Time to Say Goodbye? Exploring the Entrepreneurial Transition to Retirement

Most entrepreneurs will plan for retirement, and in the end, most will decide to retire. However, there are a complex range of push and pull factors which influence both the willingness and ability of our entrepreneurs to retire. This study presents the experiences of entrepreneurs who are approaching the end of their careers and what society defines as working life. This topic is a significant gap in the literature and existing terms used to describe retirement do not accurately capture the retirement considerations of entrepreneurs.

 

This study draws on a series of two interviews conducted with 15 entrepreneurs who are approaching what is commonly defined as the end of working life. To frame the findings, the interview data are consolidated into four distinct narrative types that reflect different approaches to retirement. The naming of these types draws on musical references, paying homage to Queen, Earth Wind and Fire, Justin Bieber and Dusty Springfield, which serve to make them memorable while also offering a light cultural touchpoint. The descriptions of each type are intended to resonate with both the study’s readership and the entrepreneurs themselves.

 

What is significant is that there is very limited evidence that individuals who pursue a long-term entrepreneurial career will have a strong desire to retire. The value of this research is that it is the first of its kind to create a typology of entrepreneurial retirement typologies providing novel insights for both future research and public policy design. Researchers must understand the entrepreneurial career in order to project forward the levels, pace and timing of entrepreneurial retirement. The insights from this study contribute to the literature on entrepreneurial careers, specifically by unpacking the end of career trajectories of older entrepreneurs.

 

We should engage with the entrepreneurs in their networks. Talk to them about their plans for retirement. Ask them to make plans, ask them to consider how best to manage the end of working life for them, their families, their staff and their communities. The transition to retirement is a seismic event for our entrepreneurs and needs careful and consider planning on a par with that associated with starting an entrepreneurial journey.