When we think of the granny character we think of Security. Softness. Simplicity. Maybe quiet. Cardigans possibly. Granny knitting and cooking. Grandma with a kitchen bursting with good food and warm fragrant loaves. I can be those things.
Maybe we think of Nan and her recipes, and picnics in an old established garden and books at bed time. Walks on the beach. I can do all those things, too.
If the conventional Grandma is still working it might be in a secure position that she might have had for years. Working towards retirement with regular mammograms and pills for their blood pressure, nicely painted nails and regular appointments at the hairdressers. Yeah. I am not those things.
What we don’t think about is Grandma starting a new business “at her age” complete with trendy second hand clothing, research into eco friendly start ups, the latest apps, new website, brand new podcast, bright white long hair in messy buns, white T shirts and old jeans, red heels, too much eyeliner, feet up on the desk and an unapologetic writing style.
But this is the modern granny.
We are no longer bound by those old norms and expectations.
Starting a new business at the creative, rich, fruitful age of 63 years old means I have all the experience and knowledge in my pocket to do the shit and the tools to cut through the shit.
I am a hawk in owls clothing.
And I am not afraid.
There is a whole ageist movement out there – trying to sit the grey-hairs down and encourage them out of the job market and into their rocking chairs. Start ups are not for older folk, they say. New technology should be left to the young people, they say. I was literally told once by a boss that it was time to move aside and let the younger folk who know the right words to use take over. The right words? He meant keywords. I eat keywords for breakfast, I told him.
I know the right words, brother! Long Tailed Key Words are my magic tongue.
I am not going to take it easy. Though I still gather the eggs and feed the pigs, mind the babies and cook huge family dinners – I am going to be starting another new business on top of all that loveliness and because of it.
I see these advertisements for fit older women with short white hair on bicycles, smiling broadly with unnaturally white teeth. Riding into their retirement in exotic locations with handsome men and special panties. Screw that. I am SO not ready to settle down into retirement – I would starve to death first.
No. I am thrilled to be designing a new website and starting a new business at my very clever older age.
Because, like we were saying yesterday, we are all a collection of characters. We should not allow ourselves to be pigeon holed.
I was never going to be a classic well manicured Granny.
How to start a new business at 63 yrs old?
Starting a new business at 63 years of age is not for the faint of heart.
- The trick is to just begin.
- Find your passion.
- Build a strong foundation.
- Use your age. Embrace it.
- Know what you want and push that through with a big stick.
- Make fabulous lists. Publish those lists.
- Write about your stuff everywhere.
- Do not waver.
- Don’t pretend to be young.
- Pace yourself.
- Be prepared for problems and welcome them.
- Gather a team (you are my team by the way).
- Be fine with working out the rest as you go along.
- Use all the new technology. It is fun!
The Sustainable Home (TSH) business:
We have just finished the booking page in the new website for workshops, one on one consultations, zoom the rooms, The Sustainable Home Newsletter and pop ups; all this to enable people bring environmentally sustainable practices into their own home.
The new website will also house The Kitchens Garden (TKG) so we are all under one roof and the kitchens garden farm blog continues unchanged, just faster and with a better commenting ability so our readers can be more engaged.
I am still looking for more partnerships for TSH. So stay on the look out for companies that produce truly old fashioned and authentic products in an eco friendly way using methods the environment can sustain. I am developing affiliates and partnerships with small local companies that you and I would like to buy from. I am avoiding running ads (not going there) but if the product is good and the company is as eco friendly as they say, let me know. I am gathering their names so I can let you all know about them through The Sustainable Home Newsletter.
If all goes well we will be doing a soft launch in a couple of weeks. (Then it will all get very real).
The Kitchen Garden Podcast
Now I have to go and make our TKG podcast again. I lost the internet just as I was loading yesterdays podcast! GRRR! After recording for 40 minutes! It was all lost. Sigh. I am going to teach myself a new way of recording today so that does not happen again.
