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?

Accounts software firm Quickbooks is offering a free version of its system to small businesses for three days only.

The software, priced as around £40 ($60) is available for download until Thursday, so hurry if you want to take advantage of the offer.

It’s called Quickbooks SimpleStart and is described as “small business finiancial management software”.

You can download the package at: www.QuickBooks.co.uk/free/freeforthree.

Be aware, it’s a hefty download, weighing in at one hour and a half on standard broadband.

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.

There’s little doubt now that a global deflation is on its way sooner than we ever thought.

UK producer prices data released today show that the cost of manufacturers’ raw materials dropped by 3.3 percent in November. Add in the rapid falls in oil and commodity prices and even lower figures lie ahead.

So how will small businesses fare in a climate of falling prices? The answer will depend on many factors, internal and external. One good outcome will be the rapid fall in interest rates. Internally, cash reserves will be essential. But what about government cash?

The phrase of the moment among economists is “quantitative easing”. QE, as it’s abbreviated, means getting money in people’s pockets quickly.

Dropping banknotes out of helicopters is an image often used, but basically, central banks simply print more money and buy assets like shopaholics. They may purchase companies, corporate or government bonds, infrastructure projects, anything they can lay their hands on at short notice, in fact.

Howard Archer from IHS Global Insight: “The further substantial falls in producer output and input prices in November reinforces belief that consumer price inflation will plunge over the coming months in reaction to sharply lower oil and commodity prices, waning food prices, contracting economic activity, faster rising unemployment, December’s VAT cut and very favourable base effects. These factors seem certain to easily outweigh the inflationary impact of the very weak pound. Indeed, it seems highly likely that consumer price inflation will move back below the Bank of England’s 2pc target level in the early months of 2009 and will turn negative during the second half of the year.

“Consequently, we expect the Bank of England to enact a further hefty interest rate cut in January as it attempts to limit the length and depth of the recession. At this stage, we forecast the Bank of England to reduce interest rates by a further 75 basis points from 2.00pc to 1.25pc in January, but we would not rule out a larger cut if the economic downturn continues to deepen. We expect interest rates to fall to a low of 0.50pc in the second quarter of 2009 and then stay there for the rest of the year. However, it is far from inconceivable that interest rates could come all the way down to zero.”