Tuesday, June 18, 2013

65-year-old and wife nix retirement, open fitness center

Several weeks ago, I wrote about several local "encore entrepreneurs," people over age 50 who start their own businesses. Whether they were laid off, tired of a corporate setting or just in search of something new, these entrepreneurs are parlaying their extensive work experience into a new venture. 

Teri and Pete Nash
Pete Nash, 65, and his wife, Teri, are some of these encore entrepreneurs. While many of their peers are retiring, they're opening an Exercise Coach franchise on June 24 at 4717 Sharon Road, in the Terraces at SouthPark. The business promises results with only two 20-minute exercise routines per week. 

A press release says their Exercise Coach franchise is the state's first. Pete and Teri hope to open another studio in the Ballantyne area in the next year and a half, the press release says.

Nationwide, 7.4 million people over the age of 50 own their own businesses, a figure that's expected to double in the next decade, says Suzanne LaFollette Black, associate state director of AARP-North Carolina. 

The couple aren't strangers to entrepreneurship or franchising

After working in corporate medical-device manufacturing, Pete moved to Charlotte in 1996 and opened his first franchise, Accountants Inc. He sold his franchise in 2001 and bought a different franchise, 1000 Points of Knowledge, which offered tutoring for children K-12 by working with Charlotte nonprofits. One year later, he bought a third one, The Entrepreneur's Source, which helps clients explore their own franchise opportunities. And in 2005, he bought a Sports Clips franchise. 

Teri started Carolina Hair Clinic, a salon offering surgical and nonsurgical hair replacement, hair extensions, laser light therapy, skin care, waxing, color, cuts and styling. She sold the business in 2010 and married Pete in 2011. 

1 comments:

Alex S said...

Whether they were laid off, tired of a corporate setting or just in search of something new, these entrepreneurs are parlaying their extensive work experience into a new venture.