Description

Jeff Williams, founder and CEO of Bizstarters,discusses his new resource for boomer entrepreneurs, "The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide".

Transcript

The Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Guide Ivy Hartman: Well, up here we’re 50 and maybe you’ve got about starting your own business. We’ve got an expert that is helping baby boomers do just that. Jeff Williams is a coach author and boomer business owner himself. He is also the CEO and founder of BizStarters.com. He’s recently published his 8th workbook for entrepreneurs, “The Ultimate Boomer Business Guide”. Jeff, welcome to sbtv.com. Jeff Williams: Thank you for having me, Ivy. Ivy Hartman: Absolutely, tell what made you decide to write this 8th guide? Jeff Williams: Well, I was inspired initially by the fact that I’ll celebrate my 28th year in business this June. Ivy Hartman: Congratulations! That’s great. Jeff Williams: Thank you plus I turned 60 this year and it’s my 25th wedding anniversary. They were all rolled out in one year. So I decided about a year ago that I want to really kind of commemorate this 20 years of work with boomer start-ups by pulling together every resource that I have had and no matter where I’ve got it from time to pull in the one concentrated source and that’s really where the work would came from. This is a combination of my real world, personal experience working with more than 4000 clients and also one thing that I’ve added to the workbook that I’ve worked within form and I’ve announced formally in the workbook. I’m very excited about this. And that is that I know that in order to launch a business professionally and successfully you need outside help, in addition to my coaching or my workbook. So I have assembled what I think is an outstanding team of startup service providers. Ivy Hartman: And you’ve done that through analogy of BizStarters.com but then you’ve got a newer website also. Jeff Williams: Yes. That’s virtual incubator. Virtual Incubator and of course my original company which is called the Go Smart Business Start-Up Center. I’ve always had a team of service providers but although I did have employees about 10 years ago. I’ve made a virtual company but now how it goes I kind of take us to the next level and we’ve got in no point where a lot of the big corporate market was very interested in being in the boomer entrepreneurship market. Ivy Hartman: Rightfully so, geez. I mean there’s over 5 ½ million people over 50 who are starting their own business and what have you say something like 25 million people are going to turn 62 this year? Jeff Williams: Well, it’s 25 million who are over 55, 4 million will turn 62, yes it’s a very vibrant area. As a matter of fact I was talking to the Vice President of Business Development Staples recently. They are in Boston and he said yes, our whole focus in marketing is the 35 to 50-year-olds because that they’re buying a computers, there buying me all equipment, they’re buying the furniture and the supplies and we of course, we’re advising them what to buy from all these people. So in addition to the workbook itself, the workbook also comes with a resource CD which has a couple of more step by step tips. It was one of the financier one of marketing and then they also get a $150.00 in coupons from these top providers and they include LogoWorks.com which is the number one online logo design company. Vista Print which the number one online printing company, you know all the people have always free vista print business cards. We also have a division of into it who is the marketers of quick books. They have the website called the MyCorporation.com. They are on board with us, we have a number of others and we hope that double the number by the end of the year. So what we’re able to say really for the first time is that we have a soup to nuts, A to Z, no must, no frost process. Ivy Hartman: Rather than mind the other seven which it you could do. This is a ultimate boomer business startup guide. It combines with the CD’s and DVD’s really is what you need to do and get yourself cut up. What makes this particular book attractive to boomers? Jeff Williams: That’s a good question. I’ve been asked that a couple of times. Are you just trying to rhyme with the name boomer or some unique, yes you are there are some unique characteristics. First of all, most of the people are dealing with, they really want to run the business for maybe four or five, six years and that really look in and become ultimate million dollar company have initial stock offering and get out that way. So there are impatient, they’re doubling inpatient. So number one the book says, “line to get people in business.” And set a matter of weeks and a matter of fact if you spend, if you come in to our workshop or eight hour workshop we will guarantee that. If you start with a good business idea and we’ll help you to define what a good business idea is to our website. If you start with a good business idea you will be substantially ready to launch. It is just a one eight-hour day. Ivy Hartman: That’s promising especially since some of the reports we’re hearing that a lot of small businesses that start regardless of how old the owner is and we start some failure usually in four to six months, especially since you’re looking at boy, I want to reap the benefits in a short term plan. What is the best way for them to use this guide and are there things that can use in conjunction with it so that they are ultimately successful pass the sixth months and one year mark. Jeff Williams: Well, we have a section to the front and it kind of explains how you’ll go through the book, and how to distinguish between work you’re doing yourself, and when you’re bringing in the outside vendor but, we broke it down into just 25 decisions. The whole process and if you devote to just before five hours a week and you follow this step-by-step and in a specific chronological order, you want to do this before you do this. For example you have to come up with a business name before you can find a web name. Ivy Hartman: I like this already because then a lot of small businesses are still a lot of balls and they’re anyhow and what comes first and you break them out to work for us because you want to do. Jeff Williams: Our mentor here is that we never want the user of the guide or something to work. We never want them wondering what to do next. Ivy Hartman: So why it is specifically catered to boomers? I mean— Jeff Williams: Well, number one is the fact that they’re a little bit more impatient and they want to get in business quickly. Number two is they want to do is economically as possible. There’s more than 50 cost saving tips in this book that I use myself, everything from how to find good used furniture that we have to negotiate for better printing prices. These are all things I had to learn over the last 20 years they’re all in the book because we know the boomers, they’re willing to put a certain amount of money and maybe$5000.00, $8000.00, $9000.00, $10,000.00 but certainly would like to keep it under that if they can. So that’s the second thing that’s really boomer connected and the third thing is that the guide comes along with the connection to our biz starters community where we also have the virtual incubator coaching available. So for those individuals who get through the book and say I still need some personal help here, we’ve got the connection to virtual incubator. Ivy Hartman: I think that sounds wonderful for all small business entrepreneurs. Jeff Williams: Oh absolutely, it’s a late boomer or not it’s a great thing. Ivy Hartman: I’ve enlisted Jeff Williams to be one of our featured advisers here on sbtv.com. So you can hear more about as much as his expert advice just by clicking on his featured advisers page and look for Boomer Entrepreneurs and Jeff Williams. Thanks for joining us. Jeff Williams: Thank you Ivy. Ivy Hartman: Keep right here on sbtv.com and look for more information from Jeff Williams.