should it be any different in the workplace?”