to be retirement area business ideas

[nnkrealtor]

I live in a place where about 40% of the residence are retirees and that number is looking to climb dramatically. We are about 2 hours south of DC and our area is surrounded by water so the babyboomers who have worked in the DC area are comming down here to buy waterfront by the truck load. My question to you all is this. What businesses have proven profitable in places such as this where the retirement population is looking to be upwards of 65% in the near future. I want to start a business that will profit from this influx of retirees.
Any ideas would be helpful

Thanks,
Allen

 

[73ss454]

Viagra sales would be a good start.

 

[BristolBane]

Back about 15 years ago, my buddy's dad owned a business that provided medical supplies and services to elderly people in their homes. I'm not exactly sure what all that entailed but I believe they would deliver any sort of medical supplies that people needed and also provide some basic nursing services. He was pretty successful but eventually re-located to Florida and started up a similar company down there.

 

[JPatrick]

Bookmark  this site and check often. They often have articles about just what you are talking about. http://www.entrepreneur.com/

 

[gratefuled]

Funeral homes. I'm not kidding.

 

[nnkrealtor]

Yeah I thought about funeral homes but we already have plenty of those around here and I dont think I would enjoy that very much. I was looking at the entrepreneur.com and they had an article about "find a need and fill it" to start your business. That is kind of what Iam trying to do with researching your brains about needs in other places where the average resident age is rather high. The area is kind of known as a resort area and we have all of these 500-600k retirement homes going up so quickley that the best builders are backed up for 3 years. I became a real estate agent to catch the wave and I love it so far, But Iam wondering what the next trend will be once all of the retirees are here full time.



thanks,

 

[BristolBane]

I'll tell you one thing that is popular with old folks around these parts (Ohio). There's a restaurant called "MCL Cafeteria". And it's just a cafeteria line plus a salad bar with a large eating area. The old timers love this place for some reason. Other restaurants they seem to like are Bob Evans and Bill Knapp's. Down home type food at relatively inexpensive prices.

 

[brewer12345]

Estate planning, trust services, estate sales/auctioneer, some sort of home nursing agency, etc.  The delivery of supplies has largely been taken over by big, publicly-traded companies.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Home handyman.

My dad lives in a retirement community. There are a couple of guys with all the work they can handle fixing little do-dads at peoples houses, putting up shades, installing screen doors, taking down small trees, etc. You call their cell phone and they come right over that day to do what you need. Those guys go all day, every day. Making money hand over fist.

Just make sure you have your liability coverage and dont do any work over $500 as that requires a contractors license.

 

[BristolBane]

Got another one for ya. Some old folks like to gamble. What about a bingo parlor? I don't know the legality of such things in your area though. You could also operate those tour bus things that run people out to the nearest casino.

 

[Martha]

I'll tell you one thing that is popular with old folks around these parts (Ohio). There's a restaurant called "MCL Cafeteria". And it's just a cafeteria line plus a salad bar with a large eating area. The old timers love this place for some reason. Other restaurants they seem to like are Bob Evans and Bill Knapp's. Down home type food at relatively inexpensive prices.

When we go into an unfamiliar restaurant and see only "old timers" that is our cue to walk out. Food is usually bland, bland, bland.

 

[retire@40]

Home handyman.

There's an outfit in these parts called "Rent A Husband."

I think it's a franchise, so it could give you a turnkey business if you don't know how to start a business and all the ins and outs of running it.  I hear there's lots of "small job" work out there for elderly folks that just can't do it themselves anymore.

 

[gratefuled]

One other thing...private ambulance services. I've worked for one (as a hobby job) and I sniffed around the business model. Scalable, lucrative.

Ed

 

[wildcat]

Damn CiCi's pizza franchise. Old fogies in Florida love the buffet for $5 or whatever it is. They line up outside for crappy but cheap pizza/salad. No joke. Know a guy that put up a few of the goldmines down there and he has it made.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

There's an outfit in these parts called "Rent A Husband."

Seen them. I've also heard of a few 'rent a wife' outfits. I think they work differently though

 

[nnkrealtor]

Thanks for all the ideas. I will do some research on each.

