December 2020 represents two milestones for Samson Media.  As the owner of a digital marketing business, I will turn 62 years old.  But more notable, we will celebrate our 15th year in business!

According to Smallbizrends.com, 56% of new businesses survive to year five.  Taking a glass-half-empty view, that means 44% fail.  For us to not only survive but thrive after having started in 2006 just two years before the Great Recession of 2008 and also managing to grow (although slower) during the Pandemic of 2020 is something I am extremely proud of.

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AGING POPULATION CREATES OPPORTUNITIES

But the point of mentioning my age and the age of my business in relation to the Pandemic is to point out that more older workers are becoming entrepreneurs, bucking more recent trends of sailing off into retirement, than ever before.

According to a New York Times story, “In 2019, roughly 25% of new entrepreneurs were between 55 and 64, up 15% from 20 years earlier.”

But the real opportunity and point of this post is not to just tout how many older workers are becoming entrepreneurs, but how a growing older population is giving rise to the growth in the so-called “longevity” market.

Servicing this older, healthier more active population is giving rise to new opportunities to entrepreneurs, who are older themselves and have first-hand insight and experience to start businesses that range from helping seniors navigate complex medical bills and insurance claims to creating video wills to creating services to create and deliver healthy meals.

ABLE TO RELATE AND PROFIT

According to the same NY Times article, older entrepreneurs have an advantage when dealing with older clients who are more likely to take advice from peers on nutrition, fall prevention and other related issues. And because many older entrepreneurs have first-hand experiences dealing with their own elderly parents their added insights give them a competitive advantages.

AGING-IN-PLACE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Great growth opportunities exist in some of the following areas:

• Senior concierges — Run errands, shop, keep them company, drive them to appointments
• Managing technology – setting up home monitoring systems, hearing aid assistance, home Internet, Smart-speaker set up, Smart-phone and Facetime training, home security cameras, Internet training and email set up.
• Meal preparations – the shopping, prepping and portioning nutritional meal
• Patient advocates – helps fill out forms, make claims, attend medical appointments and review care options.
• Home retrofitting – Installing aging-in-place home modifications like adding grab bars, elevated toilets, traction mats, easy to turn door knobs and faucets, etc.  

IN CONCLUSION

While I started my business in my 40’s and now continue into my 60’s, I only have one major regret:  That I didn’t start sooner!