Geri Messer and Pat Balderas of Toledo, Ohio, didn't plan to spend their retirement managing a business. But an opportunity fell into their laps -- or more accurately, at their feet -- when the owner of the dance studio where they took lessons said she wanted to sell it.

Messer and Balderas, both 66, were united by their love of tap dancing and their desire to save a place that had become a big part of their lives. After receiving counseling from Score (www.score.org), a nonprofit organization that provides volunteer mentors for aspiring business owners, they used money from their retirement savings to purchase Off Broadway Dance Company in October 2011. Messer had a business background, having helped her husband, Alan, run a software company. Balderas has taught tap at the studio for eight years, so she had hands-on experience.

You won't find any Shirley Temple wannabes at Off Broadway Dance. Clients range in age from 23 to 86, and most customers are women in their fifties and sixties. "We feel that's our market," says Messer, a former nurse. "We want women to take care of themselves and have fun."

Balderas had been retired for about 18 months from her job as a court administrator when she and Messer discussed buying the business. She had other plans for retirement, but when it came right down to it, she says, "my passion was always tap dancing."

Working with someone else was a new experience, Balderas says. As an instructor, she was accustomed to making her own decisions, and she had to get used to collaborating with a partner. Messer agrees. Buying a business as a second act "is kind of like a second marriage," she says. "You've got to really want to do it."

One of the first things the partners did was ramp up their marketing by taking out ads in local newspapers and redesigning the studio's website. Word of mouth has also helped attract students. Messer and Balderas give their business cards to all of their students, and Off Broadway dancers appear in local parades and give regular performances at local nursing homes and senior centers.

Their efforts have paid off. Business has grown so much that the partners have had to rent extra space to accommodate some of their classes, and they recently added jazz dancing to their lineup. They expect to earn back their initial investment and turn a modest profit this year, which will be used to improve the studio.

Messer can't imagine a time when they'd give up the studio. "When you love to do something," she says, "you don't care how old you are."

(Sandra Block is a senior associate editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. And for more on this and similar money topics, visit www.Kiplinger.com.)