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PRIME reports on a forgotten generation - the over 50s

Front page, PRIME reports Tagged with:
Apr 082009

gen_forgotten_cover_170pxPRIME has published Generations Forgotten, a study into attitudes to older people as entrepreneurs based on an independent survey of a thousand people.

The study demonstrates the difficulties the over 50s have in finding work as employees, principally because of ageist attitudes – which the over 50s clearly perceive as still rife. And it highlights the key role self-employment plays in making it possible to remain financially independent.

The results also show that there is an interest in self-employment on a huge scale among older people. But government local and national still seems to have a youth-centric attitude to enterprise which is inappropriate in an ageing society.

The survey reveals that there are far more people aged over 50 who are interested in enterprise than generally thought. One person in six in the 50-64 age cohort has considered it. Some 15 per cent of the over 50s polled had already started a business, with 4 per cent starting a business since turning 50.

Clearly self-employment will remain a vital lifeboat for the over 50s for as long as they continue to be discriminated against in the regular job market.

The production of this report has been funded by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, one of the first fruits a larger ongoing partnership between PRIME and the foundation.

Download full press release (Word)

Download Generations Forgotten report (PDF),

Posted by Ian Stobie at Wednesday PM, 8th April 2009 1 Response »

Olderpreneurs expect to sell their businesses

Business news, PRIME reports Tagged with: , ,
Sep 022008

More than half of the visitors to this site taking part in a recent PRIME mini poll expect to sell their business as a going concern when they are ready to exit the business. A further 16 per cent also expect to keep it going, giving it to family or a friend.

Do you expect to eventually sell your business?

  • 1. Yes – sell as a going concern 56% (49 votes)
  • 2. No – will give away to family / friend retaining stake 15% (13 votes)
  • 3. No – will give away to family / friend completely 1% (1 vote)
  • 4. No – it will close but with sale of major assets 1% (1 vote)
  • 5. No – it will close with sale of some minor assets 3% (3 votes)
  • 6. No – it will close with nothing much to sell 22% (19 votes)
  • 7. Other 2 2% (2 votes)

Source: visitors to www.primebusinessclub.com

About a quarter expect their business to close when they leave – and the great majority of these don’t expect to be able to make much from selling the assets.

So there is a clear split between those expecting to get extra money from the business when they exit and those who don’t. And this may be realistic – some businesses are worth something without the founder while for others the founder IS the business. The type of business is critical.

Where there may be some unfounded optimism is on how easy the business will be to sell. There does seem to be evidence that the size of the business is important here.

There is a well developed market for selling businesses over a certain size, with papers, notably Daltons Weekly carrying classified listing od businesses for sale, and specialist business transfer agents you can go to to help with a sale. But once you get below a value of about £250,000 for the business the market gets less interested, and the costs involved in selling start eating into the proceeds.

Related posts:

Tax bill for selling your business clarified

Exit strategy – a practical guide to selling your business

Posted by Ian Stobie at Tuesday PM, 2nd September 2008 Comments Off

Peer-reviewed study of PRIME and older entrepreneurship

PRIME reports Tagged with:
Apr 032008

The International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research has an article about PRIME in the current issue. It puts information about PRIME and the (anonymised) results of surveys of the people who contact PRIME in front of an academic audience – particularly those interested in the literature on entrepreneurship.

Report author Professor KautonenThe report was part-authored by Laurie South of PRIME, but the lead author was Professor Teemu Kautonen of the Department of Management at the University of Vaasa in Finland, who is a recognised authority on older enterprise. Dr Simon Down is Senior Lecturer in Management at Newcastle University Business School, and deputy director of the Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise at the University.

The publisher’s abstract and publishing details are below. The paper can be obtained for a charge from Emerald – or via the inter-library loan scheme (generally free to most students and University staff though there may be quota restrictions).

Title: Enterprise support for older entrepreneurs: the case of PRIME in the UK

Author(s): Teemu Kautonen, Simon Down, Laurie South

Journal: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research

Year: 2008
Volume: 14
Issue: 2
Page: 85 – 101

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Price payable: GBP £13.00 plus handling charge of GBP £1.50 and VAT where applicable.

Abstract: Purpose – The objective of this paper is to examine the potential for and barriers to older enterprise as well as the role and contribution of specific enterprise support policy, focusing in particular on socially disadvantaged older people.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a single case study of the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME) with multiple data sources, including a synthesis of current literature, PRIME self-evaluation reports, interviews with PRIME personnel and results of a recent survey of 283 individuals who had contacted PRIME for enterprise advice and support.