So, I will have Fridays podcast here for you later on today! Sorry about that! I am living and learning fast as usual. Sign Up HERE if you would like the podcasts to be delivered straight to your inbox. And remember; May is FREE.
Love Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
48 responses to “How to start a new business at 63 years old.”
Good luck!
There is a free audio recording program for Apple computers called Audacity, which has been around for years and is relatively simple to use.
https://www.audacityteam.org/
Thank you!! I will have a look now. Great tip.
It’s very good – you can record, edit, add tracks, music, etc.
Wow/ lots to learn and play with.
Let me know if you need any help with it 😉
I think I am going to need help! I will shuffle about for a while until I know the questions to ask.
Here are a couple of tips to start off. Select mono recording for your voice. The computer has a single mic and similarly you have one mouth. Press the red button to record and the square black one to stop. Slect what you have recorded (Select>All or Command A on the keyboard) and go to Effect>Normalise. This will boost the volume without clipping (it won’t be too loud with distortion). You can record short pieces and join them together or edit out/redo things with mistakes. You can also record farm noises on you phone and add them to the Podcast 😉
…and do the recording in a room with carpet, curtains and bedding (bedroom is often good) to get a professional studio sound, away from any background noise like fridges, TV, Radio, tractors, planes, etc.
I record in the coop – no carpet but pretty quiet except for bird song which I like and often tell my readers to listen for – today I had the door open and a lorry drove up – too far off for the mic to pick up but Boo set up a huge racket as he barked and ran out to terrorize the delivery person. I just ignored Boo and kept recording and made a funny reference to it in the message later.
I am going to play around with this recording program today. Thank you!
I have a mic that plugs into my phone – I might have to get something for the MacBook great tips- thank you!
Ha ha, I think Boo running off barking could be a very good inclusion. You can make a recording booth in any room, out of quilts or towels on free standing washing rails or chairs. Box yourself in with the computer in the middle and the cloth surrounding you on 3 sides and close the curtains. Your phone mic may fit the computer via a cheap USB adaptor. The built in computer mic is quite good quality, but will pick up more noise.
Yes I need to get an adapter. I used my headphones mic this morning – not nearly as good. And I don’t want to buy new gear.
It should work with an adaptor. The computer has MiniJack Audio In and the USB sockets do similar.
Oh this is brilliant. I like the idea of farm noises. Thank you. This is going to be fun!
Good Luck! and HAVE FUN!
I do! Like you I am always having fun!’ And now I have to go and scoop the poop in the calf pen!’ 😂
And to me (and you) THAT is even FUN! 🙂
Yup!
You are amazing and I agree, we are a totally different sort of granny. Besides, 63 is a lot younger than it used to be. We are not ready to be put out to pasture!
No way. I am full of energy. And raring to go every morning. Like you!
I love your spirit and your embrace of life. I plan to retire from teaching next year and begin a new adventure. when people ask what I will do, I say I am completely open to all opportunities and I’ll keep them posted when I decide.
Yes! We just keep on rolling from challenge to challenge. Happy Saturday Beth!
Right!
OMG I feel this so much! Writing fiction for the first time at age 61 and Yes! NOW I have the wisdom and the knowledge and know the right words – definitely could not have done this 20/30/however many years ago. Thank you for putting what I feel into just the right words 🙂 Good luck and can’t wait to learn more from you!
Wonderful! And writing fiction- good for you – I am working up to it. Have a great weekend!
Love the image of a hawk in owls clothing! I am 80 years old and worked til I was 65. However I am not in a rocking chair- I am out working in my wee little garden, landscaping our HOA entry and community garden, helping neighbors and library volunteering. I am also an addict to baking and giving the goodies away! They call me the Neighborhood Baker! I also make lots of fresh fruit jams and jellies- love to create and love giving away! Happy days to you!
