End note–Late breaking news
As I was completing this article (three days before the deadline) I received news of a Boomer achievement I had to share. It serves as a fine example of the strategies we highlight above. The winner of StartUpNation’s 2010 Home-Based 100 competition in the category “Boomers back in business” is Garden Tool Company (founded in 2009). Here’s what made theirs a winning entry:
Getting laid off isn’t easy, especially for someone who’s been in the workforce for a few decades. But for baby boomer Blake Shreck, getting the axe allowed him and his wife, Anne, to pursue an idea for a high-end gardening tool website they’d only previously talked about. Although Shreck’s career in the carpentry field never left him banking on retirement, he never imagined he’d be a business owner at this point in his life. “You go through life and there’s always a job because you have the skills,” he says. “But when jobs become almost disposable, you start thinking about [your future] more. I didn’t think we’d ever jump into [entrepreneurship] and do so well.” Today, Fort Collins, Colorado-based Garden Tool Company is doing so well that Shreck left the idea of retirement on the back burner: “I can’t imagine not wanting to do this every day.”
http://www.startupnation.com/home-based-100/
http://www.gardentoolcompany.com/
Resources
http://www.brainhealth.utdallas.edu
Center for BrainHealth; The University of Texas at Dallas
http://som.utdallas.edu/coaching
Executive and Professional Coaching Program at the University of Texas at Dallas
http://www.kauffman.org
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
http://www.bc.edu/research/agingandwork/
Boston College Sloan Center on Aging & Work
http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat
Harvard Health Letter
Sample chapter of the book SmartMatch Alliances:
http://www.coachnet.com/info/resources-smartmatch.html
References
Davidow, W.H. & Malone, M.S. (October 1993 reprint edition). The Virtual Corporation : Structuring and Revitalizing the Corporation for the 21st Century. Harperbusiness.
Feld, J.F. & Oriente, E.O. (2002). SmartMatch Alliances: Achieve Extraordinary Business Growth and Success. Park City, UT: JumpingJack Publishing
Feld, J.F. & Oriente, E.O. (2010). SmartMatch Alliance Journal. http://www.coachnet.com/info/resources-smartmatch.html
Meister, J.C. & Willyerd, K. (2010). The 2020 Workplace. New York, NY: HarperCollins
Pink, D.H. (2009). DRiVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books
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Feld, J.F. (2004). Entrepreneurial Advice From Archimedes. CoachNet Strategy Letter. http://www.coachnet.com/business/resources-articles.html (B-3)
Kershaw, S. (March 21, 2010). Ready for Lifes Encore Performances. New York Times page ST1 and at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/
Yost, C.W. (November 22, 2010). How I Hailed Cab and Learned to Help Older Workers Find a Job. Fast Company: http://www.fastcompany.com/1704707/how-an-nyc-cabbie-inspired-me-to-help-older-workers-find-a-job
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