The Ascent of the Senior Entrepreneur

Self-employment is increasing among seniors. The percentage of individuals age 62 and over who were self-employed increased from 4.2 percent in 1988 to 5.4 percent in 2015. In contrast, the percentage of individuals under age 62 who were self-employed decreased from 7.2 percent in 1988 to 6.0 percent in 2015. This report explains the increase in self-employment among individuals age 62 and over and the difference in self-employment trends by age group. During the Great Depression, a former tire salesman named Harland was running a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. He painted a big advertisement for his gas station on a wall near the highway. When he heard that a business rival was painting over the advertisement, Harland and two of his associates drove to confront him. A shootout ensued. The rival shot and killed one of the associates before Harland ended the exchange by shooting the rival. The rival survived and was convicted of murder. Harland began selling food at his gas station and then opened a motel and restaurant next door. He perfected his recipe for fried chicken, and, in 1952, in his sixties, Colonel Harland Sanders franchised his Kentucky Fried Chicken for the first time. The company expanded rapidly in subsequent years and had more than 600 locations when he sold most of the operations in 1964. _____________ Josh Ozersky, Colonel Sanders and the American Dream (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 012); Alan Bellows, “Colonels of truth,” Damn Interesting, accessed April 8, 2016, ww.damninteresting.com/colonels-of-truth/; Patty Henetz and Jenifer Nii, “Colonel’s landmark FC is mashed,” Associated Press and Deseret Morning News, April 21, 2004, ww.deseretnews.com/article/595057690/Colonels-landmark-KFC-is-mashed.html; Ashlee Kieler, entucky fried chicken started with an iron pan, dining room table, and a gas station,” onsumerist, May 4, 2015, consumerist.com/2015/05/04/kentucky-fried-chicken-started-with-anon-pan-dining-room-table-a-gas-station/. _ 1