Over one-third of new businesses are started by people over 50...

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Frank477

This is yet another incredible article that was posted on sowpub. I have first hand experience with this topic as my own father started a business last year and it became so successful that he opened yet another business. He is nearly 60 years old.

A part of the reason he was able to commit to a new business was something that he likes to call "ageism". He aged out of his position as manager at a printing company, had he not "aged out" he would have eventually loss his position as the world of printing took a hit in the last ten years.

He left South Carolina for Florida and bought an existing hole-in-the-wall (restaurant). Within six months he was able to open a grocery store. My father now has more stress than he has had in years but he insists that it is keeping him young.

Kudos to the over 50 crowd jumping in and opening business. Well done, thanks again for the great article, I will pass it along to my father.

Hi Frank,

Thanks for posting about the experience of your father!

I really think that what will kill you more quickly is sitting around doing nothing, and feeling like you are making no contribution to society...

I once sent out an email (to my own email list) saying that I plan to never retire. I got some email replies back from people who were incredulous, and couldn't believe it, and thought I was crazy! By saying I plan to never retire, I mean I could not imagine myself sitting around doing nothing... Nothing would be worse!

I agree with you about ageism. The wisdom which comes with time cannot be achieved quickly! I remember, being in my late teens, and thinking I knew everything. Of course, now that I'm middle-aged, I know a lot less than I knew in my teens!

Over the past few years, I've worked with Harvey Brody, who is now in his 80s, and still as sharp as a tack! He has entrepreneurial and business wisdom I have never come across before... My own health derailed that for a while (more on that in a second), but my health is back on track now and I'm getting all my projects back on track, too!

As you may know (if you've read some of my earlier posts), I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a few years ago (but with hindsight, I know now that I had it before that, from the symptoms)... I was grossly overweight, and things got worse and worse. I started getting diabetic neuropathy - that's when the high sugar levels in your blood start killing your nerves, in my case it happened in my feet. The result is excruciating pain, that I've never felt before!

However, my health is back on track now, and things have greatly improved! I've lost a lot of weight (maybe I can post more about that in another post) - over 55 lbs (25 kg) over several years, and my health and energy levels are now the best they've been for many years!

I tried many, many things to deal with the neuropathic pain, which is very debilitating. I found a lot of natural things which worked, from my own research of the medical literature, but I have never seen all these things mentioned in one place before... So one of my projects is to put all this information together in a book... And turn "lemons" into "lemonade!"

My main point is... Taking good care of your health is critical! In my case, my income took a hit due to my poor health... While I could still formulate plans, my health problems got in the way of fulfilling them!

I also learned about the importance of health from Harvey Brody. He takes very good care of his health - which is why he's still in such good shape, mentally and physically, in his 80s. He doesn't eat anything "which comes from a factory" (as he puts it), that is, no canned food, processed food, etc. He also exercises regularly...

This diabetic episode for me has been a huge "wake up call"... I now watch what I eat very carefully (especially the calories), and make sure I get my regular exercise too (though I can still improve on that front)!

Sorry - I may have gotten off track... But I guess my point is, if you want to keep going and having fun in business into a more senior age bracket (like Harvey Brody), take care to look after your health...!

Best wishes,

Dien