If you’ve been working for a while, you’ve probably figured out that it’s not a ton of fun. You are always waiting for the next promotion, for a salary upgrade, or for some form of flexibility that will allow you to have a life outside of work. However, when your job is a standard 9-5, it’s hard to find time for anything other than working, commuting, eating, and constantly repeating that cycle.
When the pandemic hit and most of us got relocated to work from home, many people saw how better their lives were when they had more flexibility. By working from home, people got to experience the opportunity to work from different locations, on their schedule, and saw how much more free time they got to enjoy once they didn’t have to commute to the office and back.
So, logically, once things started going back to normal, a lot of working professionals wanted to be able to find that flexibility again. This is where lifestyle business comes into play. It’s a working model that enables you to do your job from anywhere in the world and allows you to control how you manage your own time.
That being said, it’s not something that will happen in just a few days, and it won’t all be sunshine, paradise, and no work. You won’t be quitting your job this week and going to Hawaii the next. However, when done well, this kind of business will give you more free time, a more flexible schedule, and hopefully inspire you to do your job with joy.
This article won’t try to sell you the idea of lifestyle business. Instead, it will just give you insight into what it is, what you can do to start this type of company, and why it may be a good idea for you.
Let’s get started.
What Is a Lifestyle Business?
To put it simply, a lifestyle business is any sort of a business that supports the lifestyle you want to have. This may be being able to work from home or working when you have the most energy. The choice is entirely up to you.
What qualifies as a lifestyle business is different for each person. For some, it’s having an entire online store, while for others, it may be having a blog or a podcast.
However, you have to acknowledge the fact that this sort of work suits only specific types of people. If you love your 9-5 job and you enjoy climbing the corporate ladder, then it’s likely that a lifestyle business won’t be something you appreciate doing.
But if you’re looking for a source of income that will enable you to live your desired lifestyle without having to hustle in a 9-5 job, then you’ll find the information in this article very intriguing.
What’s the Difference Between a Lifestyle Business and a Startup?
It’s easy to understand why so many people find it hard to differentiate between a startup and a lifestyle business. Both can be described as new ventures that you need to put time, money, and effort into.
However, while startups need to have rapid growth, lifestyle businesses can take a totally different approach.
Funding
Startups often get funded by venture capital firms, which is something that likely won’t happen with your lifestyle business. Usually, this type of business owner relies on himself for money either through his personal funds, savings, or even a loan. However, that option isn’t widespread.
With a lifestyle business, you will be able to work at your own pace without having to work towards some kind of growth necessarily. This makes the job a lot less stressful and more enjoyable.
Commitment
The luxury lifestyle can look very alluring. However, don’t be fooled: having a startup is a huge commitment. From working on the right business strategy to hiring good employees to making sure you’re constantly improving, it’s likely that this kind of company will have all your time dedicated to it.
On the other hand, a lifestyle business can be very liberating. It’s a great way to get away from the constant hustle. Being in charge of your own time and reducing your number of commitments can have you living the life you want instead of living under constant stress.
Risk
Startups come with a ton of extra risk. For every new company that makes it, there are hundreds that don’t. If you really want to commit to building a startup, then that shouldn’t stop you. But if you just want to live a comfortable life, then maybe you don’t want to put everything you have on the line.
Pros of Starting a Lifestyle Business
When it comes to starting your company, you have to make a choice between having more free time and earning more money. However, even if you pick the first option, you will still be able to have a decent revenue. In fact, that’s precisely why lifestyle businesses are becoming increasingly popular: you get to enjoy your wealth while earning it.
It Can Be Everything You Want It to Be
Lifestyle businesses are incredibly versatile. You may decide to commit only four hours this week and then dedicate yourself full time to the next one. There’s no pressure about earning a higher revenue or getting more sales. The business runs at the pace you want it to.
This means you can constantly switch between scaling up and slowing down, which is not something that loads of companies can say they can do.
