PRIME business club

The story of Madame Tussaud from women’s enterprise site moretolifethanshoes. And here’s the biography at the modern London wax works site. A pioneer of the cult of celebrity, Mrs T didn’t get her business going till her forties.

Philip Black has recently been made redundant at the age of 57. This programme in the Radio 4 Learning Curve strand follows him round London Olympia, talking to various exhibitors at the One Life Live show about what if anything they could do to help.

Back in the studio, presenter Libby Purves interviews Laurie South of PRIME, asking him whether self-employment can really offer a solution to Philip and people like him.

Listen to full programme

UPDATE: Missed the programme?
Watch it here.
Plus extra bits not transmitted.

On Friday the 8th of February 2008 at 7pm BBC 2 is showing “Too Young to Retire” - a special edition of The Money Programme about people who are building successful businesses in their 60s and 70s.

One of the older entrepreneurs featured is chartered accountant Dick Pyle, who set up a truffle farm in France using an innovative adopt-a-truffle-tree business model. Customers pay £149 per tree - and then get all the produce from it. You can also visit your tree, or give trees as presents. He was just coming up to 60 and about to retire when he came up with this scheme.

Presenter Valerie Singleton also talks to sisters Penny Walker and Annabel Rhodes, who set up their own natural cosmetics business Rhodes to Heaven in their sixties. They are shown taking their products to the next stage, selling them into an upmarket High Street chain.

From the BBC press release:

Former Money Programme presenter Valerie Singleton sets out on a journey around Britain to meet some of the oldest entrepreneurs in Britain. She examines if age is a hindrance or help to a new business career and hears the experiences of those men and women who have decided it’s never too late to start.

Statistics show that those who are over fifty and find themselves out of work have only a one in ten chance of being re-employed. So the option of starting up on your own is very attractive and may even be essential.

Valerie Singleton meets a variety of entrepreneurs who are finding success in new fields. There are the sisters in their sixties who started a range of organic beauty products and are working to get high street distribution for them. Then there is the illustrator who has built up a highly successful online greeting card business. There is also the sky-diving septuagenarian who has set up a children’s charity. Finally she meets a retired PR executive who is now trading in truffles.

She also seeks the advice of the UK’s oldest employee and employer - who are both still going strong despite being over one hundred years old.

With expert input on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur from “The Apprentice” star Sir Alan Sugar, and Peter Jones from Dragons’ Den the programme examines just what are the advantages and disadvantages in being an older entrepreneur.

Three stories of older entrepeneurs are now on the BBC web site. All set up businesses in their fifties and sixties.

Myreen Young, an aromatherapist from Southampton, launched her own range of skin-care cosmetics at the age of 54. Two years later it appears to be going strong, with 30 salons across the UK also selling the MY Skincare branded products.

Ann Litster, 52, from Somerset set up her own cleaning business, also two years ago. At the time she had recently become unemployed and seriously needed the money. Her firm Hands on Cleaning now employs over 20 people.

The BBC’s third interviewee was Graham Siggs (more on his story here). He started his electrical testing business Huntspat in Cambridgeshire after being retired from the civil service at the age of 60.

“To find work at 60 is very difficult. I saw many high-flyers from the civil service end up stacking shelves,” Graham told the BBC.

“After the contract for the job I was doing ended I suddenly found myself retired at 59. A quick look at my bank balance convinced me I couldn’t stop working completely – and anyway I just didn’t feel old enough.”

Liz Friedrich, now 63, whose garden design business is profiled in Women & Home magazine.

Having already done a design course and been a keen gardener, Liz started in a small way working for friends of friends. But AFTER she had already completed several projects for paying customers she decided she needed more business expertise.

So she enrolled on PRIME partner London Metropolitan University’s Forward at 50 course. (There’s a new London Met course aimed at women setting up health and care businesses just starting up).

Liz’s new business acumen is paying off with a business venture based on feedback she was getting from her customers.

Many of her garden design clients were asking for gorgeous gardens that wouldn’t require them to do any work. Liz’s initial reaction was to patiently explain that that was just not possible. But they still kept asking.

