Kentucky Fried Wisdom

Some years ago I met and spent some time with a legendary business owner who personified a particular branch of entrepreneurship, that being those people who start a business later in life. Meeting a man with one of the best known faces in America was memorable and thinking of him today still makes me smile. That man was Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Because his face was plastered on signs all over the U.S. and Canada at the time, walking down a public street with him was like being in the company of a megastar. People constantly waved, smiled and asked for his autograph.

Well, Mr. Sanders wasn’t really a military Colonel, but was given the honorary title by the governor of Kentucky. But he was a real businessman who started the KFC franchise operation out of desperation when he was 65 years of age. His startup capital was money from his first Social Security check that he used to go on the road and call on prospective franchisees! At the time I was in my twenties and was simply amazed that he started when most people are retiring to their hobbies and focused on spoiling the grandchildren.

Today in our country, more than 5 million people age 55 or older are self employed or operate their own business according to the Small Business Administration. This is the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs across the land right now. The number of self employed people ages 55 to 64 has grown 52% between 2000 and 2007! Jerri Sedlar the author of “Don’t Retire, Rewire,” said two types of people start businesses: those who always planned to and those who cannot find a job.

I think that some of those people are gleefully getting a belated start on their lifelong dream and others are being forced to take the entrepreneurial plunge out of necessity. When you feel that your job might disappear like coastal mist in the noonday sun, you are living with a lot of stress. If you are going to toss and turn at 4am over business, it might as well be about your own enterprise. This current economic crisis should be teaching us that like it or not, everybody has to develop some level of entrepreneurial consciousness.

Buyout packages and golden parachutes often supply the necessary capital and finally scratching the itch to be one’s own boss is a pretty strong motivator to take the risk. My experience producing a Making It! a small business TV show has brought me into contact with hundreds of business owners across the age spectrum. I can tell you that starting a business while your gray hair is beginning to dominate won’t be as easy as you think nor as hard as you might fear. By your fifth decade, you probably know more than you are aware of and have a support network that is broader and deeper than you realize.

I started Nelson Davis Television Productions because of the realization that my bosses who were presented to me as geniuses really weren’t. By that time going to another job interview had about the same appeal as wrestling alligators with a python holding up my shorts. You have to take a great leap of faith and think only of what you want to have happen while obliterating all thoughts of any less successful outcome.

Starting your business is one of those rare categories where the government can actually be helpful. The SBA web site can direct you to some advice and expertise tailored for people 50 and older. Universities and community colleges all over the country have night classes and extension courses that offer just about everything you need to know to take this important leap. Of course you have to supply the self confidence and drive. You have to be the president of sales and marketing. My philosophy is that nothing gets made until something gets sold. Whether you make one dollar or a million, the feeling of self development and realization is worth the effort to be your own boss.

Another reason that thinking of Colonel Sanders brings me a smile is that at age 80 he was still having a lot of fun. He had sold KFC for $2million (about $14M in today’s dollars) to a group of businessmen when he was 74 years old. Like most ex business owners, he wasn’t happy with how they ran the operation when he was gone. I remember him telling me in his heavy Kentucky accent how awful they were. The way it came out of his mouth sounded like “Dem Bastids.” One of the smartest and most successful business owners I know right now is 74 vigorous and healthy years old. His friends often ask when he plans to retire, and his response is “retire to what?” These older business owners are proving that age and accomplishment does have its privileges, challenges and rewards!