Allows You to Live Your Life
When you create a company with the idea of having more freedom that enables you to live your life to the fullest, this can mean traveling abroad, taking unexpected vacation days, or starting a new hobby that you’ve always wanted to dive into.
Another benefit of having a lifestyle business is that you can quickly get profits. Unlike most traditional business models, here, you can start earning money after a week or two of operating, something that won’t happen if you have a startup.
You Can Work From Anywhere
Location independence is one of the best things about owning your own business. Do you want to work during your vacation in Europe? No problem. Do you enjoy doing your tasks from the nearest coffee shop? That’s cool as well.
However, location independence can offer a lot of other perks as well. If you play your cards right, the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world can help you expand your network and enable you to meet others in your line of business.
I know many lifestyle business owners who have been able to create essential connections while abroad, which have later helped them improve their company. On your travels, you can meet potential clients or business partners or simply develop friendships with people who may be helpful to you if you’re ever in need of anything.
What You Should Know About Starting a Lifestyle Business
Before jumping right into starting a business, you need to have the answer to one question: What kind of life do you want to live?
Now, I know that’s tricky since most people will tell you that building a business is all about considering what your customers want. However, if you only worry about that, you will likely become the owner of a company you don’t enjoy working for.
That being said, you don’t want to design something that only you would enjoy. Instead, you have to look for a middle ground, where you’re selling something people want to buy but still enjoying the process behind it. In order to create a business that truly gives you the life you want, it’s vital that you find the answers to the following questions: How much do you want to work? What kind of work do you like doing?
Once you know all that, you can start thinking of ideas for a company until you stumble upon something that suits you. In an ideal situation, you will not have to be involved in the business’s daily operations. That way, you will be able to focus on building your business instead of actively running it. Remember, you’re looking for more flexibility and freedom, so don’t treat your own business like a regular job – it will be counterproductive.
Know Where Your Strength Lies
When building a lifestyle business, you need to utilize all your skills and interests. If you’re a master at graphic design, you surely have to use that skill when creating the look of your new company.
More often than not, entrepreneurs tend to follow current online “trends” instead of their own passions and hobbies, which is a big mistake. Trends are around for a few months and they cease to exist, and you don’t want to build an entire company for something that will be relevant for only a few months or a year.
Instead of doing that, put all your skills and your passions on focusing on doing the one thing that guarantees success: creating value.
5 Lifestyle Business Ideas
If you like what you’ve read so far and you want to be a lifestyle entrepreneur, here’s a detailed list of lifestyle business examples that will hopefully serve as inspiration to you.
However, first, let’s establish some things. Lifestyle businesses are not only having an eCommerce store or starting a blog. While they are some of the more popular options, there are plenty of others which you can choose for yourself.
Along with that, according to some people, freelancing and consulting are forms of lifestyle businesses. However, there are definitely some who don’t think they should count. That being said, they are still a great way to gain additional income and gain some freedom (in terms of time and location), which can give you an opportunity to build a company later on.
Now, without further ado, let’s dive into some exciting lifestyle business ideas that might ignite your interest.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is incredibly popular because it’s very straightforward and it has low barriers to entry. The whole idea behind it is to promote another company’s product or business by using a tracking “device” in the form of an affiliate link or a coupon code. Whenever someone makes a purchase from the company, you earn a commission from the sale by using your link or code.
What people like the most about affiliate marketing is that they don’t have to spend time developing and supporting the product. However, even though it’s easy to get started, it can take a while to start earning a good income from it. If you don’t have a lot of experience in digital marketing, getting earnings can be even more difficult.
That being said, if you have knowledge in SEO and are able to establish yourself on Google, then it’s likely that this type of business will bring you a high income without too much effort from your end.
Amazon FBA Business
FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) is perhaps the best way to get into the world of “real product businesses.” It’s a lucrative opportunity to put a “private label” on products. You just have to curate an attractive, high-quality product, then brand it and ship it to Amazon. Once you make a listing in their system and begin sending products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers, they pretty much take over the rest of the process. Amazon is responsible for payment processing, shipping, customer service, and returns when you get a sale.
