Lure of Entrepreneurship Beckons Boomers
Instead of retiring, boomers are starting second-act businesses; some are motivated by an independent lifestyle, others by economic necessity
by Jeffrey Gangemi
SPECIAL REPORT
In May, 2004, at age 50, Bob Axisa, then vice-president of enterprise technology services for JP Morgan Chase (JPM), had his position eliminated when the company merged with Bank One. "It was really scary," says Axisa. "I started at the bottom and worked up to a good position—what do you do when it gets pulled out from under you?"
Axisa decided not to return to the uncertainty of the corporate world because, he says, "with offshoring and outsourcing of work, no one really has a secure position. At least that's what I think." Rather, he used part of the 49 weeks of severance-package funds he received from his buyout to start a CertaPro Painters franchise (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/12/05, "Extending the Front Lines of Franchising") in Staten Island, N.Y., where he lives. Axisa is entering his third year of business and says his second act provides the kind of security he needs.
Corporate Jobs Too Insecure
Like Axisa, many boomers—or those 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964—are leaving corporate jobs to start their own businesses. And it's not just because they're ready to retire; though some have the time and money to try life as an entrepreneur, many don't. They, like Axisa, are often worried about disturbing corporate trends like layoffs and pension cuts that are leaving many in their age bracket with a tough road through retirement.