 

[retire@40]

Seen them.  I've also heard of a few 'rent a wife' outfits.  I think they work differently though 

Don't kid yourself. The rent-a-wife outfits would do much better than the rent-a-husband outfits in these old age communities. Not in the sense you might first think. Most of the time these old folks are so lonely, they just want to talk and talk and talk about stuff that nobody really cares about. Just talking to someone that's willing to listen makes them happy.

 

[Nords]

Home handyman.

I second that motion. It doesn't even have to be in an elderly community-- anyplace where people don't have the skill or inclination or time to do for themselves. They're eternally grateful for prompt response, reliability, and good conversation. Actually fixing the problem is just an unexpected bonus. If I had to go back to work for money then this is where I'd start.

Another way to hook into that field is through real estate agents. Many of them work with a list of housecleaners/handimen for rentals or for clients who need to develop a little curb appeal to sell their home. Once you make friends with the realtor network the referrals will start rolling in. Again it's not how skilled or qualified you are-- it's whether or not you're prompt, reliable, and courteous.

A guy in our neighborhood runs an ad in the monthly homeowner's association newsletter for cleaning dryers. That's all they do-- service your dryer. The ad shows a dryer surrounded by flames and mentions the thousands of people who die each year in dryer fires (probably surrounded by piles of damp laundry). I bet the guy is working 60-hour weeks.

TH, maybe they're running a GE special? Or maybe GE pays him not to put a GE dryer in his ads...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Gee (no...GE!)

And all ya need is a leaf blower...

 

[nnkrealtor]

Well I am a real estate agent and a computer tech now so I would have a let up there. and I do like working with my hands. and actually know several people that would probably work for me. Thanks alot. I knew I came to the right place. By the way nice forum I love all the info in here. Iam 24 years old and am looking to make as much money as I can while Iam young so I can enjoy it later.

 

[retire@40]

Iam 24 years old and am looking to make as much money as I can while Iam  young so I can enjoy it later.

Enjoy some of it now too. Sometimes later never comes. But good thinking.

 

[Nords]

Even farther off topic: leaf blowers

And all ya need is a leaf blower...

Funny you should mention that... I remember your other leaf blower story. And did you write in to the June 05 edition of Family Handyman (on newstands now)?

I don't think it's on the Internet yet and I don't know if you have a paper copy handy so I'll type it verbatim for you. It's from the "Great Goofs" feature on p. 148:
"He Blew It, All Right"
Not long ago, our (GE?) refrigerator was cooling poorly, so I loosened the grille cover on the bottom of the fridge. Sure enough, I'd neglected that cleaning job way too long. The cooling coils were packed with dust. After failed attempts to rig up small tubing to the shop vacuum to clean between the coils, I went to the garage to find a better solution. The leaf blower caught my eye, so I brought it inside, plugged it in, aimed it at the coils, and turned it on. Before I could switch to the low speed, a huge cloud of dust had billowed out from behind the fridge and covered the entire kitchen. Luckily my wife wasn't home at the time. I got out the vacuum and spent more than an hour frantically cleaning. Later that day, she opened the cupboard above the fridge and asked me why there was a layer of dust and soot covering everything inside. I now use the leaf blower for outside work only.

-- "Steve Collum" (or whatever you're calling yourself!)

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Huh...I use the blower to clean out the garage and get the GE fridge out there with it, not that cleaning the coils will help. Never get much. Probably because I do it a little more often than that.

Besides, any fool knows they should pull out the fridge in the kitchen and sweep/wipe up the floor and lower walls before engaging the leaf blower.

And yes, that 'other' thing I did with the leaf blower was priceless for getting me out of having to do any dusting ever again.

 

[sgeeeee]

Kevorkian Suicide Assistance Centers?

 

[MooreBonds]

How about some sort of technical computer service company that upgrades/maintains/sets up peoples computers?

Many of the baby boomers have at least a working knowledge of the net - yet aren't highly proficient enough to keep their computer up and running 100%, keep it free from viruses, etc.

You could even offer some sort of 'annual retainer'-type setup, where you visit peoples' homes once a quarter to keep their computer in-shape, give them recommendations on when it's time to upgrade, buy computer supplies for them, etc.

My parents retired to SW Florida, and they had a local guy who does something like that come over to work on their computer.

Scary thing is - me (being the self-taught techie simpleton that I am ) actually seemed to know a few more things than he did when I talked to him on the phone!