The best thing about Amazon FBA is that you can leverage the customer base of the largest online marketplace in the world. If you’re someone good at logistics, then you’ll find running an FBA business an easy and enjoyable job.
The only downside to this business model is that it often has high startup costs, and Amazon takes a significant cut of your profits. However, if you do it the right way, you can still get a good income from it.
Become a Value-Added Reseller
A value-added reseller’s job is to take an already existing product or a service, add a complimentary service to it, and then resell the product. The main thing here is to add value to something that already exists.
This is a popular business model in the IT world, where you can make software bundles and offer packages to potential customers. But there are plenty of other sectors where you can find opportunities for VAR as well.
It’s key to remember that people will always pay for something that makes their lives easier or saves them valuable time. If you have a good idea about what could bring this kind of value to people, but you lack the infrastructure of a big firm, then this business model will be the one for you.
Productized Services
As you probably guessed by the name, productizing refers to turning your services into solutions that have a fixed price and benefits, just like a product would. You can think of it as a sort of next-level freelancing.
Instead of constantly promoting your services, you can put them in a package that you present to all your potential customers. That way, you make things easier for everyone, and people are more likely to buy a product when they know exactly what they’re getting – from price to features and benefits.
Rank and Rent Websites
Renting a space in the digital world is getting increasingly popular.
In reality, building and marketing a new site from scratch can take years, and most businesses don’t have the time to do that. Along with that, learning how to rank a website on Google can be difficult, and some owners just don’t want to deal with it.
Why does that matter to you? Well, if you buy a domain, create a website, and then optimize it to rank well on Google, you can rent it to businesses that need such a site.
What’s cool about this line of business is that you’re always in total control of the website. It’s an asset you own. Even when you rent it out, it still continues to grow while being used by the company you gave it to. That means that by the time you rent it to another business, its cost will be even higher, thus enabling you to earn more.
Before Starting, Always Test Your Idea
It’s good to test a business idea out before putting in a ton of time, effort, and money into it. More often than not, what you believe to be a sure hit might actually be a total miss.
Instead of leaving it up to fate and good fortune, it’s good to try out a few ways to validate your idea before going all in. There are two main approaches that you can use.
The Direct Approach
Most successful business owners know this: no matter what product or service you want to offer, it’s a good practice to get the opinions of your friends and network first.
Now, please pay attention to the fact that family is not mentioned here. Sometimes their feedback is not the best; your family members can either be too enthusiastic or overly critical, depending on whether they support your decision to start something of your own or not. The “direct” approach is a working method for several reasons. Firstly, it allows you to test your product and see if there’s a demand for it. But more than that, it will give you an honest review of what you’ve decided to offer: is the price good, would it be better in another color and all that.
In return, this will allow you to see whether your idea is really worth investing in or not.
The Audience Approach
Another way to test your idea is by first building an audience then trying to find ways to monetize the idea. It’s a slower method that mainly works well only in theory.
Why? It’s tough to get adequate feedback while developing a product if you go this route. However, it’s not impossible. If you have a loyal audience, you can ask them to vote on new ideas or request for them to give feedback in the comments section.
Once you have a good relationship with your audience, you can introduce new products and services to them and expect to get detailed feedback. Along with that, really passionate followers of your company can serve as brand ambassadors and promote your business in their close circle of friends and family.
Final Thoughts
Even though we romanticize the idea of mid-week exotic vacations and working only for four hours a day, a lifestyle business can offer all that and more. In reality, if you never had to work again, you’d probably get really bored and depressed in no time.
Most people hate the grind only because it often doesn’t leave them any time to enjoy the rest of their life. But a lifestyle business is an antidote to that. Not only is it a great way to earn an income, but it also gives you the flexibility you need to be able to experience other parts of your life.
Furthermore, if you’re already putting in a ton of effort in your daily, 9-5 job, it’s better to think it over as that time can be better spent working on your own assets. In the beginning, it may be challenging, but after a while, it will pay off, and you’ll likely find it a lot more rewarding than any previous job you may have had.