Many people over 50 face their retirement days with confusion. Few of them really know what to do with their pension funds. The good news is technology brings plenty options of small business for retired people. Therefore, the trends in some big cities in the United States shows that many baby boomers, who are about to retire in few years, are starting small business. They are trying to make a different mark on small business industry in an energetic way.

Facts behind the Trends of Small Business for Retired People

A recent survey conducted by Guidant Financial involved more than 2.600 owners of small businesses. Surprisingly, the survey uncovered some facts about the baby boomers, who were born between 1946 to 1964. The following are interesting things revealed by the survey:

• Despite their age, retirement is far from the baby boomers’ mind. They do not want to be bothered with the retirement. Instead, they want to use the time productively.
• More than half of small businesses in the United States are owned by baby boomers.
• Three-fourth of the business owners over 50 is male, while the remaining are females.
• Baby boomers that run small businesses are most likely to live in California, Florida, New York, Texas, and North Carolina.
• The most popular small business for retired people include business services, restaurant, automotive, health/fitness, and general retail.
• Most baby boomers run business not because they are laid off or because they do not know what to do. Instead, most of them are pursuing their passion and making use of the coming opportunity. Some of them run the businesses because they were not satisfied with corporate America.
• Most of them have good business growth plan. They run the business well, thus allowing them to draw big plans for growth. Only 6% of them considered selling their business.
• Most business owners over 50 were not bothered with money matter. They run the business as it is. However, they reported that their business was profitable.
• Most of baby boomers started or bought the business independently. Only 14% of them ran franchise business.
• The top financing methods included cash, 401(k) plans, a line of credit, friends and family, or unsecured loan.

Challenges Small Business for Retired People

Of course, the baby boomers also face many challenges in running the business. They spent most of their time working for a company or government agency. They were not used to running a business. The survey also found that the most common challenges faced by the small business owners over 50 were lack of capital or cash flow, marketing and advertising, and administrative works.

Those challenges could be related to lack of experience in running a business. They were not prepared to establish an extensive relationship with the customers and suppliers. They were not used to using social media for marketing and advertising, and they did not have enough time and energy to take care of administrative work.

The country is seeing a change in the small business trends. This is good news actually, since the baby boomers will not become added burden for the younger generation. Hopefully, they can secure their financial condition during the retirement days.