[jobtransit] Re: Extreme Idea
- From: "Kevin Lee" <colmustang@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <jobtransit@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:47:59 -0500
That's actually a really good observation. The generation of baby boomers
definitely wants to keep working in one way or another and we may be able to
help this group of people, as well.
I've started reading two books:
1) "Start Your Own Business-4th Edition" - Rieva Lesonsky, Entrepreneur
Magazine
2) "The Search-How Google an Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and
Transformed Our Culture"-John Battelle
I'll try to sum up a few of the things I've gained from my readings so far.
(1) has already shed some insight into what we need to consider in order to
start this thing off right-the most important of which revolves around time
allocation and management issues. We are definitely going with the
part-time approach for our startup, but we need to think of it as a
business, nothing less. This means probably spending at least a few hours
per week (to start) "working" on the task at hand and promoting our ideas to
the early stages of development. Entrepreneur also believes in thorough
market research (something that Sam has repeatedly emphasized). We need to
know who we can market to, why our services are needed, what's already out
there, if there's truly a future for our service. A few more interesting
notes here: Entrepreneur states that economic lulls may be opportune times
to launch a business-mainly because people will be less inclined to start up
businesses and it may be easier to "get noticed".also, kind of coinciding
with what Jon just posted, "Even Though many baby boomers are now over 50,
don't make the mistake of marketing to them the same way you would to
seniors. Boomers don't think of themselves as "old" or "seniors." The
moral? The same marketing approaches that appealed to boomers when they were
30 will appeal to them when they're 50, 60 and 70".just something to keep in
mind if we decide to venture down that path at some point.
As I continue with my readings, I'll keep you guys posted. This book is
fantastic and I'm even more excited knowing that we've already tackled some
very important problems by ourselves-mainly gathering creative business
ideas, beginning preliminary market research work, and assessing potential
problems.
A few things to think about for the next meeting:
1) We need quality market research work. We've already seen an
article pertaining to younger students being more career-oriented, potential
competition in whereismyboss.com, and a few more.If we could spend a few
hours each this week scourging the net for related topics (thoroughly, of
course) we could knock this out in no time. Volunteers are welcome, as
always, but I plan I drafting a document that reflects our findings in a
complete and thorough manner. This document should show the current state
of the job-search/job-finding "industry".
2) What do you specifically want to focus on in the project? If
you're more interested in implementation as opposed to the business side of
things, that's perfectly fine. If you want to work on the
business/marketing side of things that's ok too. But we need to lay it out
there because, individually, we can start researching ahead of time in the
areas that peak our interest. We definitely have a lot of knowledge between
the four of us, but it's unrealistic to think that we'll get this done w/o
needing to learn more or consult with professionals. I fear the
"auto-mechanic syndrome" where mindless zombies (possibly us) place all our
trust in "seasoned professionals" (those to help us) without knowing
anything that's actually going on. We should feel like we're fairly in
control of matters (no matter how diverse the entrepreneurship process
actually is), even if it means that each of us will kind of lead the way at
different parts of the process. I envision that we will all work together
throughout the whole process, but it's always a good idea to broaden each of
our expertise and continue to learn to make JobTransit.com a success.
Let's plan to meet again this Thursday, Feb 14 to talk briefly of the topics
above (as well as any other concerns/comments).
Kev
_____
From: jobtransit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:jobtransit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jonathan Laird
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 6:22 PM
To: jobtransit@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [jobtransit] Extreme Idea
Currently, we've only been focusing on helping the younger generation find a
job, one that (according to Kevin's information) will grow for the next 5
years.
However, I was at the finance.yahoo.com webpage, and an article
title/synopsis struck me in the eye (thankfully not literally).
If possible, why not help Baby Boomers find a job? I know this is a far
fetch, but think/look at the trend...the number of elderly will climb like
crazy in the near future if not already. The information below might be
biased, but I think the overall sentiments are true. Bottom line -
Sentiments are that elderly people need more money in the future since
Social Security won't be there or they have no retirement funds, or they are
bored at home.
So maybe we can be planning for this long-term or so after the 5 years of
youngsters is over with, we can transition into marketing for the baby
boomers... or the people who are just retiring or getting kicked out of
their middle management/engineering jobs at the age of 50-65 years.
It said (@
http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/104388/Boomers:-How-to-Age
-Gracefully?mod=retirement-lifestyle):
" For Boomers, Aging Gracefully Isn't Coming Easily
<http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/fi/12/30/13.jpg>
<http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/104388/Boomers:-How-to-Ag
e-Gracefully?mod=retirement-lifestyle> Boomers: Can't Get No Satisfaction?
A survey found baby boomers are less satisfied at this time in life than
previous generations -- with their finances, careers, and more. If you're
among the disenchanted, it's time to take action..."
Well, this mixed with something like this :
http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Retirement/5-09-16SeniorsKeepWorking.htm
"What is notable in the total number employed is the increase in seniors.
There were 37.7 percent more seniors working in 2003 than in 1990. On the
other hand, the total workforce over age 16 increased by only 15.9 percent.
If you compare the number employed with the total population figures, the
percentage of seniors employed in 2003 was only 12.8 percent, for less than
all people over 16, with was 61 percent. But, the gain in the percentage
employed for seniors actually increased by almost 20 percent, while this
percentage for all over 16 dropped slightly.
Nearly seven in ten American workers report that they plan to continue to
work full or part-time for pay following retirement from their main job,
according to a new national survey of American workers released last month.
Only 13 percent of employees expect to stop working entirely.
Moreover, four in ten American workers disagree that Social Security and
Medicare will still be available when they retire - only 20 percent strongly
believe that both programs will be a source of support when needed. "
Alrite well just wanted to shoot this off before I forgot about it.. back to
work-work :(
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