When Ivor Jones celebrated his 65th birthday two years ago he had no short-term plans for retirement.
With that in mind, he mapped out his next five years at the company that employed him as an electrician.
But just a few weeks later, the company was put into liquidation, and Mr Jones was among 600 employees to lose their jobs.
“My first thought was: Oh my god, what do I do now?” he said.
The Keilor East resident applied for work, but struggled to compete against younger applicants. He said he felt his age was against him, despite decades of experience and an able body.
With the encouragement of his wife, Jeannette, he purchased a Jim’s Tag and Test franchise about a year later, and now runs his own business inspecting and testing electrical equipment for personal safety.
Now, aged 67, Mr Jones is working five and six day weeks and said he is loving being a part of the workforce again, with the flexibility to create his own hours.
And he’s not alone. According to recent research released by Swinburne and Queensland universities, business creation by seniors represents the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurship in Australia. Thirty-four per cent of young firms in the country are being led by older people’s drive.
‘Seniorpreneurs’, as people over the age of 50 who start their own businesses are being called, represent about eight per cent of all entrepreneurship activity in Australia, and have an average age of 57, a 2015 report found.
Mr Jones said he can’t stop working, but will scale back to spend more time with Jeannette.
