10 Ways Senior Citizens Can Start Businesses

After retirement, life can be a little tedious and dull for senior citizens. Most of them are often looking for ways to keep themselves busy. While some of them are looking for business opportunities not only to prevent themselves from sitting idle but also to earn some extra money.

If you are over age and still fit you must keep yourself active to lower the risk of health complications. It will also help you to stay healthier and independent for a longer time. Here are 10 ways that senior citizens can start businesses themselves:

1. Dive into Real Estate

Older citizens that have a knack for selling and buying property can start their own real estate business. You can help people buy and sell properties and land and earn a commission. If you have some money saved out from your retirement plan, you can also invest in real estate by buying a property and renting it out. One of the easiest ways to make money without doing a great effort is to invest in real estate.

2. Open a Bed and Breakfast

Some of the ways senior citizens can start businesses are extremely easy For instance, elders that have a room or two spare in their house and enjoy having guests over now and then can open a bed and breakfast in their countryside homes. This won’t require a huge amount to set up and it will help the owners to get rid of boredom and loneliness. You can offer the spare rooms to the tourists and visitors and they can pay you accordingly.

3. Become a Consultant

Senior citizens have spent a great time of their lives gaining experience and most of them love sharing these experiences. If these overage people have worked in a particular field for many years, they can professionally guide younger people pursuing that field. They can charge per hour or appointment as it suits them and collects social security benefits.

4. Try Babysitting

An elder citizen that is lonely and like the presence of little kids around them can babysit for people who can’t be around to look after their kids all day. It is a good opportunity to make money as these days in most cases, both of the parents of children are working and are willing to pay a good amount to look after their child while they are working.

5. Teach a Class

Another way for people to earn who love to have the presence of young kids and children is by starting teaching. They can either start up a small school or go teach in some schools themselves. This will not only keep them active and busy but also informed and connected with the modern world. If going to school and teaching a whole class is tiresome for them, they can also start after-school tuitions for students that need help in studying.

6. Consider Drop Shipping

Another high-earning business an elder citizen can start from home is the dropshipping business. They don’t have to do heavy work by handling or storing products, they just have to be a middle man between the customers and the suppliers. They just need to forward the customer’s order to the supplier who will ship it directly. In this way, they don’t have to spend on buying a warehouse or storage unit to keep the products. They will sell the suppliers’ products to their customers and earn the profit that comes from the cost and selling price.

7. Offer Accounting and Personal Finance Services

If senior citizens have worked in an accounting firm during their pre-retirement days and have a license to practice accounting, they can start freelance accounting. Small businesses hire private accountants to manage their finances instead of handling their finances to large accounting companies. Senior citizens can also offer their services privately by doing people’s taxes and guide them through credit card debt and other financial matters.

8. Take up Motivational Speaking

Another way that elder citizens can share their life experiences and lessons and earn money through it is by becoming motivational speakers. Motivational speakers are of great importance to people who are lost in their lives and need someone to help them out. These motivational speakers are invited as guest speakers in schools and colleges and other gatherings to motivate students. Especially older citizens who have very important lessons to share with the younger audience. Motivational speakers can earn up to $50k yearly.

9. Start Pet Sitting and Grooming

Older citizens who love animals and are good at handling them can start their pet sitting for people who have to leave their pets behind on trips. Skilled people can also start their pet grooming businesses. Pet grooming businesses mainly include bathing the pets, trimming their hair and nails. You can either start a dog grooming or a cat grooming business at your convenience. You might want to hire an assistant for this business as some pets can be naughty and can run away or hurt you with their claws.

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10. Write a Book

Retired citizens can spend their time writing books as an income source. These elder citizens have a lifetime of experiences and they could put them down into words in the form of books. They can write books about their wartime stories, good housekeeping tips, parental advice, recipe books, stories of the foreign lands they have visited, all depending upon the interests of their audience and the nature of their experiences. Meanwhile, the cost of writing a book is almost minimal as you’d only need to design a cover and have the content printed. Fortunately, they can utilize a free book cover maker for the first thing and have the book published on the net if they don’t want to spend on printing.

Conclusion

In these days of high inflation, it is not favorable to sit idle at home and live upon the saved money. Even the senior citizen must have a running source of additional income. Apart from the monetary aspect, having a business or something to work on especially after retirement is healthy for the mind as well as the body. Many of the ways senior citizens can start businesses wouldn’t necessarily work out for everyone. What matters is you select your interest and then invest to become a post-retirement entrepreneur.

Read More of Our Retirement Series:

• Why You Should Choose Your Retirement Age Wisely
• How to Make Money in Retirement UK
• How To Start A Retirement Plan At 50
• Self Employed Retirement Deduction
• How Far Does $1 Million Go in Retirement?
• Retirement Savings For The Digital Nomad