Ceri Wheeldon of Fab after Fifty interviews Karen Knott of Prime Time Business on How to Set Up a Business over 50.

We talk about why women over 50 set up businesses

Why more businesses set up by women over 50 are more successful than those set up by younger counterparts.

How to overcome the fear of technology when setting up a business

The essential things to do when setting up a business

The fundamental steps to take when setting up a business

Three top tips to set up a successful business

 

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Full episode transcript:

[00:00:04] I'm Ceri Wheeldon. Welcome to the Fab after Fifty podcast. Leading the pro age conversation, talking about all things life after 50.

 

[00:00:17] Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Fab after Fifty podcast. And I have with me as my guest today, Karen Knott.  Karen is a business coach working primarily with women in their 50s and 60s, setting up their own businesses. Hello, Karen, and welcome to Fab after Fifty.

 

[00:00:33] Hi there. Ceri, it's lovely to be able to talk to you today.

 

[00:00:38] Now, I'm so looking forward to sharing this our listeners, Karen. I know you do so much work, don't you, to encourage women to successfully set up businesses when they reach midlife and beyond?Yes,

 

[00:00:48]  it's my mission and my passion, Ceri.

 

[00:00:54] And I know that always come through in our conversations. Why do you think it is that so many women choose to set up businesses once they reach their 50s?

 

[00:01:04] Well, I guess there's a variety of reasons. I mean, for some women, Ceri, there's a catalyst of some sort taht will have occurred.

 

[00:01:15] I'm thinking here about things like possibly a redundancy, maybe sort of empty nest or sometimes it's even like, you know, a big birthday like fiftieth or sixtieth. And it's just that sort of thing which makes them sort of think, OK, right. That's it. You know, I need to do this now, you know, not in five or 10 years time. The time is now, you know. And but for a lot of people, it's just sort of a phase of life, you know, that it's like they're moving into their next evolution, if you like, if that doesn't sound a bit to woo woo. And it's just like they're just saying that they want to explore new possibilities, you know, and  up for just sort of doing something different. Sometimes it's actually as simple as that. It's sort of pull towards I want to do something different.  And the women that you work with.

 

[00:02:16] I mean, when they come to you do they have a fully fledged idea of what they want their business to look like or is it still very much in the conceptual stage?

 

[00:02:26] I guess, you know, for some it's in these sort of let's say there's two there's two different parts to it, really. First to some, it's like I just have this feeling, if you like, you know, of this wanting to do something different, but they haven't yet been able to shape what that thing looks like. So that's sort of like, you know, one group of women, it's like they don't know the what of what it is they want to do. It's like, you know, what is this thing? You know, what can I do? So there is one group and the other group is they know very well the what and they're their sort of challenge is you know, how do I make this into a business? So if you like, they come from two different sorts of fall into two different camps.

 

[00:03:13] If we take the second camp that these are the people that know what it is they want to do, what are the first steps that people should really, I guess, take when they are thinking of setting up a new business?

 

[00:03:25] Okay. So I always say that the  first things that we need to get really, really is a clarity thing that we have to do first. And that clarity, piece is first of all, starting with them because, you know, it's their business. So it makes sense to start from that point. And. Believe it or not, that is actually far more challenging than it sounds because probably for the first