Article by Ceri Wheeldon

The prospect of setting up a business in your 50s can be daunting.

You have the idea, the passion and your market research tells you it’s viable. What happens if you don’t have all the skills yourself to ‘make it happen’? Where or who can you turn to for reliable information?

There are a lot of professionals and ‘experts’ who market their services to support start-up businesses, but some can be costly. If you are in ‘start-up’ mode then every penny counts. A good first port of call for help if you are thinking of setting up a business in your 50s is PRIME (The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise), the charity set up by the Prince of Wales.  PRIME’s free services include workshops, training manuals, mentoring, business planning advice, and networking opportunities and in the future PRIME hopes to offer small grants and an alumni to over 50’s who have been successful in business creation.

PRIME provided free business resources

One ‘Fabpreneur’ who has set up her business with the help of PRIME is 52 year old Joan.

Joan was a teacher, who fell ill with chronic fatigue in 2007.  She gave up teaching, but managed to make ends meet by doing some tuition for 2 hours a week.   Joan used gardening to improve her health and build up her stamina and began to think about setting up her own gardening business. Joan decided to use her savings and look further into setting up a garden design company. However, Joan’s courage and knowledge of self-employment was limited.  She began networking and looked around for as much free advice as possible.  The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME) was a key resource for free business information for Joan.

Joan says, “I did not have too much money, so I gathered all my business information through networking and free resources such as PRIME” Joan’s business has taken off slowly, which is ideal as she is still recovering from her illness.  Through word of mouth work, she has built up enough money to have her own website and looks forward to seeing her business growing.

For a free ‘starter pack’ and access to free training events and mentoring go to http://www.primebusinessclub.com/

We also have helpful articles for anyone setting up their own business here on Fabafterfifty

Ceri Wheeldon

Ceri is Founder and Editor of Fabafterfifty.co.uk She is a frequent speaker at events and in the media on topics related to women over 50 , including style and living agelessly. With 20+ years experience as a headhunter Ceri also now helps support those looking to extend their working lives.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: