When you plan on starting a business of your own, the first important question that comes to mind is what sort of a business you must indulge in. You are one of the fortunate few if you’ve made up your mind about the type of business you want to start but if you haven’t, you need to consider many aspects and evaluate the resources you possess, the skills you master, and the interests you harbor.
There are numerous options an aspiring entrepreneur can choose from. The manufacturing industry is a good option and so is retail. You could also try your luck in information technology if you have the adequate resources or experiment in the food industry. But if you’re looking for something that’s notably new yet booming, you could invest in the lifestyle business.
What is a Lifestyle Business?
You must be wondering what is a lifestyle business, after all. A lifestyle business aims at providing sustenance and support to the individual requirements and income of the owners. Though it is a profit-oriented venture, it is not strictly restricted to revenue maximization.
The main focus of a lifestyle business is to create and sustain a positive and harmonious way of life and work for the owners. This type of a business usually provides just enough profit to sustain the present lifestyle of the business owner without affecting his personal life in any adverse manner or jeopardizing it.
Lifestyle business has as its primary goal – enjoyment, and contentment. Business owners tend to love the work that they indulge in as it is usually based on a hobby they nurture, a personal interest they harbor or a passion they have been dedicated to. It is simply something that gives them pleasure and satisfies them. This sort of a business redefines the traditional philosophy that revolves around businessmen of how they never mix their professional endeavors with personal pleasure points.
A Lifestyle Business has these features:
- The business owner is usually the only employee of the business, responsible for performing jobs pertaining to it. In case of more than one business owner, they are the employees of the business.
- The business owner already earns a respectable living with a considerable income.
- The owner has complete independence to decide how he employs his time or his resources to bring out results. He is free to indulge in other passions and pursue his different hobbies while being a part of this company.
- This business doesn’t come with any intents to sell to someone else or effect a closure at any point. It involves a purpose to carry it on for numerous years in the future.
There is a common misconception that lifestyle business is a full-time endeavor while it is something that you can nurture while you are tied to a regular job. You can decide to do it full-time when the revenue generated gives you enough profit to sustain yourself.
How is a lifestyle business different from being self-employed?
A lifestyle business is not the same as being self-employed. Being self-employed requires working at particularly designated hours. If you maintain a shop, you’ve to open it at a particular time in the morning, close it at night. But if you have a lifestyle business, it doesn’t affect your lifestyle – you can choose to indulge in it, any time you’re comfortable.
How is it different from running a start-up?
Start-ups have become very popular lately and its common belief that to succeed in a business is to begin with a start-up. A start-up is aimed at revenue maximization over a short duration of time. It is also supposed to effectuate growth, which requires owners to constantly seek funding to meet those ends. It has to become lucrative so that it is in a position to return profits to investors. A lifestyle business is the sole responsibility of an owner. It doesn’t need venture backing or additional funding. It fulfills all its requirements from its owner without being a burden, at any point. It lets you pursue what you love without it becoming too taxing.
The most common lifestyle businesses that are thriving at this point include writers, journalists, online e-commerce stores, professional bloggers, consultants and advisors from real estate, finance, accounting, law, health, and technology. Lifestyle business can be conducted online as well as offline.
How should you start your lifestyle business?
- Start by defining the goals – Begin by defining your personal goals, by knowing what you desire from the venture. While making your goals, consider the level of income that must be enough to sustain you and the extent of financial, time and locational freedom you desire for your personal endeavors.
- Identify your interests – As you shall be building a business around the passion you nurture, it is extremely important to understand what interests you the best and what you can sustain in the long run.
- Identify the problems – Utilize your knowledge in your niche, identify problems and offer solutions to customers who can benefit from them. You can study rival businesses or understand what solutions people are willing to pay for, to identify problems that can be monetized.
- Decide on what business you will start – The assessments you made from the last three steps should help you to understand what business should be perfect for you. Consider if it can be automated or employed with technology benefits.
- Sustain your business & remain connected – Generate quality content in your arena so that you’ve genuine audience and the potential to grow. Remain socially connected via mail, social media sites like Facebook & Twitter with your audience, to keep them updated and interested. You might have to share your contact number for better viability but this might expose you to spam numbers and potential hackers. But you can keep yourself protected against such odds through phone directory websites such as check-caller.
- Set your business up – You need specific tools to begin a business, so make sure your tools are handy. If you plan on becoming a professional blogger, you need to set up a blog and have the perfect tools to attract traffic, find your target audience locally or otherwise.
