Canada’s 10 million baby boomers are unlike any other generation before them. By far the most unique feature of this cohort now entering its 60s is that its members don’t really want to retire in the traditional way. For many, what used to be called “retirement” is an opportunity to start their own businesses.
A recent Ipsos Reid survey of baby boomers’ retirement plans reveals that more than half plan to work in their retirement years, preferably in their own businesses. This isn’t just for the money, although that’s certainly a consideration. The entrepreneurial itch is also caused by a desire to try something new and to explore new territories.
Problem
Ian Talbot and Eric Tweedie are squarely in this group. Both toiled in the management trenches for years with BHP Billiton, the world’s largest diversified resources company. Talbot, 48, a geologist and lawyer, was BHP’s in-house counsel, responsible for negotiating joint ventures and partnerships with small and mid-size companies. South Africa native Tweedie, 57, a geologist, spent three decades in BHP offices around the globe. He retired as global operations manager in 2005.
Both men had nice gigs with a big company, big rewards and big support systems – what everyone is supposed to want in life. But, like many other baby boomers, both men were tired of the comfy corporate couch and were looking for something a little more engaging.
Solution
In 2006 the two men became part of a growing trend among baby boomers by forming a business aimed as much at learning, exploring and enjoying as at making money. They formed Arcus Development Group Inc., a junior exploration company, raised $1 million by putting up some of their own money and tapping friends and family, and immediately optioned a property with potential for copper and gold in Northern B.C.
The creation of a junior exploration company in a hot market is hardly big news. But not many are led by big-company veterans who decide to scratch an entrepreneurial itch by jumping into the wild – and risky – exploration field at a time when most people are counting the days to their pensions. But both Talbot and Tweedie insist that a lifetime of comfort or golf wasn’t for them. They wanted to reinvent themselves.
Both Talbot, CEO, and Tweedie, VP of exploration, recognized they were in positions to take the kind of risk that comes with such a move. “I don’t have any large responsibilities, so no financial handcuffs,” says Talbot. Adds Tweedie, “There was a risk of failure, and I had to come to grips with it because I’ve never really failed before. But I knew I had to do something to get out of my comfort zone.”
However, the transition from corporate life wasn’t always smooth for the two later-life entrepreneurs. They had a big learning curve to navigate and they made mistakes. For example, they both believed the properties they optioned had great technical potential but couldn’t convince the financial community, which wanted more “sparkle” than was offered by a single property in some remote part of the province. So they had to raise their own money to ready the company for a public listing.
When they went looking for a sponsoring broker, most turned them down because they were too small. Still, the partners persevered, and last October Arcus went public and began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange. The listing raised an additional $2 million for exploration.
Now that they run a full-fledged exploration business, the two men can review the process and look at their mistakes as a learning exercise. As Tweedie puts it, “If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not learning, and that’s what life’s about, or should be.”
Lessons
• Plan how to handle it. Entrepreneurship can be daunting when you’re trading a steady paycheque for the vagaries of business. Boomers tend to have their biggest financial responsibilities behind them, freeing them up for adventure.
• Get used to doing it yourself. The corporate life usually features large business support systems that are missing in a smaller business. So boomer business people have to do it themselves or find low-cost alternatives.
• Build a support group. In a corporate setting, you find support among those who surround you. When that group is gone, you have to build your own. Often these are your boards of advisers and directors.
