Retirement guides usually focus on leisure and doing the most out of funds squirreled away for someone’s later years. However, more seniors choose to start a business in their twilight years. Seniors opt to have their own businesses or go at it as independent contractors due to their skills and the freedom that retirement brings.
Which types of businesses can senior citizens thrive in? Read on to find out.
Senior Care
Who better to start a senior care center than someone beginning their own golden years? Older adults can start with a franchise opportunity for senior care services.
Senior care can range from home services to residency. In-home carers ensure that an elderly person’s needs are taken care of while allowing them to live independently in their own homes. Residency means taking care of a senior who likely needs monitoring for their health condition, or would prefer to be in a more social environment.
Older adults can also act as a concierge for other seniors. Elderly who can no longer conduct transactions or prepare their meals may seek help from senior concierge. This line of work is different from providing care as elderly availing of concierge services may already have a caregiver.
Consultancy
Living a long, ripe life means accumulating useful knowledge and skills in a field or two. Older adults can translate these skills into a consultancy business. Seniors in this field parlay their lifelong knowledge into effective, informed advice for young professionals who need help for their careers or business.
Depending on the field seniors specialized in, they may go for different fields. Some consulting professions require formal training, certification, and licensing before one can become a fully-independent consultant. Once everything on that field’s done, new consultants need to select and do research on their target to tweak their services to be more appealing.
House Sitting
Though it’s a business that can be done by younger folks, older adults can get in on the house sitting business. As seniors, they can decide how many appointments they can take in a month and know how to care for houses in the most efficient way possible.
Depending on how proactive an older adult wishes to or is capable of being, they can throw in additions to their services. Pet sitting could be automatically tacked on the basic service or put in as an add-on. Lawn care and simple landscaping can be a premium addition.
Catering
Older adults who always loved to cook but could never find the time to do big meals can channel their energy into catering. The business can take on many forms too. Elderly folk can cater for small groups, big families, special occasions, or a regular barbecue. In keeping with the recent fitness craze, older adults can also offer meal prep for busy young adults who want to stay fit but want a tasty homemade meal.
Seniors starting out should be on the lookout for grants that could help their business out. Certain countries offer grants for new business owners and for seniors. Older adults can also hit two birds with one stone by hiring new graduates from their family or friend’s circles.
Getting older doesn’t mean becoming more dependent on others. Seniors can live a full life that balances leisure with meaningful work even during their golden years.