Findings – The paper finds that, with respect to older enterprise support policy, the tentative results presented in this study seem encouraging in terms of a positive social and economic role for older enterprise support work. However, due to the limitations of the data, a number of questions need additional clarification in future research. Longitudinal research designs are required to investigate in more detail the additional social benefits generated by older enterprise support as well as concerns regarding deadweight and over-investment.

Originality/value – The paper brings the experience of enterprise support practitioners into the debate about older entrepreneurship.

Go to article

Posted by Ian Stobie at Thursday PM, 3rd April 2008 Comments Off

Report calls for more jobs for the over 50s

PRIME reports Tagged with: ,
Jan 162008

PRIME and its sister charity PRIME-Cymru have jointly published a report into improving the employment prospects of the over 50s.

“It is worth putting real money behind a drive to re-employ economically inactive over-50s”, says the report’s lead author Christopher Smallwood.

“In order to reintroduce them to the workforce, two things are needed: (1) widespread changes in employers’ practices relating to training, retention and recruitment, and (2) a more proactive approach from Government agencies to help people back to work, particularly in the area of self-employment.”

coverSome 800,000 people between 50 and state pension age are currently inactive but want to work, according to Smallwood’s analysis of the available data. The UK has a total of nine million people in this age group. At the moment one in three is workless, and one in seven on Incapacity Benefit.

“There is a huge wealth of skill and experience amongst the over 50s that UK business could benefit from tapping into”, says PRIME’s Chief Executive Laurie South. “Not enough is being done to reduce worklessness among the over 50s. Despite an increase in the number in work, the number not working is actually growing – and will continue to grow as the UK’s population ages. So effective government action is sorely needed. ”

“Meanwhile, self-employment remains the best option option for many of the 800,000 individuals eager to work. It’s something you can do for yourself. You don’t have to wait for government.”

You can download the full report and the executive summary from the links below.

“Improving Employment Prospects For The Over 50s”, by Christopher Smallwood and Linda Obiamiwe, published by The PRIME Initiative, January 2008.

Christopher Smallwood is a leading UK economist, and has held a wide range of senior positions in government, industry, banking and media. He is a Member of the Competition Commission, a Trustee of the charity UnLtd (founded to support social entrepreneurs) and until April 2005 he was Chief Economic Adviser to Barclays plc. Previously he was Chief Economist and Strategic Development Director at TSB Group and before that Chief Economist at BP, Policy Director of the SDP and Economics Editor of The Sunday Times.

Posted by Ian Stobie at Wednesday PM, 16th January 2008 Comments Off

Hundreds of thousands of over 50s want work

Announcements, Front page, PRIME reports Tagged with:
Jan 162008

Smallwood report coverSome 800,000 people between 50 and state pension age are currently inactive but want to work, according to a new report commissioned by PRIME and written by leading economist Christopher Smallwood.

The majority of new businesses are created by people in their forties and fifties – indeed business owners aged over 50 account for 15 per cent of all business start-ups in England and Wales.

Companies started by older people have a 70 per cent chance of surviving the first five years, compared with only 28 per cent for younger people. Yet the report finds that finance for Jobcentre’s New Deal self-employment programme for the over 50s has been reduced.

“It is worth putting real money behind a drive to re-employ economically inactive over-50s”, says the report’s author Christopher Smallwood.

“In order to reintroduce them to the workforce, two things are needed: (1) widespread changes in employers’ practices relating to training, retention and recruitment, and (2) a more proactive approach from Government agencies to help people back to work, particularly in the area of self-employment.”

The report says that there are still a greater number of complaints about age discrimination in the workplace than about any other form of discrimination. However, the solution does not necessarily lie in more legislation.

What is required, argues Smallwood, is a change in attitudes and practices of employers both in the public and private sector, together with a greater focus on the possibilities for self-employment.

Self-employment also has an important role to play. A self-created job can put an individual back in control of their lives and build on the skills, experience and knowledge acquired over a life-time.

However, for people coming off benefits some significant poverty traps remain that make test trading difficult. “The confusion with HMRC needs to be resolved very quickly”, says Smallwood. At the moments it’s “confusing even to the advisers trying to explain the system”.

Smallwood report full text

Smallwood report executive summary

Christopher Smallwood is a leading UK economist, and has held a wide range of senior positions in government, industry, banking and media. He is a Member of the Competition Commission and until April 2005 he was Chief Economic Adviser to Barclays plc.

