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Start-ups: I'm 50 years old and I've just lost my job. I am tired of my industry, so I want to start a business. What advice would you give me?
JB
JB
John Bentley, II, Small Business Champion - Tech Guy - Code Wookie answered:

The first thing to determine is what is your motivation for starting a business. If you are wanting to create an entity that have value beyond your efforts (something that has stand-alone value that you could sell), the key focus is determining a need you can uniquely meet with a big enough marketplace to be financially worthwhile. You can self fund for a while but would need to be able to over operating costs, including your own compensation needs, before your own funds run out. Or, you would need to able to attract investors to do the same.

The second motivation for starting a business is to create your own job. The focus is to quickly realize revenue to generate personal income. The company has no real value apart from your work but it does keep food on the table. In this case, you start with an inventory of your own skills and abilities, and match them up with market needs that will result in sufficient revenue to meet your needs.

I can totally empathize with your situation. I am not too far behind you and had a difficult time returning to my profession due to age and perceptions of stage of life.

If I can be of any further assistance, let me know.

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