Best After Retirement Business Ideas - And the Worst

So you want to retire but don't want to stop working. Choosing a new line of work can be difficult at any age, so how about working for yourself?

It doesn't matter how old you currently are. It's proving more and more difficult to switch careers, or start an entirely new one, especially as you approach retirement.

Increasing numbers of the Baby Boom generation are reaching retirement, but unfortunately the economy is struggling to supply a plentiful choice of opportunities, especially for those who are used to the 50 to 100k plus pay scale.

That said, there are plenty of intriguing job sectors for retirees that they can put their expertise to, or even use to transition into something completely different.

So here I've tried to offer some encouragement with a few examples of the best after retirement business ideas, and my personal opinion of the worst type of business to start.

A Second Opportunity

Call it a second life or a golden career, but it's a fact that more and more retirees are opting out of the classic retirement role of gardening, shopping, getting a hobby, maybe a bit of golf and so on, and launching a second career in their 60s, 70s and even beyond.

They recognize they are probably going to live longer than their predecessors, and in order to do that they need something meaningful, purposeful, and something that will provide more income to enjoy life.

Additionally, there are many others who simply can't afford to retire without losing the lifestyle perks they enjoyed while working full time.

What's the best way to get started?

Fortunately we are living during one of the most momentous changes in time. Changes in the way people work, changes in the way we reach out to connect with each other, and massive changes in people's fortunes.

This is all made possible by the internet, and we are fortunate enough to be on the up-curve of the biggest social and economic change ever witnessed by man-kind since the Industrial Revolution.

While you may think you have missed the boat, or you don't think you have the skills to compete, then consider this.

The internet is really only about 20 years old. Sure the idea has been around longer, but portable computers that allowed the masses to have access to the World Wide Web really only started to happen in the mid to late 90s, helped by the creation of Google in 1998.

Twitter only started in 2006, while Facebook was only a little earlier in 2004, yet these platforms seem to have been in our lives forever.

And as for not having the skills, anything is learnable and these days it's the easiest it's ever been to get a website on line and start learning the skills to market yourself.

In fact all the information you need is available at Wealthy Affiliate, a platform that trains people of all ages and all walks of life how to be successful on line.

Ideas For Getting Started Online.

The internet makes it possible for retirees (or anybody for that matter) to start a business, enjoy a flexible schedule with the ability to work from home without the expense and stress of a daily commute, and the opportunity to supplement retirement income and savings.

Here I've listed 5 easy ways to do this with very little investment other than your time.

1) Online Tutoring.

Retired teachers and trainers are constantly in demand as tutors.
Educators who want to continue to help students learn can do so on a flexible basis without the stress and strain of school life.

The private tutoring/test-prep business offers an opportunity to remain in education along with exam marking or even exam monitoring if you still want to get out and about a little.

Registering with sites such as Tutor.com, or Kaplan.com can allow you to start a business as self-employed tutors and continue in a business you know well but with much greater flexibility.

2). Professional Pet Sitting.

No I couldn't believe this one either until I looked into it. But consider this.

In the USA alone, pet lovers spend in excess of $48 billion dollars a year caring for their dogs, cats, birds and many other types of animals.

This is according to NAPPS (National Association of Professional Pet Sitters), and I couldn't believe that one either, but it makes fascinating reading...

Typically, pet sitters will look after people's pets while they are at work, on holiday, out for hospital visits, walk them at lunchtime and so forth.

And best of all, once you get locally established, people trust you which leads to continual repeat business because they simply don't want to take the chance of leaving their pet at the kennel, cattery or vets.

3.) Consultancy and Professional Services

This is a very wide sphere as anybody can consult on anything. However, if you have been an accountant, tax adviser, lawyer, legal assistant, medical person in any capacity you could set yourself up as an online consultant.

Most retirees have experience of something that other people are looking to find answers to, or improve something in their lives.

You might be experienced with coaching or counseling people at work. This is also ideal for an online home based business.

It doesn't have to be one-to-one either. There are literally hundreds of online coaching programs out their from sports to career improvement. You could easily set up a blog, write about your experience and promote other companies coaching products.

4.) Online Auctions.

One of the simplest ways to start earning extra money straight away is online auctions. And while I get that the suggestion has been done to death, people who get the eBay bug can really go on to build a significant home based business.

There are numerous success stories featuring silver eBay entrepreneurs.

Whether you choose garage sale collectibles, country antiques, buying and selling inventory from closure sales, or selling vintage clothes, getting started on eBay is as simple as setting up a free account and visiting the Seller Information Center for a quick lesson on the best way to get started.

If you can take a reasonable photograph, upload it to your computer and write a nice summary, effectively you are in business.

There are of course other auction sites for more niche products such as Etsy for hand made crafts, but for getting started then there is no better place than eBay.

5.) Blogging, Writing and Affiliate Marketing.

Of course, I have a slight bias for this entrepreneurial idea, being that you are on one of my blogs now.

I promote affiliate products, and although not yet a retiree, I am planning and building my business for that period in my life.

You don't of course have to promote anything on your blog, and often that will work in your favor.

What I mean by this is that if you are something of an expert or have a lot of knowledge in a particular area, then you can set your blog up to become an expert in that field providing quality content that Google will love.

As you're not promoting anything, the search engines will define you as something of an expert and deliver increasing volumes of traffic to your posts and pages.

It's at that point you may well find that you are approached by companies and other experts, either within your field of expertise or closely related to it who want to sponsor you, or employ you to write articles for their website, or ask you to attend functions and talks.

All very lucrative income.

Of course, as with anything else it helps to do this correctly from the start, and having a mentor or somebody to work with makes the transition from novice to a contender so much quicker.

Some not so good ideas

These days I'm a great believer in starting small, testing the water and seeing if something works.

In fact, going a little further than that, I like to start with ideas that are rock solid recommendations, and ones where possible it won't cost me anything at all.

You know, like a try it before you buy it type thing.

Now that's not to say I don't believe in investing in my business, and especially investing in my training and knowledge. But I do like to know there's a good chance of success before I lay out a lot of money.

That's why I admire the training platform at Wealthy Affiliate where I build my business and take my training. You can open a free lifetime account, design and build 2 websites in any niche of your choice from thousands of designs, and even have free lifetime hosting.

If you decide to upgrade to a Premium Account, then you can design, build and host up to 50 websites, plus access all the other amazing business services, but that's your choice.

Anyhow, getting back to the not so good ideas...

The whole point of retiring and starting an after retirement business is to give you flexibility, a business that works around your lifestyle, and a return on your investment (whether it be in time or a modest amount of money) in the quickest possible time frame.

What I see many people do though is take their retirement lump sum and throw it straight into a franchise or a bricks and mortar style business.

WHY?.........

All you've done is thrown your money at a job. And one which you're going to have to work damn hard at to recoup your investment before you make a single dime.

I've written many articles about the death of bricks and mortar businesses, and the scenario is being played out in all Western countries whereby the high Street is being slaughtered by the rise in online sales.

And while this may be sad and a great loss to everybody, unfortunately this is today's reality and I don't want you to face the same peril by risking your retirement and going broke in the process.

I'm not saying it can't be done, or it shouldn't be done, and if your passion is to serve coffee from a smart coffee house in a trendy part of town, then who am I to crush that dream.

All I'm saying is that given today's technology there are alternatives, and I can help show you....

As ever, if you have any comments or questions then please leave them below. I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.

I'm here to help.

Best wishes.

Paul