The Retirement Plan: Exploring a New Business Venture

The Retirement Plan: Exploring a New Business Venture

The prospect of retirement and the end of your career may be overwhelming and even terrifying.

However, if you’re still healthy and active, nothing stops you from pursuing a small (or not-so-small) business venture to keep you busy, stimulate you, and provide additional income.

MANCOSA offers a New Venture Creation: Post Retirement Journey short course that teaches you the skills and mindset to create and manage successful ventures during retirement.

In this article, we’ll dive into what retirement venture you can pursue by looking at your passions and interests. Plus, we’ll give you a list of ideas and the step-by-step process you can follow to set up the retirement plan you’ll need to make it all happen.

What’s on the cards for your retirement plan? Why start a retirement business

The typical retirement age in South Africa is 65 for men and 60 for women. However, many people choose to work beyond this age because of several reasons, including:

Financial necessity
A desire to stay engaged
The overall increase in life expectancy

Retirement may overwhelm you, and transitioning from a structured work life to a more relaxed pace may seem challenging. However, if you’re healthy, active, and ready for a new journey, embarking on a new business venture is ideal.

Some of the top benefits of running a small retirement business are:

Better mental and physical health: Engaging in business activities will keep your body and mind active, which can help stave off diseases such as dementia. It can also improve your mental well-being and give you a sense of purpose.
Chance to pursue your dreams and interests: Retirement is the ideal time to pursue your dreams and interests if you didn’t have a chance earlier while raising kids and having a full-time job. The possibilities are endless, whether you want to start a consultancy business based on your expertise or open a small artistic shop.
Supplement retirement income: A small business can create supplemental income and give you more financial freedom. This additional income can cover expenses such as healthcare costs and help you to live more comfortably.

Deciding on a venture to give you a retirement income

You may be wondering what venture you should pursue. After all, there are many options. Choosing your venture involves considering your interests, skills, and resources. Here are vital steps you can follow in choosing your ideal venture:

1. Reflect on your passions and interests

It’s important to choose a venture that you enjoy. Consider your hobbies and things you’ve always wanted to pursue but have not had time to.

This could include creative ventures such as crafting and writing or hands-on activities such as woodworking. If you enjoyed what you did for work, such as accounting, this could work, too.

2. Assess your skills and experience

Consider the skills and knowledge you’ve gained over your career. These can be invaluable in setting up consultancy services or a freelance business based on your background and what you’re good at.

3. Evaluate market demand

Make sure people are interested in paying for the services or products you plan to provide. Then, look at the market for potential competitors, customers, and current trends to determine the viability of your business idea.

4. Evaluate start-up costs and resources

Assess how much you’re willing to spend to start your business. Consider the start-up costs, ongoing expenses, and potential financial risks. Also, take stock of the resources you’ll need, including space, equipment, and contacts.

Retirement business ideas

Choosing a retirement business venture is personal, and it needs to be something you want. However, it may be challenging to decide, so here are a couple of ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

An e-commerce website where you sell your creative products, like paintings, crochet products, homemade soaps and lotions, etc.
A small home nursery selling plants and herbs.
A supper club, small catering company, or home bakery if you enjoy cooking or baking.
Writing books such as children’s stories, fictional novels, an autobiography, self-help, or business help books.
Tutoring is where you offer tutoring in subjects such as math, science, or languages. This is especially ideal if you have a background in teaching.
Consulting is the practice of using your professional expertise to help others. Examples include guiding individuals on career paths and providing niche consulting services like finance, marketing, or operations.
A bed and breakfast where you convert a part of your home into a cosy B&B or use platforms like Airbnb to rent out vacation properties.

The retirement plan: putting together your post-retirement business venture strategy

Once you’ve decided on a direction, it’s time to assemble the retirement plan you’ll need to make it happen. Here are the essential steps to ensure your business gets off to a good start.

1. Ensure you have the knowledge you need

Consider taking a course to upskill or refresh your knowledge in your chosen field. MANCOSA offers several short business courses to help.

We also offer the New Venture Creation: Post Retirement Journey short course that teaches you the entrepreneurial skills you need to start immediately.

2. Conduct market research

Do market research to understand your market. This involves finding your target audience, including their needs, behaviours, and desires. It also involves doing a competitor analysis to understand your competition’s strengths and weaknesses and where you can stand out.

3. Define your business offerings and objectives

Determine what products or services you’ll offer. Identify what makes your offerings unique from competitors. Also, set your short and long-term goals (i.e., what you’d like to achieve in the first year and what you want to accomplish in the next 3 to 5 years).

4. Create a financial plan

Calculate the initial investment required to get your business up and running. This includes the equipment, inventory, licences, and marketing costs. Also, determine your ongoing expenses, such as utilities and supplies.

5. Develop a logistics and management plan

Determine how your business will run day-to-day operations. Consider whether you’ll need staff members and what their roles will be. Identify which tasks, such as accounting, IT support, and bookkeeping, can be outsourced.

Available retirement courses online

MANCOSA offers several courses that can support you in your business venture. These courses include, but are not limited to:

Telephone Skills: This is where you’ll learn how to communicate over the phone effectively.
Finances for Non-Finance Managers: This is where you’ll learn the financial fundamentals to help you manage your business finances.
Project Management Fundamentals: This is where you’ll learn how to manage different projects in your business, including client projects and operations.

Or, if you’d like to learn several entrepreneurial skills to run your business, including finances, the art of selling and negotiation, and more, consider enrolling in the New Venture Creation: Post-Retirement Journey short course.

Register for retirement courses online

Starting a retirement venture is an excellent idea if you’re a healthy and active individual looking to make additional income or keep busy after retirement.

As mentioned, MANCOSA’s New Venture Creation: Post-Retirement Journey short course teaches you everything you need to know to start your business on the right foot. Learn more about the course here.