This study clears up a lot of myths lobbed at older entrepreneurs

CW Headley September 12, 2019

With rising instances of self-employment in America reforming the laborforce, retirement norms are too beginning to shift in kind. According to a brand new FreshBooks survey, 88% of entrepreneurs, 65 years of age and older continue to work because it fulfills them and not out of any sort of necessity. Eight-five percent of this age group additionally reported job satisfaction which is 8% more than younger self-employed workers that claim the same. On balance, only 5% of self-employed Americans nearing retiring age, actually intend on doing so.

From the report: “You might think the typical entrepreneur is a young person launching a hot new tech startup, hoodie-clad, and coding from their parents’ garage. But that’s just one of the many myths we uncovered when researching America’s self-employed workforce.”

 As recently covered by Ladders, FreshBook’s last entrepreneur survey debunked several long-lasting stigmas associated with self-employment and their newest survey seeks to scratch a few more from the burn book. Sixty-five for a start is an age that is synonymous with hanging in the towel in the workforce. In contrast with this, the new report reveals that more than half of self-employed workers aged 65 and older fully intend on maintaining the size of their workforce at their firms and the revenue stream produced by it. An ambitious 31% intend on keeping their workforce the same while increasing their revenues stream well into their golden years, and the remaining 13% are determined to increase both as opposed to retiring.

Another common misconception that gets lobbed at older workers, self-employed or not, is their antipathy toward technology. Not only are older entrepreneurs not opposed to tech and automation, the vast majority of these habitually use them to their advantage. Fifty-eight percent of workers 65 and up are fully updated and familiar with all of the new and merging tech relevant to their industry.  Sixty-one percent of these silver entrepreneurs make an effort to make the most out of the data that their small business generates which is 10% more than the younger participants.  The author concludes, “Sixty percent of entrepreneurs 65 and older say they know how or where to get data from outside sources regarding the customers or markets they serve, compared to 48% of entrepreneurs under 65.”

https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/this-study-clears-up-a-lot-of-myths-lobbed-at-older-entrepreneurs