Why Boomers Might Be the Breakout Stars of Entrepreneurship (Infographic)

By Catherine Clifford Mar 29, 2015
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A hefty portion of the boomer generation is zooming in on retirement. But many of these individuals aren’t thinking about lawn chairs and backyard barbeques. They’re thinking about embarking on a career as an entrepreneur.

Boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, are twice as likely to be gearing up to launch a business in the next year than millennials are, according to entrepreneurship organization the Kauffman Foundation in its 2015 State of Entrepreneurship Study.

That’s good news for the U.S. economy which, despite a rise in the reputation of the entrepreneur and some breakout superstars, has been struggling to reverse a downward trend of entrepreneurship since the Great Recession.

Related: The Case For and Against Millennials as the Greatest Entrepreneurial Generation (Infographic)

What older entrepreneurs may lack in energy, they make up for in previous work experience. Also, they tend to have a relatively significant level of wealth amassed, according to the Kauffman Foundation. And when you are trying to get a business off the ground, having money to work with is a pretty big boon.

For a closer look at the the advantages and disadvantages boomers have in the game of entrepreneurship, take a look at the infographic generated by the Kauffman Foundation, embedded below.

Related: Baby Boomers, Who Are More Successful as Entrepreneurs, Are Great Startup Assets

Click to Enlarge

Why Boomers Might Be the Breakout Stars of Entrepreneurship (Infographic)

Related: 7 Ways to Bridge the Boomer-Millennial Gap

A hefty portion of the boomer generation is zooming in on retirement. But many of these individuals aren’t thinking about lawn chairs and backyard barbeques. They’re thinking about embarking on a career as an entrepreneur.

Boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, are twice as likely to be gearing up to launch a business in the next year than millennials are, according to entrepreneurship organization the Kauffman Foundation in its 2015 State of Entrepreneurship Study.

That’s good news for the U.S. economy which, despite a rise in the reputation of the entrepreneur and some breakout superstars, has been struggling to reverse a downward trend of entrepreneurship since the Great Recession.

Related: The Case For and Against Millennials as the Greatest Entrepreneurial Generation (Infographic)

What older entrepreneurs may lack in energy, they make up for in previous work experience. Also, they tend to have a relatively significant level of wealth amassed, according to the Kauffman Foundation. And when you are trying to get a business off the ground, having money to work with is a pretty big boon.

For a closer look at the the advantages and disadvantages boomers have in the game of entrepreneurship, take a look at the infographic generated by the Kauffman Foundation, embedded below.

Related: Baby Boomers, Who Are More Successful as Entrepreneurs, Are Great Startup Assets

Click to Enlarge

Why Boomers Might Be the Breakout Stars of Entrepreneurship (Infographic)

Related: 7 Ways to Bridge the Boomer-Millennial Gap

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Catherine Clifford

Senior Entrepreneurship Writer at CNBC
Catherine Clifford is senior entrepreneurship writer at CNBC. She was formerly a senior writer at Entrepreneur.com, the small business reporter at CNNMoney and an assistant in the New York bureau for CNN. Clifford attended Columbia University where she earned a bachelor's degree. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. You can follow her on Twitter at @CatClifford.

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