You’ve retired from the corporate world, now what do you do? First, you enjoy your time but if you happen to be tossing around the idea of opening your own home based business, then here are some great ideas to get you started. We’re sure that out of the nine we’ve chosen to show you, there could be one listed that draws your interest.
Why Open a Home Based Business?
Consider this question first before moving on and becoming an entrepreneur. What are some reasons for you to open you own home based business once you’re retired?
You can be your own boss.
You get to do what you love full-time or part-time, your choice.
You get to help others directly
You could learn something new.
You could build a huge business from scratch.
These all sound like great reasons, so let’s explore the business side of opening a business by examining the types of businesses you should consider opening.
1.Turn What you Love into a Business
We all have an interest or hobby we love, so it would only make sense to turn what we love into a venture where we can make money with it. Whether your interests are hunting, fishing, writing, gardening, building things, cleaning houses, playing sports, or something else, there is always a way to turn it into a business. The possibilities are endless.
Other ideas could include mentoring a younger person and sharing your expertise with them. Maybe you like to host birthday parties for kids, you could become a party planner. Or maybe you love to cook, you could open a catering business or a pop up restaurant at your home or even a food truck business.
As you can clearly see, the list of possibilities goes on. With a little creativity and thought, you can turn most anything into a profitable business.
2. Financial Advisor
Chances are you’ve never met a young adult that can advise you on finances, since you probably already know all about them. Why not take your experience with you and become a financial advisor to those individuals that need help because they are struggling with their finances? Budgeting money is no fun, but it an be with an experienced advisor, which could be you.
This would be especially helpful if you’ve done well for yourself and even created a nice nest egg to aid you in retirement. Your skills could be useful to someone else with financial woes.
3. Consulting
With age comes wisdom. Have you ever considered being a consultant? If you’re an expert in a field, why not offer other businesses or people the benefits of your wisdom and expertise.
You can become a consultant on most anything, gardening, finances, customer service, marketing, management, and so much more. Sit down and make a list of your business strengths, then go from there because there is always someone out there that could benefit from your consulting services. Do not limit yourself.
4. Bed and Breakfast Owner or Landlord
Real estate has always been a great investment. Whether you buy houses and flip them, rent out space in your own home or a guest home on your property, or have ideas for a Bed & Breakfast, either choice is a good one.
Not everyone is cut out to be a landlord, since dealing with tenants is dirty business sometimes, but what about opening a Bed & Breakfast? You could buy a nice house in a foot travelled part of town and open your own B&B. especially if you enjoy cooking, interacting with society, and meeting new people, not to mention giving them a nice night away from home.
You may not make as much steady income as you would being a landlord, but the chance to serve others and interact with people all over the world and show them what hospitality is all about.
5. Buy a Business
And unfortunate truth is that many businesses fail within the first four or five years. While this is terrible for the owners, it could turn out to be profitable for the next person that uses its resources to open another business.
For those individuals that do not want to build a business from scratch, buying a business that already has a customer base might be a good idea. With this way of doing things, you’re helping out the previous business owners and the customers that still need products or services.
When considering supplementing your retirement income, be sure to research what type of businesses are already out there and could be available for purchase.
6. Become a Franchise Owner
One of the most popular business that retirees open is often a franchise. Why is owning a franchise so popular? Simple, it’s understandable, attainable, and there is always someone in the business willing to mentor you as to the daily operations of the business. The franchisor will walk you through everything you need to know to run the franchise, after all, it is in their best interest as the owner to train you properly.
McDonalds is not the only franchise around, there are many others that have proven success track records, and they are not all fast food restaurants.
7-Eleven
Dunkin’ Donuts
The UPS Store
RE/MAX LLc
Great Clips
Sonic Drive-In Restaurants
If being a franchise owner is appealing to you, be sure to check out all of the other franchises available, this list is just the tip of the iceberg. Being an franchisee may just be the perfect job for you.
7. Direct Sales
Direct sales has always been a popular business for retirees and other individuals. These type of companies have been around for decades and are always searching for their next rock star sales consultant. Direct sales an be accomplished online, or face-to-face, and the market for it keeps growing every year as new direct sales companies make an appearance next to those that have been around for decades. Here are a few direct sales companies you can check out. Keep in mind, some of them are free to start but others may charge a fee to get you started.
Avon–health and beauty
Tupperware–kitchen and home supplies
The Pampered Chef–kitchen supplies
Scentsy Oils–essential oils, diffusers and more
Party Lite Candles–candles
Mary Kay–health and beauty
And so many more.
8. House or Commercial Housekeeping
Companies like Maid Pro are ever popular in many cities and towns. Homeowners that are just too busy to keep up on their house cleaning chores often hire a maid service to do it instead. Many businesses also use this type of services to clean their offices after hours.
You don’t have to work for a company, you can create your own cleaning business for houses, rentals, resorts, motels, and commercial offices. A plus to this business is that you do not need any professional training to accomplish running your own cleaning business. All you need is a willpower to clean up after other people, transportation, minimal cleaning supplies, and a desire to clean. It’s that simple.
9. Other Business Ideas
This list is far from complete, there are thousands of opportunities for retirees who want to have their own business. A few other ideas not on this list include the following:
Become an Angel Investor
Buy and Sell Products Online
Become a House Painter
Become a Gardener
Become a Life Coach/Mentor
Blog for Money
The list of business ideas for retirees goes on. Remember that you have no limits to what you can do, and chances are that whatever idea you have, there is a need for it in society, you just have to know where to look. Good luck!