Posted by Ian Stobie at Wednesday AM, 16th January 2008 3 Responses »

Encouraging older entrepreneurship

PRIME reports Tagged with:
Dec 272007

Encouraging older entrepreneurship coverPRIME has published “Encouraging older entrepreneurship” a report on how best to help older people starting or running their own businesses. It looks into the support needs of those entering self-employment after the age of 50, and at what PRIME and its partners can realistically do to help.

The study coincides with an unusual period of turmoil in the business support sector. Major changes in how support is funded and who provides it have unintentionally created new difficulties to individuals seeking to start their own businesses.

Diversity in Practice dots logo The production of this report, written in-house by PRIME, has been partially-funded by the Equal Diversity in Practice project, which is in turn paid for from the European Social Fund.

Posted by Ian Stobie at Thursday PM, 27th December 2007 Comments Off

Olderpreneurs all want their own web sites

Business news, Internet, PRIME reports Tagged with: , ,
Nov 232007

Only half of Britain’s small firms have a web site, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). But ALL of the visitors to this site taking part in a recent PRIME mini poll either had a web site or planned one.

Does your business have a web site of its own?

  • Yes 48% (22 votes)
  • No – it doesn’t need one 0% (0 votes)
  • Not yet but planning one 52% (24 votes)

Source: visitors to www.primebusinessclub.com

The two sets of figures may be compatible. Both polls show an approximately 50:50 split between web-site haves and have-nots. The different interpretations put on this may be like the proverbial half-empty or half-full glass.

Those commenting on the FSB poll have tended to take a half-empty view, decrying small firm’s lack of Internet ambition.

But since the PRIME poll also asked whether people were planning to set one up in the future, it is possible that the missing web sites may only be temporary – just something that people haven’t got round to yet.

Many of PRIME’s visitors have good reason to wait, as they haven’t yet set their businesses up either, or have only done so recently. So they may have other things to get sorted out first, before leaping into cyberspace.

If anything the mini-poll shows a vivid awareness among older entrepreneurs about how valuable a web site can be in business, with none of them saying it isn’t needed.

Posted by Ian Stobie at Friday PM, 23rd November 2007 Comments Off

Who contacts PRIME?

Announcements, PRIME reports Tagged with:
Jun 272007

Client study coverAbout a quarter of the people who have contacted PRIME over the last two years kindly filled in a form giving some details about themselves. The responses have now been analysed and here’s what you told us.

The results were independently analysed for PRIME by Professor Mark Hart from Kingston University Business School.

The purpose of this kind of formal monitoring exercise is twofold. Firstly it re-assures our supporters that PRIME, a charity, is reaching the people it should be reaching. And secondly it enables us to spot gaps where we should be doing more.

Of course this isn’t the only way we get feedback. Indeed, you are very welcome to email us at any time or post comments in the forums.

Posted by Ian Stobie at Wednesday PM, 27th June 2007 Comments Off

PRIME publishes study into olderpreneur outcomes

PRIME reports Tagged with: ,
Mar 192006

Click to download report as PDFPRIME has published a report called Olderpreneur Outcomes. It looks into what happened to people aged over 50 who contacted PRIME about starting in business.

The report is based on telephone and email polling of 283 people, the vast majority of whom were interviewed by phone. All had originally contacted PRIME between October 2003 and May 2005.

The good news is that 43% had gone ahead and started a business, 30% were still considering it – and only 27% had given up.

People contacting PRIME turn out overwhelmingly to be aged in their 50s. Only 15% of the respondents were people in their 60s or 70s. This is reflected in the business outcomes, with most (84%) of the people starting businesses being in their 50s too.

However, it does appear that the older people are when they contact PRIME the more they are prepared to get on with it and start their business, and the less inclined to delay. Once on the route, the older olderpreneurs are more likely to see it through. Though this runs counter to expectations if one is used to thinking in terms of enterprise being a preserve of youth, from the responses to this study, it appears to be true.

Also running counter to expectations were differences between the genders, which were more marked than we expected. Women take longer setting up their businesses, but once started on the process may be just as likely to eventually establish an enterprise as men. However, interest in starting a business seems to drop off more rapidly for women than men, with very few women in their 60s and 70s even contacting PRIME.

This means that despite womankind’s greater longevity, most olderpreneurs will turn out to be men. Of the 121 respondents to this study who had gone ahead and started their own businesses, 85 – that’s 71%, were male and 35 (29%) female. We think that the earlier state pension age for women probably plays a big role here, removing some financial pressure from women earlier (although women are more likely to have a lower pension than men) and perhaps reinforcing expectations that women in their 60s should not work.

Posted by Ian Stobie at Sunday PM, 19th March 2006 Comments Off
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