Are you wondering when you should start your retirement business? Well, I am here to tell you not to make the mistake that other people made. Do not wait until you retire before you start your business.
The challenge is that most people make the mistake of waiting until the last minute before they start their business. Why is that a mistake? Well, there are several phases involved in starting a business and you do not have to compress those activities into a few months after you have left service. If you do, then you will be under pressure to make money.
While i agree that there are laws that do not allow you to operate a business while in you are in some types of paid employment (civil service, military, or paramilitary), these laws do not stop you from preparing for your retirement.
My honest opinion is that there are some pre-start up activities that you can carry out while in paid employment. If you start these activities while you are in service, you will reduce the time it will take to establish your business when your salary stops.
In this blog post, I will share five of these activities. The best time for these activities? I think that you should start engaging in them in the last five years of your stay in paid employment. This will give you time to learn new skills.
Here are some activities required to start a profitable business that you can participate in while you are still in paid employment:
- Attending trainings (managerial and technical).
- Identifying a profitable business idea.
- Developing your business plan.
- Identifying the right business location.
Attending trainings
Attending trainings: Since you have spent the most part of your working life as an employee, you most likely lack the ability to start a business. You must learn and unlearn certain things. The only place you can get what you need is in an organized setting. If you are intentional about learning new skills, you can attend training programs for entrepreneurs both online and in-person.
Attending trainings help you answer questions like:
- Can I live the life of an entrepreneur?
- What does it take to operate a successful business?
- What does it take to be an entrepreneur?
You should also look for training programs on technical skills related to the type of business you want to start. For example, if you want to start a quail farm, you should attend a training for quail farmers.
Identify a profitable business idea.
A lot of people wait until the last months of working for someone else before they start thinking about the type of business that they want to start. I cannot count how many people ask me this question when they are in their last months of paid employment.
Identifying a profitable business idea takes time and it is several phases. So, I recommend that you start the process early. You will also need to regularly review your business idea based on the amount of resources and skills that you have acquired.
Developing your business plan.
Please, do not commit a kobo to your retirement business without first having a plan. A business plan is a road map to let you know how much you need to start your business among other things.
You should develop a business plan before you start your business and several times during the existence of your business. That is why I recommend that you learn how to develop a business plan yourself. Afterall, you are the one going to implement the plan.
Identify the right location for your business.
Like real estate, a business location determines its growth. While doing business online is a necessity for all business owners. The physical location you chose will determine the type of customers you have, your access to suppliers and other factors important to grow your business.
As a retiree your business location will also depend on where you buy or build your retirement home.
So, you need to carefully chose where you will locate your business. This activity should obviously take place several years before you leave paid employment.
Conclusion.
Starting a business is in phases. The prestart-up phase which includes, identifying a business, learning business and technical skills, renting, or buying a business location takes time.
Sometimes, it takes up to a year or more to complete these tasks. You do not have this time when you leave paid employment. The pressure is on you to start earning; however, you cannot skip the steps involved in starting a business. People who compress these steps or skip these steps end up with failed businesses.
As long as you do not break any laws set by your employer, I think that it is wise that you use your free time to prepare for your retirement especially when you have a few years left in service. I recommend that you should start preparations for your retirement business at least five (5) years before you retire.
If you are interested in getting more tips on how to start and grow your retirement business, you can follow us on Facebook @smartretirementbiz
