Small Business Boomers

As part of National Retirement Planning Month, Bill Losey has put together several teleseminars.  The last one is next Wednesday.  Here are the details:
Wed., July 30th @12pm EST, 9am PST – The Joy of Not Working
 w/Best-Selling Author Ernie Zelinski
CALL-IN NUMBER & ACCESS CODES ARE THE SAME FOR ALL EVENTS. NO RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED.
Call-In Number: 1-605-475-4150
Access Code: 473727#
Go to the National Retirement Planning Month website for more information.

No Comments

The Social Security Administration now has an online calculator you can use to estimate your Social Security benefits.  Maybe it’s one of those things you really don’t want to know, but it’s available anyway.
My husband and I have been getting those forms every year (my daughter, who is not yet 30, is also getting one!) and we read them and study them and calculate when would be the best time to starting taking Social Security benefits.  I did the estimator, and I didn’t see that it gave me any more information than the yearly statement.
Of more interest to me was …read more

No Comments

I’ve heard about this scam, and I just received one today.  Here is the text of the email:
AM MR SCOTT SMITH
I WILL LIKE TO MAKE AND ORDER FOR SOME ITEM IN YOUR STORE SO I WANT TO KNOW THE TOTAL COST OF THE ORDER PLUS SHIPPING COST TO NIGERIA.VIA FEDEX EXPRESS 3 TO 5 DAYS DELIVERY OR DHL 3 TO 5 DAYS DELIVERY.
Planning for Practice Success-—30 COPIES
THE SHIPPING ADDRESS
54 GBAMGBOSE STREET
CITY; LAGOS ISLAND
STATE; LAGOS STATE
COUNTRY: NIGERIA
ZIP CODE;23401
PHONE….23414192536
BEST REGARD
SCOTT
I have a “shopping cart” so if he really wanted the books, he could have gone on there and used a credit card …read more

No Comments

I have seen this over and over as I help young professionals buy practices:  The owner of the practice (often a baby boomer) invariably overvalues the practice.
Here is the scenario:  You have worked hard to build up your business over 20- to 30-years, in order to leave it to your children (who it turns out don’t want it) or to sell it to finance your retirement.  So you value it at what you think it’s worth, including all of your “sweat equity” (I hate that term).
The value for your business is this:  A willing buyer and a willing seller, who …read more

No Comments

Baby boomer Randy Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie-Mellon University. Last September he gave a lecture at Carnegie-Mellon as part of a series titled “The Last Lecture.” Today he died in Virginia, at the age of 47.
As he started the lecture he announced that he was dying of pancreatic cancer. Then he went on to talk about “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” and his lecture was an immediate phenomenon. A few months ago, a book about The Last Lecture was published by Hyperion and there is, of course, a website called …read more

No Comments

As I wrote a week ago, we’re in the down swing of a market cycle.  Miranda Marquit, over at Yielding Wealth, wrote about this same issue, and she included a list of the recessions we have experienced over the past few 80 years, staring with the “Great Depression.”
If you want a dramatic visual representation, check out this historical trend line for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  All those little “down blips” are recessions.  But the market continues to grow.
The long-term average return on the market since 1929 has been 10.4%, although Crestmont Research says we shouldn’t expect this level of …read more

No Comments

Sean Kelly over at Franchise Pick suggested that you might be interested in what he found out about a new “business opportunity” – RedBull vending machines.  It sounds like a great opportunity for a baby boomer who is retired or semi-retired, and who has time to install/maintain/fill vending machines. While these kinds of businesses are not strictly franchises, they do have some of the same characteristics.
Like other such “opportunities,” though, this one has a huge problem.  Apparently, RedBull is sold exclusively to distributors.  So a company called CCA sold RedBull vending machines to people who didn’t know they weren’t going …read more

No Comments

What books would YOU recommend for a baby boomer starting a business? Give me your book selection and enter a contest to win a business book.

I have been asked to put together a list of books that I would recommend to people who are starting new business.  This is a fun job for me, since it requires me to go through my (extensive!) library of business books and pick out the best.  I’ll be sharing some of them with you over the next few weeks. 
Here is where the CONTEST comes in- I’d like your recommendation  on business books.  And as …read more

21 Comments

In tough times, it’s sometimes necessary to let employees go (nice way of saying you’re laying them off).  However you say it, it’s not a pleasant task, for either of you. But sometimes there are ways to keep employees on the payroll.  Here are some suggestions:
1.  Reduce Hours.  This is the easiest one, for you.  Particularly for hourly employees, you can cut back on hours.  Make sure that you are also cutting back on duties and not expecting that person to work fewer hours and accomplish the same tasks.
2.  Cut Benefits.  I know, this isn’t something you want to do …read more

No Comments

Fannie Mae, the nickname of the Federal National Mortgage Association,and Freddie Mac,  the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Association, are in trouble because of the subprime mortgage crisis.  Last week the Federal Reserve announced that it would loan these entities money, if necessary.  The press release explained their action:
This authorization is intended to supplement the Treasury’s existing lending authority and to help ensure the ability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to promote the availability of home mortgage credit during a period of stress in financial markets.
The federal government is considering bailing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out (with taxpayer money, of …read more

No Comments