What It Looks Like When You’re Building A Lifestyle Business
“A lifestyle business is a business that is set up and run by its founders primarily with the aim of sustaining a particular level of income and no more; or to provide a foundation from which to enjoy a particular lifestyle”
If you asked me what type of business I’m building, I’d hands down straight away say a lifestyle one. I admire and respect so many power brands and online empires who are taking their industries and communities by storm, but for me and the work I do it’s way more about the life I want to be living and the part I want my business to play in that.
A lifestyle business is built upon the vision that the business serves and enables the life its owner wants to live.
The best part is, you get to define what that lifestyle looks like. Your lifestyle business may look like a 20 hour work week, with lots of travel and time for adventures. Or it may look like a 50 hour work week with lots of time for creative side projects too. Whatever it is, it’s yours to define. But when you’re building a lifestyle business, you’re not chasing the money; instead you’re chasing what that money can enable and bring.
For me, my lifestyle business is all about enabling me to do the work I feel called to do, while being able to take care of myself and my health and wellbeing in the process, and to bring me creative and financial freedom too. I also want a few adventures in there too, but at the heart of my business is my desire to build a life that allows me to live fully alongside my mental health illness, to be of service to others with the work that I do, and to be creatively fulfilled along the way.
So take the time to ask yourself: am I building an entrepreneurial empire or a lifestyle business?
And if a lifestyle business is your answer, stand by it every step of the way. Don’t be shaken when you hear all the noise about reaching those elusive six and seven figure marks, and don’t be afraid if you’re not reaching the same goals that the game changing entrepreneurial empires around you are. Because lifestyle businesses can be game changing too.
Building a lifestyle business doesn’t mean you don’t work hard. It doesn’t mean you can’t make an awesome living and invest in yourself and hire a team along the way. It doesn’t mean the work you do can’t bring crazy awesome results for the people who hire and invest in you. It just means you’re doing it so that you can sustain and create the life you truly want to live. Without sacrificing anything more than you have to just to scale and grow in a way that wouldn’t actually enable you to continue to live that awesome life that you’ve created for yourself.
I’ll be honest with you, the lifestyle businesses are the one’s I’m truly passionate about. The story behind them, the experiences that have led them to where they are now, the purpose and the passion behind the work that they do, and the lifestyle that they’re building alongside it; I’m forever inspired by purpose-driven creatives who are building this for the way it feels as much as they are for the financial freedom too. Those are the people I work with every single day and who I’m crazy excited to serve.
To Finish...
If you’re building a lifestyle business and you want to get super specific on what that means for you, I’ve put together a resource to help you along the way. I know how important it is to truly know what it is we want to build so we can stay purposeful and focused along the way, instead of being distracted by everything else that is happening around us. Hopefully this can be a jumping off point to help you find the clarity and direction that you need to move forward and make big and beautiful things happen with your work and your life.
