Many retirees look forward to putting their feet up after years of work, but some find new purpose and meaning at this stage of life by becoming elder-preneurs; entrepreneurs who begin businesses in their silver years.
Some like Ms Helen Lim, 70, who is involved in running two social enterprises, one cooperative and a cafe, do so because they are passionate about helping fellow seniors.
Helen Lim became an entrepreneur for the first time when she was 62 and has since gone on to co-found cafes and two other social enterprises. The former human resource director and civil servant set up social enterprise Silver Spring in 2009 to find re-employment for mature job-seekers. That year, she also set up Chatters Cafe in Parkview Square near Bugis and staffed it with employees all aged 50 and above.
As she conversed with her fellow seniors, she realised many of them wanted to travel. The problem, however, was that they could not keep up with the pace of travel on commercial group tours and felt more tired than refreshed after their trips.
So she banded together with like-minded seniors and founded Silver Horizon Travel Co-operative in 2012 with the help of the Singapore National Co-operative Federation. Silver Horizon Travel works with tour agencies to come up with customised, senior-friendly group tour packages. It has organised 45 trips to date, an average of nine trips a year and destinations range from Johor Baru to Russia.
In 2012, she opened another Chatters Cafe in Ren Ci Community Hospital in Novena. That opening also marked the end of Chatters Cafe in Parkview Square, which she closed because of rising rentals.
Even with a full plate, Ms Lim continued to be sensitive to the needs of fellow seniors. To help those who were staying at home and waiting for time to pass, she co-founded Silver Sparkles in 2014, a social enterprise which matches senior citizens with part-time jobs.
She says: “I really want to help seniors. I believe in doing good and in doing well.”
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Source: The Straits Times, 13 August 2017