A new study by Standard Life suggests that “olderpreneurs” are choosing to set up business on their own rather than seek retirement.

Up to a third of people aged 45 to 65 want to work on when approaching the normal age to take it easy. It’s no coincidence perhaps that this is the “baby boomer” generation.

The more wealthy ones are the most likely to fall into this group.

Policy experts said the research showed that given the right incentives, a new class of “olderpreneurs” could help pull Britain out of recession.

Those approaching retirement age were twice as likely as their parents to choose to continue working, the poll found.

Andrew Haldenby, director of the think tank Reform, said the findings demonstrated a “quiet revolution that is turning traditional ideas of retirement on their head. Policy-makers need to take notice of this fundamental shift in ambition, and instead of telling this generation to slow down and retire, incentivise them to kick start our economy. If all the older people who wanted to set up their own businesses succeeded, the number of UK firms would rise by 50 percent.”

He urged politicians to harness the potential of “the greying end of the population to form a new group of enterprise champions”.

With pension entitlements shrivelling up in the current economic climate, isn’t this the kind of enterprise we need for these hard times?

Good news for small business owners in Britain and Europe. The new Czech presidency is preparing to tear up the notorious red tape mountain of the EU.

Under new plans, small firms would be required to file only one set of reports and accounts, rather than having to submit information to several government agencies.

SMEs would also be able to conduct business operations across borders without having to register subsidiaries in those countries.

Small firms would also be given new rights to ensure their bills are paid on time.

It seems the Czechs are a shot in the arm for European small businesses.

In these dark economic times, if you have lost your job it may be worthwhile to think counter-intuitively.

Make your own work. Paul Graham makes a great case for it.

“Our bodies weren’t designed to eat the foods that people in rich countries eat, or to get so little exercise. There may be a similar problem with the way we work: a normal job may be as bad for us intellectually as white flour or sugar is for us physically.”

“The root of the problem is that humans weren’t meant to work in such large groups. … Though they’re statistically abnormal, startup founders seem to be working in a way that’s more natural for humans.”

As an inveterate freelance worker most of my life, I totally agree with Graham’s analysis. In between I’ve worked for a mega-corp, BT (British Telecom), and for Government, the UK’s Central Office of Information. In each case I was a whale out of water.

It’s only when I started businesses around my personal template, or became a freelance writer breathing the air of freedom, that I came fully into my own. Most people are probably like this.

Paul Graham — who is a venture capitalist — is right. You can buck the system, and you owe it to yourself to make the attempt.

Incidentally, a recession is a great time to go it alone. Venture capitalists have money burning a hole in their vaults, there’s a surfeit of experts going cheap, and opportunities for anyone with a great idea or a new approach.

Innovation is at a premium during a downturn. Many of the biggest names in corporate America began in a garage during a recession when there was little else to do.

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Is a Harvard MBA such a good asset in business these days?

It probably still is, but some doubts are being aired about its involvement in the ongoing credit crunch.

Read more about The Great Harvard Sausage Scandal 2008 over at our parent site, Syntagma.

Who, then, are the people that created this vastly complex set of financial instruments based on the always-temporary phenomenon of rapidly-rising asset prices? And who were their managers who let them do it?

It appears that a large number of them are alumni of the Harvard Business School, even those working in Britain and Europe. President Bush is one of them. British PM Gordon Brown has surrounded himself with such types for more than a decade.

Read the rest of the article.