So she’s now launching a Plant Box service with a fellow garden designer. They will sell fully-planted up containers for balconies and patios - and then come round and replant them in the spring and autumn.

Here are five case studies of entrepreneurs over 50 from the Yell.com web site. All are finalists or winners of the Yellow Pages-sponsored ‘Silver Fox’ category at the 2007 Startups Awards, except Brian who won in 2005.

Myreen Young

MY Skincare Ltd
Southampton, Hampshire

Ann Litster

Hands on Cleaning
Clevedon, North Somerset

Gary Sheffield

Alpine Training Centre
Rye, East Sussex

Ken Bird

Dwrpur Pure Water Ltd
St Clears, Carmarthenshire

Brian Plunkett

Trichocare Diagnostics Ltd
Ridgmont, Beds

Here’s an interesting collection of stories from New Zealand of people who set up their own businesses after being made redundant.

Refreshingly, what has happened to these people since has not been written up in the usual relentless “success story” style. For example, where people have motives other than the desire to get rich (for example revenge or the desire to spend more time gardening) these are reflected in the story.

Sample quote: “But we don’t want to put our money into the business”, says Elaine [one half of a successful garden tools company]. “We want to buy a boat and go down the canals in Europe.”

There’s an interesting discussion on this American weblog that brings out clearly the differences between being an employee and having your own business.

The author Maria Langer actually has two businesses - something that is quite common when you are self-employed as two activities can often complement each other.

One of her occupations is unusually glamorous - helicopter pilot! But that’s not the key thing that makes the self-employed life the one she wants to live.

Several interesting case studies from the US in this article by Margaret Heffernan about “why midlife women make superior entrepreneurs“. It comes from More, an American magazine aimed at women in their forties and over.  

Among the myths challenged are:

• Entrepreneur Myth #1: You Have to Be Young
• Entrepreneur Myth #2: You Need Heaps of Cash
• Entrepreneur Myth #3: You Have to Be an Expert
• Entrepreneur Myth #4: Women’s Businesses Are Small

“The idea of running a brewery was a dream I had when I was sitting in local government meetings. I started the brewery in 2004, produced my first beer in 2005, went full-time in 2006 and now employ three people”, said the 55-year-old.

Bill Russell wins Olderpreneur award in Great Yarmouth - and also the overall local entrepreneur-of-the-year award.

More at Eastern Daily Press

Funded by advertising and run as a small business, Armchair Advice was set up by Greg Paine after he unexpectedly found himself without a job in mid career, aged 46. The site is particularly good for those newly-made redundant or worried about becoming so.

Article in the Daily Mail about wealthy women, concentrating on three who have made their money from business. While divorce settlements and death (of hubby) still account for most of Britains female millionaires, an increasing number are self-made business owners.

Despite the awful headline “Silver start-ups for our golden oldies” (yuk) this article from The Scotsman contains two interesting case studies of start-up firms built on their owners’ previous experience.
Jack Hamilton’s firm maintains floating buoys and other navigational aids around the UK, and now employs 15 people. Jack has yeas of experience in the field. “When I got to 61, my son Billy had finished his gap year and was wondering what to do with himself. That’s when we decided to set up an agency for marine aids to navigation.”
May Marcus and Julie McTaggart, both in their 50s, set up Premier Car Check within a month of being made redundant. Both women had considerable experience of vehicle checking. Their service enables car buyers to find out if there are problems about their prospective purchase - for example if money is owed on it or if it’s been reported as stolen.

“When many women are looking forward to their retirement, a new breed of ‘olderpreneurs’ are starting up their own businesses instead.” Lucy Ward reports.

Read the full Ladies who launch article.

Includes several case studies and quotes from Everywoman and London Metropolitan University’s Forward at 50 programme for women.

“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 (and quotes from Laurie South of PRIME - which runs this site).

The article continues “While many of these so-called ‘Olderpreneurs’ have self-employment thrust upon them - as a result of redundancy for example - others consciously choose to go it alone, often fulfilling a long-held dream.”