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Want to know how to start a successful lifestyle business? Have you heard others talking about having a lifestyle business and think it sounds like something you’d like to have too. If so, you are in the right place. Keep on reading to find how to start a successful lifestyle business.
This page may include affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you.
What is a lifestyle business?
Before sharing how to start a successful lifestyle business I want to make sure we are on the same page about what a lifestyle business actually is. With the rise of online entrepreneurs and books like The 4-Hour Week (You can check out my review here) it is easy to think that a lifestyle business is a business where you do hardly any work, because you have passive income streams, and you get to spend your days on the beach drinking cocktails.
That is the reality for some lifestyle business owners, but definitely not all. Because that isn’t the lifestyle everyone wants. So to be clear, a lifestyle business is a business that is set up and run by its founder(s) with the primary aim being that the business supports a particular lifestyle. This differs to other business types where profit is usually the main objective, unless they are a not-for-profit or charity.
HOW TO START A SUCCESSFUL LIFESTYLE BUSINESS
Step 1: Set your life and business goals
To build a successful lifestyle business you first have to get crystal clear on the lifestyle you want your business to support. Remember the whole point of a lifestyle business is to support your lifestyle. It can only be deemed as successful if it properly supports your lifestyle, but all too often a lifestyle entrepreneur isn’t clear enough initially about the lifestyle they want.
To define the lifestyle you want your business to support you should consider the following things:
- Where are you living? Location wise, as well as the building you are in
- Who else (if anyone) would you be living with?
- What do you want your average day or week to look like?
- How much time do you want to set aside to work?
- How much time do you require as a minimum outside of work?
- Do you want to have a clear divide between work and life, or are you happy for those lines to blur?
- How do you want to spend your leisure time? What activities do you do? Are you alone or with other people?
- What clothes do you wear?
- Do you have a car? If so, what type?
- What food do you eat?
Once you’ve got clear on all those things you want to also answer this last question “How much money do you need to fully support your desired lifestyle?”. Answering this question will enable you to understand how much money your business needs to generate.
Now that you are clear on the lifestyle you want to create you can then move on to setting some goals for your business based on that. You obviously want to have a financial goal (this should be about the money you take from the business, not a top-line revenue figure), but you will probably also want to have goals in relation to the time or location requirements of your desired life.
Here are some possible examples.
Example A – My business allows me to personally take home £50,000 per year. It only requires me to work 20 hours per week, which happens between 9am and 3pm on weekdays.
Example B – My business allows me to personally take home £100,000 per annum. For 9 months of the year I’m required to work up to 30 hours per week and that can happen Monday to Saturday. For the other 3 months I’m able to take 3 months off and do no work at all.
Example C – My business allows me to personally take home £170,000 per annum. I work a maximum of 40 hours per week, for 3 weeks per month. My business is location-independent.
Step 2: Choose your business model
Once you are clear on the goals for your life and your business you can move on to choosing a business model. There are lots of different lifestyle businesses and depending on your goals some models might be more suitable than others. Some possible models for a lifestyle business are:
- Affiliate marketing – This is where you received a commission for promoting other businesses’ products and / or services. Depending on what you sell you could get a one-off or recurring payment
- Dropshipping – This is where you are selling a product, but once a purchase is made another company does the fulfilment,
- E-commerce – This is where you are selling products (and services) online
- Service-based – Where you provide a service (in-person or online)
If you want to have months where you don’t have to do any work then affiliate marketing, dropshipping or having a service that is offered for a limited part of the year would be an option for you.
If you want to be location-independent then you will want something that is entirely online such as drop-shipping or an online service-based business.
In some cases you might also be able to have a business that involves multiple models. For example, I’m a Business and Marketing Strategist that predominantly makes my income from selling services (You can check out my services here), but I also make money from affiliate marketing.
You can definitely add in more revenue streams as your business grows, but in the first instance you should focus on what the primary business model will be.
Step 3: Choose your offerings and target market
This step really is two steps, but depending on your business model the order of you choosing these two things might differ.
