Small Business Articles
Favorite Small Business Opportunities For Retirees
July 29, 2008
Forty years of dedicated service to your profession and you got—drum roll please—a watch. Albeit, it’s a nice watch, and your initials are engraved onto the back of it, but it leaves a little something to be desired. At some point in life, it hit you that Social Security is not going to be enough to get you through what may be another thirty years of life on Earth, and your retirement plan was good but left you far from well off. Even if your 401k was better than good, and you’re sitting pretty till the ripe old age of 150 on what’s been set aside, life can get a little boring when the alarm doesn’t go off anymore and there’s nowhere to be at any particular time.
At least you have a watch.
Post-Retirement Franchising
If those snapshots of life after work don’t appeal to you, consider finding something personally and financially rewarding in your own franchise business opportunity. The last thing anyone wants is to get all the way to retirement just to sit down in rocking chair and wait to return to dust, and starting a franchise is the perfect way to keep yourself occupied and productive, still contribute to the world at large, and make a little extra money to bolster the retirement checks.
Real Estate
Whatever end of the deal you want to be on, the real estate market is pumped and primed for the involvement of anyone who wants to get ahead and it’s a great way to keep busy at the level of commitment that you choose. Never having to work more or less than wanted, the franchisee is solely responsible for dictating the pace of business, even from week to week.
The best example of this kind of plan comes with a franchise with Pillar to Post home inspections. As one of the deciding factors for anyone purchasing a used home, inspection provides a detailed analysis of the quality, strengths, weaknesses, and realistic cost of the house. There is always a demand for inspectors, and as if that weren’t enough, you set your own pace, only taking on the jobs that you want to do, when you want to do them.
Somewhat more involved than home inspection, property management is just as vital and vibrant a business these days, and there’s no brand more recognized and trusted than Real Property Management. Some estimate that some 30% of properties are currently not occupied by the owner, which means that there is plenty of market to tap if your business is taking care of properties. This small business opportunity could keep you busy and bring in dollars to your heart’s content.
Hands-on Service
For some folks, the worst thing you can do is ask them to sit with their hands still, and that doesn’t go away with age. So if sitting at home and knitting or working on that deck you’ve always wanted just isn’t in the foreseeable future yet because Uncle Sam isn’t providing well enough for you, there are small business franchises you can start that will utilize your hyperactive hands while affording you a little extra play money.
If woodworking is your passion, look no further than Furniture Medic. Working as the owner operator of this small business, you are the natural go-to when people need their home furnishings repaired or just simply restored. Age, kids, pets, husbands—they can all do quite a number on good wooden furniture, so your work will never be done, until you say it is.
For a little more variety of handiwork, though, a good, alternative small business for sale is the Hometask.com Handyman Service. Though, certainly, nothing beats working on and upgrading your own home, if you have keep busy and make ends meet, there’s no better way to do it than to help others reach their home goals as well. And with enough business, you could vary well take on employees to do the work for you, making you money while you do work on your own home.
Nothing Too Serious
Our last category of franchises is perfect for the retiree who has money to spare but just wants something on the schedule to do: something light and enjoyable. For you, we’d recommend one of two pleasant alternatives to twiddling your thumbs for thirty years. The first is Bingo Lingo. Now, it may be a bad stereotype, but to be honest, the vast majority of bingo players that I’ve seen have bee on the older side of the age coin—I’ve said it, now we can move on. Whatever your age, if you enjoy bingo and would like to help raise money for charities by producing your own Bingo Lingo bingo programs, it’s a wonderful way to make a dollar, keep busy, and benefit someone else in the process. And if people aren’t quite your thing, there are few things more enjoyable than going for a walk with a cute dog—or a few cute dogs. Start your own Fetch! Petcare franchise and that’s precisely what you’ll be doing: making some extra money to walk, cuddle, and care for other people’s pets. Either way, you have more fun than work and you get paid for it—now that’s a good deal.
In Conclusion
The important thing to remember is that retirement isn’t the end of the game. It may be the aftermath of what some people ignorantly consider “regular life,” but in many ways, it’s a person’s opportunity to finally reap the fruits of years of labor. Whatever you choose to do—even if it’s not starting a small business franchise—make certain you actually do what you were made to, as silly and childish as that may seem.
