Posted on: Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Older entrepreneurs reap rewards

By Joyce M. Rosenberg
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Stressed out and unhappy in her job with a hospital's finance department, Marianne D'Eugenio wanted to do something else. But what?

She tried consulting, eventually went to work full time for a client — and "realized I was right back where I was five years ago."

Then, at age 55, D'Eugenio found an unexpected niche, starting Quadrille Quilting, a shop in North Haven, Conn. So far, she's making enough money to live on, and "my attitude's changed a lot" since going into business for herself.

Starting a company for the first time after 50 might seem challenging and risky, but for downsized or burned-out corporate executives, it can be the best — and sometimes the only — way to earn a living. And although being a middle-aged entrepreneur requires many adjustments after serving in the corporate world, many find it's quite rewarding.

Gary Hanson, 54, bought a franchise with The Maids in Kansas City, Mo., earlier this year after being laid off from the energy company where he had worked for 25 years. He's gone through a bit of culture shock. In a corporation, "it wasn't my money, but here, it's mine. There's that risk," he said.

Hanson also was surprised to find that managing his employees and getting the franchise operational were the hardest parts of the business. He went into the venture expecting sales and marketing to be tougher.

But he's having a good time, and shrugs off the difficulties. "I didn't want to go out sleeping. I want the last thing I do to be a challenge," Hanson said.

While Hanson and many other 50-plus business owners turned to entrepreneurship out of financial necessity, still others did it out of an emotional need.

Marian Kurz had wanted to strike out on her own after years of working in a small public-relations agency and feeling that she didn't get enough credit for her hard work. But her children were in college and her family was dependent on her income, so leaving a job with a good salary was too risky.

But 12 years ago, with her children older, "I was 55 and I thought, 'I'm not getting any younger. If I'm going to do this, I'd better do it now,' " she said.

To be sure, starting and running a company after 50 isn't any easier than it is for younger entrepreneurs. Kurz said of her company, KG Communications in Chicago, "we borrowed money more than once" when clients left and revenue slowed.

Still, she's enjoying herself enough that she's not ready to join her husband and many of their friends in retirement.

Some older entrepreneurs say they don't have quite the energy they had when they were younger, but they bring strengths to their businesses that more than make up for it.

"The age can be an advantage if you come with certainty," said Judy Katz, 60, who two years ago started New York-based Katz Creative Inc., a ghostwriting business that helps non-authors get books written and published. She said older business owners project "a sense that you've been out in the world for a long time and you know what you're doing."