I was debating whether to change my show title from Practical Solutions to Difficult Problems to The Geriatric Entrepreneur, after all rebranding is a big step. I asked some folks what they thought and I got a range of reactions from “Great idea” to “Are you mad? Do you believe your listeners will identify with a geriatric?” Yes, I think if they have the same sense of humor as me, they will. In June I will be 68 years old and I am excited that today, age is no longer a barrier to new opportunities and experiences. I was 66 years old when I launched my first show on IBGR, an opportunity that technology has only recently made available to people with limited technical skills. Thank you, James Mulvany for Radio.co and Podcast.co. When I tell twenty somethings that I am on Spotify they look at me in surprise. They almost do not believe me, but they go on line, and sure enough there I am with over 150 podcasts.
Living in Singapore I take advantage of their excellent public transport system to take a bus to my office located in a co-working centre. It may seem strange to those who dream of early retirement, but I get a sense of satisfaction that I am commuting to my office just as I did nearly fifty years ago. Some may say if you are the same at sixty as you were at twenty you have wasted forty years.
Of course, I am older, and experience has changed me, but I do not go to work, I go to my office. I do not work for myself, I am self employed and work for my clients.
Many people in later life say they want to start their own business but only a small percentage actually do. Whether it is a belief they are too old, that they cannot master today’s technology or the risk of failure I do not know. For those who do not start these fears are real but they do not need to be. I have had so much fun since I left the corporate world, I feel it is my duty to share my experiences, and may be increase that percentage, even if only slightly, of folks who make the leap and launch their own business.
I believe there is a lack of support for the older entrepreneur out there. Witness the fact that I was able to obtain the domain name thegeriatricentreprenuer.com Dot com domain names are not so easy to find as they once were. In addition I use Canva for most of my images and I could not find a suitable graphic that delivered the message that retirement was not for me.
And for my younger listeners, do not let the name of my show have you reaching for the search key on your mobile phone. In forty years I have learned a few things. Although the way business is carried out today is very different than it was when I started; the fundamentals are still the same. You have to build a product or service that people want, you need to ensure that they know your product exists, customers need to be able to access your offering and you have to price it correctly, so you make a profit. I will address all these basic truths during the season. And as a plus, us older folks do not have as much time left, so we must move quickly and get it right first time. Not a bad concept for any entrepreneur. Also, we cannot risk too much of our capital, so if you are a cash strapped entrepreneur, my low investment strategies will be useful to you. As my tagline says Putting experience to work, suitable for all ages. Yes, this show carries a G rating.
But apart from my enthusiasm, how will this series help you? I read a lot of business articles and books, and in the most part they contain useful information on what to do, they are inspirational and get you fired up. But they almost universally fail to tell you the how. IBGR from the days of its launch has been focused on the how. We are using the medium of radio and podcasts which are sadly deficient when it comes to delivering images. Although I will do my best to demonstrate the how during my show, I am simultaneously launching a blog, called surprise surprise the Geriatric Entrepreneur where I will be able to post images that will guide you along the way. Such as this week’s offering which guides you on the step-by-step process needed to link Amazon Associates links onto your WordPress based website. I believe the blog will save you time in getting your own business underway. Because that is another thing I have notice about business books that promise success, their essential message can be distilled down to two words. Work Harder.
I am launching the Geriatric Entrepreneur over the course of Season 9 and I will share with you every step I take. As said earlier my initial objective is to encourage you to seize the opportunity and start your own business. But of course I do hope that eventually there will be opportunities to monetize the content but that will not happen in the next 13 weeks. So whether this venture is a success or failure continue to follow my blog post.
There will be other useful features, such as summaries of interesting articles or books I have read that I feel will be of interest to my listeners. I will share some of my failures, such as an attempt to drum up business from the dental community. I put some money and a lot more time into that venture to capture zero clients despite managing to get my website on the coveted first page on Google. Many times being the first listing on the page. I have just checked, and it still ranks of the first page if you search I need a CFO for my dental practice. In later episode I will see what lessons we can learn from that failure.