It’s the baby boomers who lead from the front buying franchises..

Baby Boomers over 50 are buying franchise businesses

Baby Boomers in their 50s now realise we’ve got a lot left to experience and now our goal is to figure out what we want to do with the second half of our adult life.  It used to be that when someone turned 55, he or she was considered on the downhill slide into retirement; but no more!

Why is because today:

• 55 is the new 35.
• 75 is the new 60

Baby Boomers in their 50s now realise they’ve got a lot left to offer and experience, and we’re spending our time not thinking about retirement, but figuring out what we want to do with the second half of our adult life. Many Baby Boomers are now empty nesters who have the time and energy to devote to a new calling. Many have also realised after years in the corporate world that we want more flexibility and the opportunity to be rewarded in a more direct manner for their work efforts. Whether our goal is to suppliment our income in retirement, create new wealth, to give back and help others or just to stay busy and creative in retirement, more and more Baby Boomers over 50 are thinking of pursuing the dream for ourselves.

Baby Boomers are seeing many Baby Boomers now turning to franchise opportunities as an alternative to starting our own business from scratch.

There’s a history of this dynamic in franchising. Ray Kroc who was the first McDonald’s Franchisee was in his 50s when he took bouht his McDonald’s franchise, and even more remarkable Colonel Sanders was over 65 when he started Kentucky Fried Chicken. Many franchisors actively seek new Baby Boomer Franchisees because we can begin our new business venture with the experience, wisdom and capital resources that can serve us well as franchisees.

If you’re wondering what franchises might be a good match for you as a mature franchisee, consider the following elements of franchise success:

• It’s always important to know what you’ll be doing on a day-to-day basis. In a franchise, this may have very little to do with delivering the product or service to the customer, since your focus may be on other functions of the business. Also, remember that after years of having a boss, you’ll be in this role yourself, and you need to be comfortable with that responsibility.
• Being comfortable doing all levels of tasks. After spending years in the corporate world, you may be used to delegating many tasks. You need to carefully consider whether you’ll be OK serving as everything from the CEO to the janitor, depending on what your business needs at the moment.
• There is the best business advice too. “Nothing happen until someone sells something”. In the days of the credit crunch don’t make life hard for yourself. Choose a franchise that works in the downturn. No point in getting an estate agency; car dealership; pub; fine dining restaurant – go for education; go for healthcare; find things for out of work people to do; debt managment; think of what works in recession.