Challenges Facing Older Self-Employed Service Professionals, with Dr. Larry Gard, Done with Work Retirement Coaching and Consulting (The Price and Value Journey, Episode 116)
One reason service professionals choose self-employment is for flexibility in their retirement, but they sometimes find that ageism has its own agenda. In this episode of The Price and Value Journey, host John Ray welcomes Dr. Larry Gard, a retirement coach and consultant, to discuss the challenges and nuances of working and retiring faced by older self-employed professionals. The conversation delves into the effects of ageism, the distinct retirement experiences of self-employed individuals, and strategies to prepare for a satisfying post-retirement chapter. Dr. Gard shares insights from his career as a psychologist and coach, emphasizing the emotional and strategic aspects of winding down a business. The episode also covers the importance of maintaining relevance and exploring new opportunities in retirement planning that go beyond financial considerations.
Dr. Gard’s blog post referenced in this episode, “Fade out? Bow out? Forced out? A Big Challenge Facing Older Self-Employed People,” can be found by following this link.
The Price and Value Journey is presented by John Ray and produced by the North Fulton affiliate of Business RadioX®.
Dr. Larry Gard, Done with Work Retirement Coaching and Consulting
Dr. Larry Gard is a retired psychologist in Chicago and the founder of Done With Work Retirement Coaching and Consulting.
Though no longer a therapist, his long career in clinical psychology gives him the necessary perspective and experience to help professionals sort through the head and heart side of retirement and craft a satisfying next chapter.
Larry is also the author of Done with Work: A Dozen Perspectives on The Decision to Retire, which offers insights into making a meaningful retirement decision.
Topics Discussed in this Interview
00:00 Introduction to The Price and Value Journey
00:25 Challenges of Winding Down Professional Work
01:41 Introducing Dr. Larry Gard
02:54 Dr. Gard’s Journey and Insights
05:17 Understanding Self-Employment and Retirement
09:25 Ageism and Its Impact on Professionals
13:01 Strategies for Staying Relevant
19:17 Planning for Retirement
28:11 Dealing with Current Retirement Challenges
32:50 Supporting Others in Their Retirement Journey
35:19 Success Stories and Final Thoughts
38:48 Conclusion and Contact Information
About The Price and Value Journey
The title of this show describes the journey all professional service providers are on: building a services practice by seeking to convince the world of the value we offer, helping clients achieve the outcomes they desire, and trying to do all that at pricing that reflects the value we deliver.
If you feel like you’re working too hard for too little money in your solo or small firm practice, this show is for you. Even if you’re reasonably happy with your practice, you’ll hear ways to improve both your bottom line and the mindset you bring to your business.
The show is hosted and produced by John Ray and the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®. The show can also be found on all the major podcast apps. The complete show archive is here.
John Ray, Host of The Price and Value Journey
John Ray is the host of The Price and Value Journey.
John owns Ray Business Advisors, a business advisory practice. John’s services include business coaching and advisory work, as well as advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their pricing. John is passionate about the power of pricing for business owners, as changing pricing is the fastest way to change the profitability of a business. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, consultants, coaches, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
In his other business, John is a Show Host and Producer and owns the North Fulton (Georgia) studio of Business RadioX®. John and his team work with B2B professionals to create and conduct their own podcast using The Generosity Mindset™ Method: building and deepening relationships in a non-salesy way that translates into revenue for their business.
John is also the host of North Fulton Business Radio. With over 780 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in its region like no one else.
John’s book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices
John is the #1 national best-selling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.
If you are a professional services provider, your goal is to do transformative work for clients you love working with and get paid commensurate with the value you deliver to those clients. While negative mindsets can inhibit your growth, adopting a different mindset, The Generosity Mindset™, can replace those self-limiting beliefs. The Generosity Mindset enables you to diagnose and communicate the value you deliver to clients and, in turn, more effectively price to receive a portion of that value.
Whether you’re a consultant, coach, marketing or branding professional, business advisor, attorney, CPA, or work in virtually any other professional services discipline, your content and technical expertise are not proprietary. What’s unique, though, is your experience and how you synthesize and deliver your knowledge. What’s special is your demeanor or the way you deal with your best-fit clients. What’s invaluable is how you deliver great value by guiding people through massive changes in their personal lives and in their businesses that bring them to a place they never thought possible.
The combination of all these elements is quite different for you compared to any other service provider in your industry. Therein lies your value, but it’s not the value you see. It’s the value your best-fit customers see in you.
If pricing your value feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, this book will teach you why putting a price on the value your clients perceive and identify serves both them and you, and you’ll learn the factors involved in getting your price right.
The book is available at all major physical and online book retailers worldwide. Follow this link for further details.
