Smart ageing – now is the time to prepare and support those over 50 who want to start a business.
There will be over one million people living in Ireland aged 65 and over by 2031. 
The enormous demographic changes that will occur in Ireland over the next 15 years will change the entire social, cultural and economic landscape of the country. 
According to 2016 figures from Social Justice Ireland, there will be at least one million over-65s in Ireland by 2031. “Now is the time to plan for this dramatic change,” says Michelle Murphy, research and policy analyst with the agency.
As well as the need for primary and community health services, in every community, there is also the need for better access to learning and employment for the over 50s, says Murphy.
Investment in rural broadband should be a vital priority for every community in Ireland. 
Wise and willing
Research by Amarach shows that 44% of respondents over 50 would be interested in a course to help them develop ideas and the skills to start their own business.
In fact, more than one in five over 50s had some experience of setting up their own business and 17% of those with experience set up their business when aged over 50.
There are supports available for people over 50 who want to start a business. 
Visit: The Ireland Smart Ageing Exchange.
Also visit: The Ingenuity programme for entrepreneurs aged 50+.
READ MORE: It’s never too late to start.
Did you know?
Charles Flint was 61 when he founded IBM. 
In Ireland, Peter Cullen founded Aran Candy in 1997 with his son Richard when he was 50 after an earlier venture failed. The business was sold for €15.5 million in 2014.

Words sell. There’s no doubt that good writing will win you more customers. Here’s how to start.
Carefully selected words can help persuade a customer that they really need what you have to offer, and motivate them to go out and get it. The other side of that coin, however, is that even one badly chosen word can completely put off a customer and lose them forever. People are just as wary of hard-sell pitches online or in print as they are of foot-in-the-door salesmen. If you are writing about your own business, you will have first-hand knowledge of your products or services. You will also know where they fit in your marketplace and who your audience is.
Don’t just write about your company, and its products and services, from your own perspective.  That’s a mistake many businesses make. Customers who come to your website are looking for information, perhaps to inform a buying decision. You need to tell them what your service or product can do for them, and what problem it can solve.

Understand your customers and anticipate what they want
Expand your vocabulary
Test your content – see what works and what doesn’t

What are the words that work best to get customers to:

Notice your product or service?
Contact you?
Complete their purchase

Here are some of the ways you could start your pitch:

With a question: This addresses the customer directly, and may even be what they are doing there in the first place. Isn’t it time you…? Don’t you wish…? Why pay full price…? Are you paying too much for…?
With a statement: This gets your message out there immediately, while engaging the reader. Let’s talk about why you need… We’ll change your mind about… It’s never too late to…
With a challenge: You immediately call your customer to action and tell them just

If you are starting a business, you may be eligible for a tax refund of up to 41% of the amount invested.
Under a new Government scheme called StartUp Refunds for Entrepreneurs (SURE), entrepreneurs can make a claim for a refund against income tax they paid over the past six years.
Who qualifies and how does it work? 
How can you check if you are eligible and claim the tax refund? SURE is targeting those in employment, who are unemployed, who have retired and who have set or who are considering setting up their own businesses. 
The business must be incorporated as a limited liability company and trade from an Irish base. The company must be less than two years old from the date of incorporation to qualify. The minimum SURE investment is €250 and the maximum investment is €700,000, which is €100,000 each for each of the last six years as well as €100,000 for the current year.
To qualify you must:

Have mainly PAYE income in the past four years
Invest cash in the company through new shares
Hold at least 15% of the shares in the company
Not sell those shares for at least three years from the date of issue
Be employed in the new company as a director or as an employee
Ensure that the company carries out “a qualifying trading activity”

Exclusions to that “qualifying trade” rule include professional services (such as accountants, solicitors and business advisors), certain financial services (loans, commodities), film production and dealing in land. 
A company that takes over a previous trade is not eligible. Neither is a company that continued the trade of an individual who is seeking SURE relief and who was previously a sole trader.
There are other rules about the types of company, your role in the company and also requirements for particular tourism, green energy, internationally traded services and R&D ventures. To read

Crowdfunding can be a financial lifeline for a startup but it can also be a futile, time wasting attempt to raise money. Don’t try it until you understand how it works.
Crowdfunding websites match those who have ideas they want to turn into reality with donors.
The crowdfunding website takes a commission from the funds raised, typically 5% but the commission can be 10% or more on some sites. 
The top Irish crowdfunding platforms are: FundIt; SeedUps; iCrowdFund; iDonate.ie; and MoneyCrowd.

Pros and cons
For startups and certain types of small businesses, crowdfunding is seen as a low-risk way of raising funds without having to part with equity. 
Some startups have found that crowdfunding is a stepping stone to other capital. Increasingly, angel investors and venture capitalists back promoters who have been successful in crowdfunding campaigns.
But crowdfunding has its drawbacks. Failure rates are high – the majority of crowdfunding projects fail to reach the fundraising goals. 
Startups also find that crowdfunding is a time-burner. Success is often down to the amount of time spent preparing the campaign and then promoting and managing it.  Entrepreneurs need to put a lot of information about a product or service into the public domain. This carries risks – your competitors will know what you’re doing and you may be forced to defend yourself from online critics.
Below are five questions you should ask yourself before you ‘kick start’ your project.

1. Is your business suited to crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding suits certain types of businesses – usually startups or early stage companies that are looking for relatively small amounts of money. It has a higher success rate within certain sectors like the arts, digital media, music, and certain types of consumer goods businesses. You should find out if the crowdfunding platform you are considering has a track record of success with similar businesses to yours.
2. Do you have right skills for crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding suits particular types

Having a business Facebook page is all very well, but it’s not enough. Your startup needs a website.
You have a splendid idea, your market research is robust, you’ve created your lean business canvas and devised a killer sales strategy, so now it’s time to launch. 
Before you do, though, ask yourself: ‘How do I look online’?
Here are seven good reasons why your startup needs a website.
1: You have full control
Having and owning your domain name, website, email address and communications database means you are in full control. 
Many small businesses think a Facebook page will suffice. However, don’t assume that your target audience is on older social networks. It’s much better if you are easily found on Google. 
2. It’s not expensive and sometimes it’s free
Having a website doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. These days there are very robust out-of-the-box solutions that offer domain names, website hosting, website templates and e-commerce solutions. 
Some banks even offer free websites as part of a startup package. 

3: Your customers are online and searching
You may not need to, or want to sell online, but your customers are making purchase decisions based on their online searches. 
Your website is also your digital business card. At any given time your next client, or investor, could be looking for you online.
4. You can measure how you’re performing
Having a website means you can monitor traffic to, and around, your site. 
You can add Google Analytics tracking to any website, and begin collecting valuable information on your visitors’ habits, as they view and navigate your site. In turn, this then feeds into your sales and marketing strategy. 
5. You’re always open
With a website, you are always open for business. Customers can easily find you, learn more about you, buy directly from you, or just reach out to you if they need