Lynne Beverly Strang's Blog, page 5

5 Uplifting Stories About Dad Entrepreneurs

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Photo by Sabine van Straaten on Unsplash

This month is Father’s Day.  Maybe it has you reflecting on the lessons your dad taught you.  Or maybe you’re thinking about your own kids and what they might get you this year (hopefully not another tie).

Any way you look at it, family tends to be a very big deal for 40-and-older entrepreneurs.  Shown below are a few past posts about entrepreneurs who embraced parenthood fully.  Some of these dads wanted to help their offspring (or other family member...

Successful Entrepreneurs Likely to be Older, Finds New Study

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Photo by Matthias Zomer from Pexels

As much as we love reading about young entrepreneurs who create killer businesses, these cases are the exception rather than the norm, says a new report.

In reality, the average age of the most successful entrepreneurs is 45, according to “Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship.” The research team that prepared the report used U.S. Census Bureau data to analyze all businesses launched in the U.S. between 2007 and 2014 (which encompassed 2.7 million founders)....

Remembering an Icon in the Beauty Industry

By Lynne Beverly Strang, Late-Blooming Entrepreneurs

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Mary Kay Ash

Vision, drive and tenacity.

Entrepreneurs who want to build sustainable businesses need these traits. Mary Kay Ash had them, plus the self-knowledge that comes with being older.

This month marks the 100th birthday of Ash, who founded Mary Kay – a multibillion-dollar direct seller of cosmetics – at age 45.

Ash was born May 12, 1918 in Hot Wells, Texas as Mary Kathlyn Wagner. Her upbringing wasn’t exactly glamorous. As a girl, sh...

How a 76-Year-Old Became a Swimwear Entrepreneur

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Cherry Harker always wanted to design bikinis. Her infatuation with the skimpy swimsuits began in the late 1950s.

Back then, she was a teenager who spent holidays at exotic places like Monaco and St. Tropez. Her father, Ronnie Harker, was Rolls-Royce’s first test pilot. When his work took him to these posh resorts, his family went with him.

During those trips, Harker had opportunities to watch glamorous people and observe what they were wearing, occasionally...

6 Ways to Market Your Business for Free (Well, Almost)

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Photo by Karolina Zuraw on Unsplash

Most new and small business owners operate on shoestring budgets that leave few resources for marketing. If that describes you, take heart. You don’t have to spend big marketing bucks at the beginning (if ever). For greater brand awareness, try these tactics:

Get positive reviews and testimonials. These will help establish trust and enhance the credibility of your business. Provide great service and a quality product to generate “organic” reviews (where pe...

How to Stay Motivated in February

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Photo by Firasat Durrani on Upsplash

February can be a tough month for entrepreneurs. The holiday parties are over. People may be reluctant to spend money right now. They’re still paying credit card bills for the gifts they bought in December.

Then there’s the weather, a big factor for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere. When ice and snow keep customers away, brick-and-mortar businesses suffer. So do the moods of their owners and employees.

How do you keep going when it’s the dea...

Five Money Moves for Gig Entrepreneurs

[image error]As a freelance writer, I like the independence that comes with gig work. I also like interacting with a variety of clients, setting my own schedule and working from home in jeans and a t-shirt.

But I’m not so crazy about the administrative, record keeping and money management tasks that are part of the picture. I’d much rather devote time to the actual work I enjoy doing.

Sound familiar?

The reality is that any entrepreneur – gig or otherwise – needs a back office of some sort. January is an...

8 Inspiring Quotes from 40-and-Older Entrepreneurs

The end of the year presents an opportunity to look back at some of the most memorable quotes about 40-and-older entrepreneurs that appeared on this blog in 2017. I hope you find wisdom and inspiration from these eight quotes – especially if your 2018 goals include starting or expanding a business.

Happy New Year!

Lynne

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1) “Go after what you feel deeply about. And be willing to take a risk. If you feel strongly about something, just follow your heart and do it.” – Bob Ha...

This 70-Something Entrepreneur is Passionate about Eco-Friendly Packaging

Paul Tasner used to be a director of operations for a consumer products company in San Francisco – until he was fired in 2009 at age 64.

Two years later, Tasner became a first-time entrepreneur. He’s now channeling his concern for the environment into Pulpworks, which designs and manufactures biodegradable, planet-friendly packaging for consumer goods.

“I am doing the most rewarding and meaningful work of my life right now,” he says in a TED Talk titled “How I became an entrepreneur at 66.”

T...

Lessons Learned from an Accidental Author

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Jim Horan

By Lynne Beverly Strang, Late Blooming Entrepreneurs  

Jim Horan never expected to own a business or write a book. Much to his surprise, he ended up doing both in the second half of his life. 

As explained in this 2013 blog post, Horan started The One-Page Business Plan Company in 1990 when he was nearly 40. His goal was help entrepreneurs construct their business plans with a single page. Seven years later, the Berkeley, California-based innovator published The One-Page Business Pl...