Forty years of dedicated service to your profession and you got—drum roll please—a watch. Albeit, it’s a nice watch, and your initials are engraved onto the back of it, but it leaves a little something to be desired. At some point in life, it hit you that Social Security is not going to be enough to get you through what may be another thirty years of life on Earth, and your retirement plan was good but left you far from well off. Even if your 401k was better than good, and you’re sitting pretty till the ripe old age of 150 on what’s been set aside, life can get a little boring when the alarm doesn’t go off anymore and there’s nowhere to be at any particular time.
At least you have a watch.
Post-Retirement Franchising
If those snapshots of life after work don’t appeal to you, consider finding something personally and financially rewarding in your own franchise business opportunity. The last thing anyone wants is to get all the way to retirement just to sit down in rocking chair and wait to return to dust, and starting a franchise is the perfect way to keep yourself occupied and productive, still contribute to the world at large, and make a little extra money to bolster the retirement checks.
Real Estate
Whatever end of the deal you want to be on, the real estate market is pumped and primed for the involvement of anyone who wants to get ahead and it’s a great way to keep busy at the level of commitment that you choose. Never having to work more or less than wanted, the franchisee is solely responsible for dictating the pace of business, even from week to week.
The best example of this kind of plan comes with a franchise with Pillar to Post home inspections. As one of the deciding factors for anyone purchasing a used home, inspection provides a detailed analysis of the quality, strengths, weaknesses, and realistic cost of the house. There is always a demand for inspectors, and as if that weren’t enough, you set your own pace, only taking on the jobs that you want to do, when you want to do them.
Somewhat more involved than home inspection, property management is just as vital and vibrant a business these days, and there’s no brand more recognized and trusted than Real Property Management. Some estimate that some 30% of properties are currently not occupied by the owner, which means that there is plenty of market to tap if your business is taking care of properties. This small business opportunity could keep you busy and bring in dollars to your heart’s content.
Hands-on Service
For some folks, the worst thing you can do is ask them to sit with their hands still, and that doesn’t go away with age. So if sitting at home and knitting or working on that deck you’ve always wanted just isn’t in the foreseeable future yet because Uncle Sam isn’t providing well enough for you, there are small business franchises you can start that will utilize your hyperactive hands while affording you a little extra play money.
If woodworking is your passion, look no further than Furniture Medic. Working as the owner operator of this small business, you are the natural go-to when people need their home furnishings repaired or just simply restored. Age, kids, pets, husbands—they can all do quite a number on good wooden furniture, so your work will never be done, until you say it is.
For a little more variety of handiwork, though, a good, alternative small business for sale is the Hometask.com Handyman Service. Though, certainly, nothing beats working on and upgrading your own home, if you have keep busy and make ends meet, there’s no better way to do it than to help others reach their home goals as well. And with enough business, you could vary well take on employees to do the work for you, making you money while you do work on your own home.
Nothing Too Serious
Our last category of franchises is perfect for the retiree who has money to spare but just wants something on the schedule to do: something light and enjoyable. For you, we’d recommend one of two pleasant alternatives to twiddling your thumbs for thirty years. The first is Bingo Lingo. Now, it may be a bad stereotype, but to be honest, the vast majority of bingo players that I’ve seen have bee on the older side of the age coin—I’ve said it, now we can move on. Whatever your age, if you enjoy bingo and would like to help raise money for charities by producing your own Bingo Lingo bingo programs, it’s a wonderful way to make a dollar, keep busy, and benefit someone else in the process. And if people aren’t quite your thing, there are few things more enjoyable than going for a walk with a cute dog—or a few cute dogs. Start your own Fetch! Petcare franchise and that’s precisely what you’ll be doing: making some extra money to walk, cuddle, and care for other people’s pets. Either way, you have more fun than work and you get paid for it—now that’s a good deal.
In Conclusion
The important thing to remember is that retirement isn’t the end of the game. It may be the aftermath of what some people ignorantly consider “regular life,” but in many ways, it’s a person’s opportunity to finally reap the fruits of years of labor. Whatever you choose to do—even if it’s not starting a small business franchise—make certain you actually do what you were made to, as silly and childish as that may seem.
