Business in retirement: 4 stories of people who were not afraid to do it

Many people think that starting a business at an older age is risky. However, our heroes and heroines prove that the game is worth the candle. They told us how they felt when they retired and how they decided to go into business.

“At first I was embarrassed to go to the store and buy beads”

- How did you feel after you retired?

— I have a lot of free time. I am an energetic person, I can not sit idle. For two years he was engaged in woodcarving, but then this business somehow became boring. And I started looking for myself.

How did you start making jewelry?

- Once I was in Moscow with relatives. One of them was engaged in beadwork. I liked the way she embroidered the icon. I then thought: "It seems not a man's business." But I decided to give it a try.

At first, I was embarrassed to go to the store and buy beads. Saleswomen asked: “Who are you buying for? Are you doing it yourself?" I refused.

You see, we were brought up a little differently. Our generation has an idea that work is male and female. But now I have changed my views. Beading is very interesting. Therefore, I calmly tell everyone about my hobby.

How did you start selling your products?

– After I finished about ten bead paintings, I decided to move on to more complex things: I started making earrings, brooches, necklaces, bracelets. And since there was nowhere to put them, I gave them away to friends.

Then my daughter found the Russian Grannies marketplace, where they sell handmade items. They suggested that I not put my products in a box, but try to earn some extra money on them. The thing went. Not to say that I get a lot from this, but it's nice. Especially when you send a product, and then you receive a letter that you really liked it.

Also, I have a daughter in Argentina. She also sells some of my products there. I do not aspire to big earnings, it's just for the soul.

How many products are produced per month?

- I do not sit, I do not plow. Calmly, without straining myself, in two days I give out a brooch-matryoshka. I can make several pairs of earrings in a day. If we are talking about a more complex product, the bill can go for weeks. For example, my wife and I were in Armenia, we bought a beautiful bracelet there. It was made from stones, and I made a copy of it from beads. It took about two weeks - there were a lot of weaves.

What advice would you give to others?

- I want to tell everyone: a person should look for himself and find the niche that interests him most. Then life will be more interesting, and the desire will be for something. You understand, we now have a few joyful days, we must create for ourselves emotions.

Separately, I would like to advise our generation to find something to do. If you sit on the stove with your legs dangling, then nothing good will come of it. Most likely, you will start looking into the bottle.

"You need to beat on all doors"

What did you feel when you retired?

- With the retirement came a lot of time. You can do what you want and as much as you want. Still, when you work, there is not enough time for creativity. So I was glad.

Some are afraid to retire. They think: I will sit at home and count my sores. Especially if these people are lonely - not everyone has children and grandchildren nearby. So, I think creativity is a good distraction in this situation. This is a cure, an outlet, a lifeline.

— How did you start knitting and creating home decor?

“I have always been a designer at heart. At first she made paper clothes for cardboard dolls. Then I learned to knit at the age of 7-8. I went to school for sewing.

I have always wanted to do things with my own hands. And you understand that in Soviet times there was no such abundance of fashionable things. And we girls wanted something unusual.

In 1990 I was born daughter. The years were difficult then - no money, no salary. I sewed clothes for the child from my old things. Tied everyone in the family.

Then it was a necessity. But in retirement, I did not leave this hobby. In 2016, I just started crocheting and knitting. Then somehow I saw knitted yarn and fell ill with it. Then she was at the peak of fashion, and I began to knit baskets and bags from her.

But I can’t do the same thing for a long time - I want something new. Therefore, I soon began to look at macrame. Products that are made using this technique now cannot be compared with those that were 30-40 years ago. Is a song! On Pinterest and YouTube, I hang out for hours, inspired by what people are doing.

In general, I enjoy the process. My only regret is that I have a small apartment and it is already all hung with my works. If there was a cottage, it would be possible to make a panel on the entire wall!

How did you start selling your products?

- In 2016, my daughter asked me: “Why don’t you register on social networks? Now all their products are sold through them. For me then it was some unfamiliar word.

But I registered, started studying courses on how to design and develop my account. And gradually it started. Now I already have 6-7 accounts.

I even had my own shop on Etsy - there I traded my products and master classes in English. It is very convenient - you record once, and then you constantly receive passive income.

But my main breadwinner, as my husband calls him, is a Christmas boot. Before the New Year, my products are scattered all over the world: from Australia to America. This is my bestseller. (Since the Eatsy website has not been available to Russians since 2022, Lyudmila Vladimirovna can no longer sell her work abroad. - approx. ed.)

I remember I even somehow took a good photo with a boot - so they began to steal it from me! I had to write to support services, complain about copyright infringement... In general, our manual work is very loved abroad.

How many products are produced per month?

- You know, in different ways. Sales may not be for several months. Then I weave something for the soul: panels, hanging shelves, dream catchers, the tree of life. After all, you can give it to someone as a gift!

But on New Year usually always a blockage. I remember once they call me and say: “Lyudmila Vladimirovna, you need 20 Christmas angels for a corporate party, will you take it?” I say, "What time is it?" Answer: "A week".

20 angels in a week! There's so much work out there! They need to be very painstakingly combed out, varnished, dried... I say: "Give me at least ten days." As a result, I managed to do everything, and then the customer wrote such good words of gratitude to me!

And the year before last, for family reasons, I lived in the Crimea from March to September. So there I managed to participate in a hand-made fair for only 100 rubles! I sold 30 bags on it: nets, shoppers, string bags.

