What would it feel like if work felt like play every single day? Or if while you’re playing, your business is working without you…
This is what it's like to have a lifestyle business.
A lifestyle business is one that enables you to live life on your terms. It honors you, your health, your family, your hobbies, and your interests. It works around you (rather than you trying to fit yourself into the time that's left over after your business has taken what it needs).
A lot of entrepreneurs, especially women, struggle to strike a healthy balance between work and life. I know because I experienced this firsthand myself, for the first 7+ years of my business.
In this article (and the video that goes along with it), I’ll share some of what I’ve learned since about what it takes to build a business that FEEDS you, rather than DRAINS you.
So first let’s talk about what a lifestyle business ISN’T (in my humble opinion – remember, as always, take what works for you and disregard the rest!!)
- It’s not a business in which you have to work, work, work – all the time.
- It’s not one in which you sell your time for money, because when you sell your time for money, the only 2 ways to make more is to sell more time or raise prices (and you can’t raise prices indefinitely – there’s a limit).
- A lifestyle business doesn't feel life sacrifice. It allows you to have grace and ease – at least most of the time.
- A lifestyle business doesn’t limit your freedom (a value I personally hold near and dear).
When I started my business, “lifestyle” was the last thing on my mind. I was SO focused on “making it” and being “successful” that I missed out on almost a whole decade of my life. No joke. I can barely remember my 30s — it passed by in a fog of late nights, too-little sleep, stress, anxiety, pressure and hustle.
And then I got sick, and had no choice but to STOP.
Guess what? After all those years of hustling and hard work, my business couldn't withstand me not being 100 percent focused on it 24/7… so it stopped too.
The moment I took my eye off the ball, my business fell apart.
And that's because I was selling my time for money, and I had no recurring revenues.
And that’s when I “got” the importance of having a lifestyle-friendly business.
Since then, that’s what I’ve built (I have a bunch of YouTube videos on this topic that you can check out). And I believe that building one comes down to 3 key elements:
#1 – A lifestyle business has a brand (and the accompanying marketing) to attract business gracefully and easily.
Rather than having to hunt and go chase business, business comes to you.
It's the distinction between running around chasing butterflies with a butterfly net…
Or planting a butterfly garden.
Your brand is that collection of intellectual property, messaging, signature system, and signature offerings that represent you in the world.
Your brand and marketing include your intellectual property, messaging, stories, your value proposition, the solution you provide, and any number of other things that pull people toward you, like flowers attract butterflies.
#2 – Your business model.
Your business model is the mechanism by which you turn your MAGIC into MONEY.
A lifestyle-friendly business model scalable, meaning you're not delivering your services one on one, or exchanging your time for money without any leverage.
It’s also stable, which means recurring revenue. I can not emphasize enough how powerful it is to start off every month with a solid foundation, without wondering where your income is going to come from that month.
This is what I call the BIG BACK END.
#3 – Your mindset.
If you’re at the center of your business, if you’re IN it, then the way you FEEL about your business will impact how it feels to your clients, employees and the world. Truth.
So for a lifestyle business to feel good, it needs to be aligned with who you really are. THat means that the work you’re doing aligns with what you’re best at, and that it enables you to practice good self-care.
So, those are the 3 essential components of a lifestyle business. If you want to learn more about how to build YOUR lifestyle business, one that aligns with your true gifts and strengths and has a stable, sustainable model, let’s connect!!
Click this link to learn about how you can work with me and my team, personally.
You can get it by clicking on the link below and I'll see you on the next video.
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For information on how to connect with and work with Michelle, or to attend one of our Business Breakthrough Retreats, visit www.SuperstarDiscoveryCall.com.
