Why Do You Want to Be
a Lifestyle Entrepreneur?
First and foremost, you should be crystal clear why you want
to be a lifestyle entrepreneur. I can pretty much guarantee there will be risks, sacrifices, and other hardships along the way. So
before signing on, it would be helpful to know why you’re putting
yourself through the challenges that you will face.
Beyond defining the why, you also need to carefully consider
how your business will help you meet your lifestyle objectives. If
your reason for wanting to start a business is to have more time
to spend with your kids, and your business concept involves
storefront retail, your method is probably not in line with your
objective. There is nothing wrong with running a retail shop for
someone whose main goal is to meet lots of people who are interested
in the kinds of goods that shop is selling. However, retail
shops demand lots of fixed work hours and, more likely than not,
lots of late afternoon, weekend, and even holiday hours—hardly
the best structure for someone looking to spend time with kids
on a school schedule.
On the other hand, if time f lexibility is your main goal, a
Web-based retail business may work quite well for you. Although
your online store can be open 24 hours a day, you can fill your
orders, plan your marketing, and pay your bills any time you
wish. Of course, if your goal is to get out of the house and meet
people, an online business just won’t cut it.
A good exercise would be to list your goals concisely in order
of their importance to you. Are you considering starting your
business to practice a field you love? Or is your goal to contribute
to the world with business as your vehicle, or is it to enable you
to pursue your passion for travel? Is increasing your income a top
priority? Perhaps your most important goal is setting up a business
that can involve your children on a day-to-day basis.
The rest of the exercise is to list the ways in which your business
concept will help you reach your goals and then list the impediments
you may face along the way. If you’re going into
business because you want to practice the field you love on your
own terms, consider how much time you will spend running the
business rather than practicing the field that your business is supposed
to enable? If your goal is to travel for months at a time, can
you realistically structure your business to permit that kind of
time f lexibility? A business that caters to, say winter tourists in a
ski area, may well permit such escapades in the summer months,
whereas one with clients expecting services year round does not.
Despite my being a dedicated advocate of lifestyle entrepreneurship,
I also advocate proceeding with caution. There is no
point in going through the effort of setting up a lifestyle business
if it won’t help you toward your lifestyle goals. So before proceeding
any further, please honestly assess how your business and its
structure will and won’t help you toward your lifestyle goals.
Email:
info@walmartcom.net
