The magic age of 65 in today’s world does seem like early retirement for many healthy adults who might be glad to shed their day job but not retire completely. Trends indicate that because people are living longer, statistics show that the number of adults starting new businesses and becoming self-employed in their 60s, is increasing.

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), “…the percentage of individuals age 62 and over who were self-employed, increased from 4.2 percent in 1988 to 5.4 percent in 2015.” The SBA says senior entrepreneurship is healthy for the broader economy (as well as for the seniors themselves who probably appreciate the challenge to start a new career and/or business).

It is no secret the population is aging but that does not mean that seniors are slowing down. The SBA likens this trend to Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Colonel Harland Sanders started his famous chicken franchise when he was 62 from his gas station, and slowly the business grew into a national chain.

There are more working capital options available for senior entrepreneurs than ever before, with business term loans, revenue-based financing and merchant cash advances providing capital in the hands of business owners in as little as 24 hours.

This trend is seen by experts as positive. The SBA cites that a “…healthy population of businesses can benefit both workers and consumers as competition for employees drives up wages and competition for customers drives down prices.”

While senior entrepreneurs are finding new lives and careers in greater numbers, there are also some trends that show not all senior entrepreneurs are self-employed by choice.  

A Marketwatch article by Chris Farrell reports that senior entrepreneurs – (part of a trend he calls “Boomerpreneurship”) are experience prejudice on a fairly large scale in the workplace. , “… age discrimination is real, pernicious and widespread. … I heard that 71% of the workers aged 57 to 64 that AARP surveyed in 2013 said they had seen or experienced age discrimination at the workplace.”

The SBA also says this that “…the decline in the proportion of employed seniors who are self-employed is concerning…” but offers that Federal policymaking can “…induce more seniors to choose entrepreneurship over other types of employment.”

Farrell is in agreement and says that self-employment may be the way to go. “… in an era when corporate downsizings, restructurings, rightsizings — pick your favorite euphemism —are routine, self-employment doesn’t offer any more uncertainty than being an employee.”

Small businesses and entrepreneurs do not lack creative or multiple options to fund their operations.  When traditional models of funding a business are not available or fail, many scrappy entrepreneurs have turned to other methods to find what the Small Business Administration (SBA) calls “alternative fundraising.”

A straightforward and rather uninspiring definition of alternative funding from the SBA states,  “(Alternative Funding)…can be identified as financing from external sources other than banks or stock and bond markets.”  But that is definition that does not even scratch the surface of the remarkable trends in the marketplace today.  Millions of dollars have been raised by creative people who plead their cases to the world via online forums such as Kickstarter.com or Indiegogo.com as well as microfinance forums such as Kiva.com.  Small businesses and creative types have hawked such goods as independent films, comic books and skateboards to services and products.

At Imperial Advance, we offer Business Term Loans, Revenue Based Financing and Merchant Cash Advances as well as other alternative finance options for small and mid-size businesses seeking capital.

According to the SBA, crowdfunding and online lending has changed the way lenders operate:  “Online lending platforms frequently rely on new methods of evaluating credit, require different criteria for funding (relying less on collateral), and they may consider new metrics or indicators of creditworthiness.”  Crowdfunding takes some of that formal process away (though entrepreneurs still have to fill out approval forms on Kiva.com as well as plead their case to rake in any funding from other platforms).

Crowdfunding, which the SBA terms as “the pooling of small amounts of money from many investors through internet platforms,” is one of most popular forms of alternative finance. The space is actually larger and more complicated than what would expect.  There are differences in crowdfunding and those small business owners inspired to take such a route should know some of the ins and outs – and the different kinds of crowdfunding options:

Donation- and rewards-based crowdfunding: These are funding models that do not offer any monetary compensation to the investors, but does offer certain perks such as access to the product or service early and other benefits.

Peer-to-peer and peer-to-business lending: The SBA says a good example of peer-to-peer and peer-to- business lending can be found on Kiva.com – a microfinance platform that “anonymously connects borrowers (individuals or businesses) with multiple lenders,” according to the SBA.  On Kiva, entrepreneurs fill out a loan application and once approved, are marketed to the Kiva population of lenders.  The small businesses are required to pay off their loans and Kiva says, once the lender gets their money back, they can use it to fund other businesses.  Sites like this are often designed to help small businesses in tough-economic neighborhoods or in areas around the world that do not have the direct resources of the U.S. for instance.

Equity crowdfunding: The SBA says this form of crowdfunding was only authorized in the United States in May 2016.  In a nutshell, Syndicate Room says that equity crowdfunding is the process where the ‘crowd’ invest in an early-stage unlisted company) in exchange for shares in that company. A shareholder has partial ownership of a company and stands to profit should the company do well. The opposite is also true, so if the company fails investors can lose some, or all, of their investment.

As a restaurant owner, you want your business to branch out as fast as possible! Thanks to these services, thousands of restaurants and businesses have gained repeat customers and rapid success. If you’re not involved with one of these websites for your business, you haven’t even seen the possibilities of what is yet to come. Investing in one of these affordable or completely free online tools is a great start to becoming a successful and well known restaurant!

1. Seamless

Customers can uniquely search for a specific food craving. You can also make exclusive offers on their website to draw more attention to your restaurant. Having published over 40,000 menus completely free of charge, Seamless is a trusted website only asking for 12-18% of each transaction made through their website. When someone orders from your restaurant, their recent order will be saved in their history. If they enjoyed your food, chances are you’ll have a repeat customer.

2. Delivery.com

Charging a low 7-12% per transaction, this might be the tool for your business to grow. They even donate 25% of their commissions to charity! Customers get reward points each time they order, giving them good incentive to use this tool again and order from your restaurant repeatedly. With your own delivery driver,  this will definitely draw attention to your business and it’s absolutely free to be listed on their website.

3. Yelp!

Yelp puts together customer’s food photos and reviews, so people looking to order something can see how your food looks and how everyone else like it. Half of all 18-34 year olds look at restaurant reviews to decide on where they will order from. Start building reviews on yelp and grow your business with new and repeat customers. Making a business account is free of charge, and they will publish a link to your restaurant’s website as well.

4. Locu – Get Found Online

Design your menu, easily update daily specials, price changes and anything you need to add whenever you want! This website is a one stop shop, anything you edit using this platform will also be updated in your social media account, restaurant website and mobile app. The website publishes your restaurant’s information on websites like Google, Yelp and FourSquare. Always a low monthly fee, prices varying on your needs.

5. Must Have Menus

Does your menu change often? This website offers over 3,000 menu templates. Build your menu, update it when you want! Pricing plans start at only $15/month.

What tools & strategies are you using to grow your business online?

Where have you found the most success?

Leave your questions & comments in the box below.