Jeff and Rich Sloan
09/01/2005
Most people start planning for retirement as soon as they reach the top of their game. But for many driven executives, a life of golf and yachts can never compare with the thrill of entrepreneurship. The truth is that hundreds of successful new businesses are started every year by executives who have already become successful, but want to continue to achieve on their own terms.
| “I spent 25 years creating a methodology for how business should be conducted, and I felt like it was an unfinished experiment.” |
Most people who achieve this level of corporate success would begin slowing down and planning retirement. But in 2002, at the age of 65, Frank decided to start Hennessey Capital, a small venture that provides factoring services to small and large companies. “It was clear to me that I was never going to retire. That’s just not who I am,” Frank says. Frank’s work was far from finished. “I spent 25 years creating a methodology for how business should be conducted, and I felt like it was an unfinished experiment.”
Frank no longer wants to spend 60 hours a week with a particular set of responsibilities and duties, but he could not live without the adrenaline rush of being “the big-picture guy” at his own company, “the keeper of the culture.” He explains: “I do want to touch as many people as possible, and the role I’ve chosen allows me that freedom. It’s greatly satisfying for me to help others do what I’ve already done for myself.”
Serial Entrepreneurs
Jack Krasula was also at the height of success when,
in 2003, he started Trustinus, a search firm focused on high-end executive
positions. Eight months earlier, Jack had sold Decision Consultants for $55
million. Most entrepreneurs cannot wait for the day that they sell the company
they built, but Jack says that the only really bad day he ever had at work was
the day he sold the company and handed over the keys.
Jack’s wealthy friends
counseled him: “This is a time to be, not to do.” But that simply failed to work
for Jack. “I still wanted to run. I missed the action, the hunt. They told me to
wait a year. I couldn’t. I felt naked.”
What’s different for Jack this time
around? “I’m more of a rainmaker. Now we don’t have clients, we have ‘Jack’s
friends.’ ” And that access to individuals in top positions is an important
accelerant to the growth of his business. Jack’s motives are different, too. “I
have enough zeros behind my dollar sign. This chapter is about inspiring people.
I want to do something I love while helping people in the process.”
If you
are contemplating getting back in the game, consider these tactics:
1. Choose
a business (and a role within it) that reflects your personal passion and
lifestyle.
2. Spend 20 hours working each week instead of 60.
3. Place the
importance of your employees’ personal success as high as your company’s
financial bottom line.
4. Use your VIP status to open doors that most small
companies can only dream of opening.
5. Drop the corporate diplomacy you
perfected in years past and replace it with straight talk.
6. Hire people who
not only share your vision but who are willing to take big risks and take your
vision to new heights.
7. Set up the company so they can run it.
8. Have
fun!
 | Jeff and Rich Sloan are the authors of Startup Nation: Open for Business and founders of StartupNation. |