“As prospects for a comfortable retirement fade across the employment spectrum, more over-50s than ever are taking the self-employment route to making money. Jane Simms met some ‘Olderpreneurs’ to find out more” This is from the January 2007 issue of the UK’s Director magazine, which has a long article on Olderpreneurs, including five case studies - – - read more >

Elizabeth King, 51, and Vanessa Payne, 39, run a new car wash service in Cheshire. The business is based on Vanessa’s professional expertise in car valeting and Liz’s hands-on approach and willingness to learn something entirely new. The two women were friends before deciding to run a business together. “We are both horsey and we - – - read more >

The Olderpreneur (www.olderpreneur.net), the group weblog for older people setting up their own businesses, is merging with PRIME Business Club. Both web sites are run by the UK charity PRIME (the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise). The Olderpreneur uses hosting and technology provided by Crispynews.com, while PRIME Business Club is hosted on PRIME’s own web - – - read more >

If you are running a web site – or even just sending business emails, new rules require you to say who exactly you are. The sort of information required is similar to that already required for letterheads and invoices – full business address, registration number, VAT number etc., so the requirements are not too onerous. - – - read more >

When trying to convince a new client to go with your services resisting the urge to stretch the truth isn’t just the morally right thing to do, it’s the pragmatically right thing to do and is more likely to get you the job – or if you don’t, protect you from getting a job you’d - – - read more >

Download and print out Ideas for Business, a free workbook from PRIME. It’s based on a successful series of live workshops we’ve been running around the county. The workbook takes as its starting point your individual interests and experiences. After all, if you are over 50 you should have plenty to draw on. You can - – - read more >

Norma Vondee, 54, is an artist. She creates mosaics and mosaic sculptures and has run her own mosaics business, Norma Vondee Mosaics, for the past five years. Her biggest struggle continues to be the contrast between the business side of the work and the artistic side. “I still find it difficult that I have to - – - read more >

“The no-nonsense guide to starting a business” is a free 74-page book from Business Link, the government’s main business information service. You can download the free guide here, or ask for the paper version to be posted to you. The book is worth reading, and much better than previous efforts from the same stable. The - – - read more >

On this site you will find listings of events you can attend, case studies of people over 50 who have recently set up their own businesses, and discussions forums where you can talk to others who are setting up or running new businesses. There are also links to sources of free advice around the UK. - – - read more >

PRIME has opened www.primebusinessclub.com, a web site aimed squarely at people starting or running their own businesses. The new site will concentrate on providing practical help to people in the PRIME age group and is designed for repeat visitors. PRIME’s original web site, wwww.primeinitiative.org.uk, will increasingly function as a first contact and “About PRIME” site, - – - read more >

NatWest is giving away a free business startup course that’s delivered by email. You can sign up on the NatWest web site by giving them a few details , including your name and email address, business idea and nearest town. You should then immediately get back a set of relevant fact sheets (from Cobweb Information, - – - read more >