I know that building a business sounds a bit scary to you at this point. Often, when we think about the possibility of working for ourselves, we immediately think about all the new responsibilities we will have to deal with. However, if you’re not building the next Facebook you definitely have less to worry about than you think. Let me introduce the idea of a lifestyle business & show why I’m absolutely obsessed with this business model.

What Is A Lifestyle Business?

The guiding principle behind a lifestyle business is to create and sustain a particular level of income for the founders or owners. In other words, its purpose is to facilitate a particular lifestyle.

Now, this doesn’t mean that lifestyle business owners do not make a lot of money. In reality, this means that you have a freedom to grow a business, according to your own needs. Whatever the income goals, all lifestyle business owners have one thing in mind- they all choose happiness over work. You see, according to the idea of a lifestyle business- a job is just a job. It’s a way to pay for a living, but that’s it. You have to work to live, not live to work.

Of course, lifestyle business owners are madly passionate about what they do and that makes the biggest difference. You know that saying- find a job you love & you will never have to work again? Well, that’s exactly the main point here, plus, with all the latest technologies most businesses can now be run from your laptop on the beach in Bali or during the naps of your kids. You choose!

Well, this already sounds pretty awesome to me, but if you’re not convinced yet, here are 7 Reasons You Should Aim To Build A Lifestyle Businesses:

#1 You Choose Your Own Pace

A lifestyle business is like running a marathon. You might not get filthy rich in a year or two, but you will learn to grow a profitable business that will guarantee you stable income for many, many years. Of course, you will have a responsibility to stay active and keep learning, but that’s, in fact, a great thing. You see, a lifestyle business allows the owner to step into the leadership role and find new ways to progress on their own terms. They can continue to develop and refine skills so they always feel intellectually stimulated. Yet, lifestyle business owners rarely feel overwhelmed as they set their own rules & pace.

#2 Requires Minimal Funding

There are so many simple ways to start a lifestyle business these days & the best thing is- you don’t even need to look for sponsors or partners to launch it today. All you need is your laptop and a few bucks to pay for web hosting. That’s all, really!

#3 You Don’t Need To Hire A Bunch Of People

While some lifestyle entrepreneurs expand to the point where they hire employees, most of us actually choose to have tiny teams to work with. I like the idea of a small operation without the headache of extra responsibility and if I need that extra hand, I go and hire other freelancers to help me. There are so many talented Virtual Assistants, Programmers, Marketers and Creators out there, offering their services online that I can always find someone even for an urgent help.

#4 You Grow According To Your Needs

When running your own business, your salary is not limited to company policies and basically, the amount of money you make monthly depends on you & only you. This means, if you feel like you need to save up for that dream house of yours or want to go traveling for a year- you will be able to expand your lifestyle business and generate more income than usual. Or, if you feel like you are at that point in your life that all you truly need financially is paying your bills and not worrying about working too much- it can also be done! You can be as big or as small as you need to and have all that freedom to scale your business depending on your circumstances.

#5 You Can Work From Anywhere

A business of this kind brings with it a certain freedom giving you the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world. Thus, if you have ever wanted to work abroad this would provide just the perfect opportunity.

#6 It Can Bring Purpose To Your Life

Creating your own business can help you get deeper into your own purpose and truly find out how you’re going to leave a greater impact. You see, introducing a product or service that benefits other people’s lives brings an amazing feeling. I feel extremely grateful every day to know that I get to help other creators build their dream businesses  & I know for sure I wouldn’t get this feeling in any regular workplace.

#7 You Get To Run A Business AND Have a Life

I truly believe that it is possible to balance a successful and fulfilling career with a meaningful and happy personal life. I feel like being constantly busy shouldn’t be our goal in any way and luckily, running a lifestyle business can enable you to find that perfect life/work balance you’ve been desperately looking for.

Ok, I’m IN! Where Do I Begin?

Let me share 10 steps with you that will help you reach your first paycheck by yourself:

1. First things first, you will need a place on the internet.  Start a blog in 5 minutes today and let’s get things going!
2. Choose a niche. Working online is way easier when you have a clear niche. It is almost more likely to get sales if you introduce yourself as an expert in a certain field.
3. Take care of your blog design. It’s crucial. You don’t want your readers to leave your blog, just because your layout doesn’t look professional.
4. Get on Pinterest. Seriously, do it NOW. Pinterest is my main source of referral traffic and you have a chance to make your posts viral straight away if you’re lucky. Learn more here.
5. It might take time for you to get on the first pages of Google. Make sure to use social media as much as you can for the time being & enjoy making new blogging buddies!
6. Make sure to learn the basics of SEO.
7. Decide on affiliate programmes you’re going to use. Affiliate marketing is a way for a business to reward bloggers or online influencers for each visitor/sale brought by the blogger’s own marketing efforts. Basically, once someone clicks on the affiliate link and buys something from your advertised website you’ve shared- you will get commisioned. Check out Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course if you want to learn more about it! The course was created by Michelle who currently earns over $50,000 a month through affiliate marketing. Lucky for us, she decided to share all of the best tips in this course. You will find 6 modules, over 30 lessons, over 20 worksheets, bonuses, an extremely helpful exclusive Facebook group, and more! Affiliate marketing is currently my second biggest source of income all thanks to Michelle and her awesome skills!
8. Stay consistent. Have a clear posting schedule for your blog and social media and stick to it.
9. Consider creating digital products/services and selling them on any of these places. This doesn’t require you to have an audience whatsoever!
10. Do your research on other bloggers. Have someone you absolutely admire? Examine your favorite online creators and analyze their monetization strategy. Do they accept sponsored content? Or perhaps they’ve created a product that is super useful for their audience? See what works for others, but don’t copy their ideas. Spend some time to decide what ways would work with your content and roll up your sleeves. See: How Exactly I Make Money Blogging.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post, friends! Let me know if you’re currently working on starting your own biz, I’d love to connect!