You are busy! And the neighborhood baker. That sounds delightful. What are you baking this weekend Kathe?!
well yesterday I made ( and distributed ) banana walnut muffins with orange zest- YUM! A few days ago I made gingersnaps with redhots on top!
https://katheworsley.blogspot.com/2021/12/thankful-thursday-december-22-2021.html Also made some baguettes using a quick recipe from
Rustic Bread in 5 minutes a Day cookbook! Have a delicious day!
Sounds fantastic! I love baguettes!!
Older-senior-grandma-nanna… we are saving the world. A Google search evidences the extraordinary extent of how now but I think to an greater extent than is portrayed by the redundant retiree generalisations the grandmother generations have been the backbone of society.
I’ve occasionally listened to podcasts on Apple platform. I wonder if that’s something you could use also?
I could ~ once I work out how to make good quality podcasts. Fortuitously I have no problem at all talking to myself!
My sisters and I got together this past week. We spent one day bicycling 40 km round trip to a beautiful beach on a nearby island. Then the next day we were out kayaking on the lake my sister lives on to visit an eagles’ nest. We got talking later about our mother and her sisters – and how they did not have the fitness levels nor the opportunities to spend time like this when they were in their sixties. Such a change in one generation!
That is such a good point. My mum died at 49 but even before she got sick she had nothing like the fitness I still have. She would not have been able to sit cross legged. Never row a boat. Or change a tire. My dad built boats – we were all on the sea. But not Mums generation/ they were very sedate.
And then my grandmothers never were able to wear pants! Ugh! I cannot imagine that! Especially in bug season! Day dresses and panty hose.
Oh panty hose!! Do they even sell those anymore!
I turned 70 a couple of months ago – still trying to figure out how that happened so quick. I’m maintaining my hobby farm on my own now, I might not be able to do as much at once as I could a few years ago but I get it done. Still ride my horse and wrangle the skid steer and backhoe and a year and a half ago my sister and I decided we needed to break out of our ‘old lady’ roles and we each got a small tasteful tattoo. My grands got a huge kick out of that. I fully intend to leave this place ‘feet first’. As my grandma said, ‘it’s a great life if you don’t weaken’.
Oh !! Tell me about the tatoo! I have often thought of getting a blue butterfly on my wrist. That sounds exciting: and so naughty!! Was it terribly painful?
It is a blue lotus (for tranquility) on my back at the base of my neck. Not terribly painful at all. After that, having gotten tired of using eyebrow pencil, (my eyebrows went gray also and I do still have a smidgeon of vanity), I had them tattooed too. The parlor in my little town is entirely staffed by women and the owner has a fine arts degree.
The eyebrows! DM me a message. Oh wait – email me! Celima.g.7@gmail.com
I had my eyebrows tattooed back in when they never came back properly after chemo. I looked like a bald egg. The tattooed eyebrows restored my face to me, even if they are dark grey. They rub anaesthetic cream in before they start work, so it doesn’t hurt (much, only in mild bits). It hurt much less than the tattoo I got at the base of my spine as a 30th birthday present to myself. My hair is also ash grey/white now and I cannot conceive of dyeing it – so much nicer this way! Go forth and be VIVID, Miss C.
I am seriously thinking about it now. Though I might have to save!
Go for it, such a little thing – sweating your eyebrows off – but sooooo aggravating!
Worth it, every penny. They always look tidy, too!
My grandmother was elderly at my age. I don’t know anyone at my age now that I would call elderly!
Can’t wait to see the new website! Great project!
Audacity is really easy to use, you’ll love it!
Thank you!! I am looking at utube vids now. And it does look nice and user friendly.
I strongly believe a whole being in motion is the best way to live one’s life. We all need that creativity and connection. We all need to be curious and explore. We all need to continue to learn and think and expand. WISHING YOU THE BEST 🙂
Thank you! Yes! I agree wholeheartedly.
[…] So many myths and perceptions about older people are simply untrue. That’s why I had to share this post from Cecilia about starting a business in your 60s. We need to stamp out ageism and share stories […]