BlogHer - Business Plan Competition Highlights Boomer Business Clout - Comments

Business Plan Competition

Boyd Carter — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:59:54 -0500

Oops, I missed spell-check. s/b entrepreneurial. Boyd

Business Plan Competition

Boyd Carter — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:53:31 -0500

Hello Maria,

Thanks for an excellent set of information about entrepreneural Baby Boomers. I plan to visit all of them for ideas.

I am a few years ahead of the Boomer Generation and have just started
developing a web site for "MyBabyBoomers", hoping that my experience
moving into retirement may be useful for my baby boomer friends.

The information you provided will be very useful in developing my site.

Boyd Carter

boyd.carter@mybabyboomers.com

http://www.mybabyboomers.com/blog

senior care is a huge national concern

ArielKFord — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:41:25 -0500

Hi there - Thanks so much for the mention - we (Caresquare) really enjoyed every aspect of participating in the competition.

Caresquare connects families directly with caregivers in a free social network, allowing for peer-review and real-time booking of care.

We've just gone live with our senior services and are working now to populate our db with qualified senior caregivers.

Drop us a line and let us know what you think!

___________________

Ariel Kleckner Ford

ariel@caresquare.com

CareSquare.com

connecting parents and caregivers

http://www.caresquare.com

Business Plan Competition Highlights Boomer Business Clout

Maria Niles — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:26:22 -0500

On Wednesday I attended the fifth annual Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit which is a $10,000 business plan competition for businesses aimed at the needs and concerns of baby boomers. The competition was founded and co-produced by Mary Furlong, Ed.D. who is a serial entrepreneur who has raised over $120 million focusing on the boomer/senior marketplace.

The competition was divided into two categories: health and general. The health category offered a variety of devices designed to better diagnose or provide rehabilitation for various diseases and health conditions in order to improve care and outcomes to boomers. The general category covered an array products and services aimed at boomers. For example, About Face Technologies is creating gadgets such as universal remotes which feature a very simplified interface. Caresquare.com offers the ability to find senior caregivers within a social network, expanding on its initial child care services.

There were several women involved in founding the competing companies, particularly in the general category. And many of the services offered (such as Caresquare) are aimed primarily to women. Additionally, the judging panels included women from the worlds of business, venture capital, academia, and public service.

This is a competition that seems to be well suited to women entrepreneurs who have bright ideas for how to meet the needs of this market. I'd love to see someone from the BlogHer community pitching their plan next year!

If you are a entrepreneurial boomer, here are some resources:

Marci Alboher who writes the Shifting Careers column for The New York Times has "Options for Those Nonretiring Boomers"

Jean Murray writes the Small Business Boomers blog with "business advice for boomers"

Susan Ward writing for the About.com Small Business: Canada section notes "10 Baby Boomer Trends & How to Profit from Them"

Andrea J. Stenberg writes The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur blog. Today's post focuses on "Networking on Facebook"

Are you a boomer with a business or a great idea for one? Or do you have a need that an entrepreneur could meet for you? Share in the comments or develop it and let us know when you are a finalist in next year's competition!

BlogHer CE Maria Niles is a boomer with a business and blogs about it at Fizz from ConsumerPop.