Therefore, I don’t have any norm per month: either thick or empty.

What advice would you give to others?

— First, if you have a talent for something, don't be afraid to monetize it. You need to beat on all the doors, declare yourself. For example, I not only sell products, but also successfully participate in various promotions and regional festivals of creativity, organize exhibitions of my works.

Secondly, manual work has many positive qualities: it calms the nerves, distracts, develops a sense of taste. I advise everyone to do needlework.

“I felt like a horse that had been pulling a plow all my life, which was unharnessed”

What did you feel when you retired?

“Maybe it's a bit of a crude comparison, but I'm a peasant by nature. Therefore, after retirement, I felt like a horse that had been pulling a plow all my life, which was unharnessed. I didn't know what to do now, where to poke my nose.

The first time was unusual. I can't sit in front of the TV with folded arms. At 6 o'clock in the morning I am undermined and, as a last resort, begin to rearrange something from place to place. Can't sleep. I have to work.

Housework, knitting and creation helped to get out of this state. furniture.

— How did you start knitting and creating wooden products?

- In the last years before retirement, I worked as a shift: a month - in the north, a month - at home. There was plenty of free time. Well, I tried knitting for fun. We had a good knitting machine and a lot of yarn - it all just lay idle.

At one time, my wife was engaged in knitting. However, later she began to have health problems, and she refused this business. However, she was not opposed to teaching me and giving advice.

So little by little we began to knit scarves, mittens, socks for children and grandchildren. They liked it.

Then, on New Year's Eve, my daughter saw a deer made of plywood somewhere on the Internet and said: “Dad, buy me one!” I studied this deer and realized that I could make it much more beautiful, cleaner and neater. I sawed the children of these deer. They liked it.

How did you start selling your products?

- Once, my girlfriends came to my daughter, saw our knitted things and began to ask: “Can we also?” What am I? I took and connected. I don't like to sit idle.

Then the daughter wanted a rocking horse for the children. I developed the design myself, made the drawings. He brought his granddaughter a "draft version" - an uncleaned product. And how did she sit on this horseso I didn't want to give it away. Somehow selected to finalize. She really liked it. Again, friends came to the children and wanted the same ones.

Orders have gone. There was a small income. At least for consumables - yarn, plywood, needles for cars.

How many products are produced per month?

I don't sit at the knitting machine all the time. It all depends on the number of orders in a particular month. For example, before the New Year, we received a request for 50 hats. Deadlines were tight - it was only a week. I had to work hard to be healthy, even though my wife and daughter helped. Alone, I would never make it on time. But now the holidays are over, and there are few orders again.

What advice would you give to others?

“First, you need to try not to sit idle.

Secondly, any work is respected if it brings satisfaction to both you and the people around you. In this sense, an important factor is to see the results of your work. When I receive SMS: “Nikolai Petrovich, thank you! We really liked your product,” I understand that this moral incentive is more important to me than the material one.

"I'm retired - I'm free"

What did you feel when you retired?

- I retired with the feeling “Hurrah, finally you don’t have to go to work!” I didn't like her. Accounting was not to my liking.

Then I already knew that I would create jewelry. This is a truly favorite thing - at any moment you want to do it.

How did you start making jewelry?

“I have been doing needlework since childhood. My mother taught me a lot - in Soviet times everyone knew how to sew and knit. But then, when it became easier to buy different things, I stopped doing this. The need has disappeared.

I got interested in needlework again in 2011. My daughter has gone on maternity leave. And, like many mothers during this period, she found herself an occupation for distraction - beading.

When she showed me her bracelets, I kept saying: "Oh, here would be such a bead, and here - such a one." To which she once answered me: “Mom, take it and do it yourself.” I thought, “Why not?”

I liked it so much! But I found a new business for myself, not the same as my daughter's. Mastered the soutache technique. Initially, this was the name of a textile cord with grooves, which in pre-revolutionary times was sewn onto clothes as an ornament. Now, earrings, brooches, pendants are made using a similar method.

All those close to me supported me: my daughter, my husband, and my mother. My mother will be 90 this year. She tells all her friends that she saw me on TV, read interviews with me.

I was lucky: my family not only supports me, but is proud of me.

How did you start selling your products?

“At first I did it just for myself. Then my daughter began to sell her and my jewelry at the crafts fair. We even opened a small shop with her on social networks.

But soon she left decree and stopped doing needlework. Then I found Russian Grannies. I began to sell most of my jewelry through their platform.

They also gave me recommendations about what people buy more often. I realized that many people buy brooches, especially with famous heroes. Therefore, now, for example, I am making a decoration with an owl Hedwig from Harry Potter.

How many products are produced per month?

“Before the pandemic, I was selling two pieces of jewelry a week. After the demand became less: the crisis slowed everything down. Now it happens that I make only one brooch a month.

The pace slowed down, unfortunately. Therefore, there are thoughts to master a new platform - Telegram, for example. Still, I want to do more. If the decorations lie just like that, it is not interesting.

But I am not sad: I master new types of needlework, I draw. I don't have a main job. I'm retired - I'm free.

What advice would you give to young people and those who are older?

- Advice one: never be afraid change something in your life. I started making jewelry at the age of 55 and I am glad that I made such a decision! It’s better to try and understand that you don’t like something than to think all your life: “Oh, I should have done it earlier, but I got scared.”