Some business owners know straight away who they want to serve, whereas others know exactly what they want to sell and are led by that. Either way is fine as long as by the end you ensure you are clear on what you are going to sell and who you are going to sell it to.
YOUR OFFERINGS
You don’t have a business unless you have something to sell so once you’ve decided on your business model you need to work out what you are going to sell.
If you are looking at dropshipping or affiliate marketing you’ll have to look at what is available. Both are big industries so whilst you’re limited to what is available you still have lots and lots of options to choose from.
If you are looking at running your own e-commerce or service based business the world is your oyster.
YOUR TARGET MARKET
Your target market is who you are aiming to sell your product and/or services too. It is vital to understand your target market as much as possible. The more you understand your target market the easier it will be when it comes to marketing your business.
Step 4: Set your prices and have a way to be paid
You know what you are going to sell and to who, but how much are you going to charge. If you are selling products then you’ll have the costs of the product to consider and then be able to work out what profit margin you need to be making on sales. However, if you are selling services it can be a little more tricky to price. I have lots of other blog posts about pricing, which you can read here – but a great one to get started with is ‘How to prices your services as a coach or consultant’.
Once you know what you want to charge you’ll need a way to take payment and in most cases you’ll want to have a way to easily take payment online. This will mean selling through someone’s website or selling via your own website.
If you decide to sell on your own website you have a number of options and it is important to think about the ultimate aims for the business. There are a number of options when it comes to building a website. There are stand-alone website builders such as WordPress or Squarespace. These are great for building your website, but you often have to use third-party plugins or additional services to run your entire business. An alternative is to use a one-stop software, like Kartra, that is designed specifically for online business owners. Kartra not only allows you to have a website and easily take payment, it can also be your email service provider, be your calendar booking software and host your courses and memberships (amongst other things). It allows everything to be in one place, which makes your life (or your VAs a lot easier).
Step 5: Marketing
At this point you are up and running. You know what you want to sell, to who, and you have a way to sell. Now you just need people to come and buy which means you need to get marketing. There are so many different ways to market your business:
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
- Partnership / Collaborations
- Affiliate
- Digital advertising
- PR
You will need to work out what are the best channels to use to market your business and create a marketing plan.
You can find out more about how to choose the right marketing channels for your business here.
Once you’ve chosen the appropriate marketing channels for your business you’ll need to create a marketing plan. If you decide to focus on using organic online marketing such as website, email, social media and content then I walk you through the whole process of creating a content marketing plan for your business here.
I also have a free content marketing plan workbook to go along with the blog post. I walk you through the whole process you can be consistent with your email, social media and content marketing. To access the free workbook fill in your details below and if you want to get great weekly emails to grow your business be sure to join my mailing list too!
WANT SOME HELP TO CREATE A MARKETING PLAN?
I’m a Chartered Marketer and have over a decade of professional experience. I run Strategy Days where I will help business owners to choose the right marketing channels for their business and then put a plan together for the upcoming 3-12 months (number of months depends on the level of details).
To find out more and book a Strategy Day click here.
That’s it! You know now how to start a successful lifestyle business.
Running a successful lifestyle business is the dream for many people and I hope this blog post has helped show you can get started.
There really are so many options, but don’t let that overwhelm you. Go through the 5 steps outlined above and can have your lifestyle business up and running before you know it.
I love hearing about other people’s businesses so let me know in the comments what type of business you have (or are going to start).
WANT HELP TO GROW A SUCCESSFUL SERVICE-BASED BUSINESS?
If you’ve looked at all the business models mentioned and are leaning towards providing a service (whether that be 1:1 or group, membership, mastermind or course) then I might be able to help you.
I’m a Business and Marketing Strategist that specialises in supporting solo coaches, consultants and online service providers. I help my clients to package, price and promote your expertise so you build a successful lifestyle business, and I can help you too!
If you are serious about building a successful lifestyle business, rather than having it as a picture on your vision board then I would love to talk to you and see how we can work together.
You can book a free, no-obligation, introduction call to discuss your business here.
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