In the past, I’ve resisted the urge to write about business topics here because my biggest goal with this project is to help you create your ideal lifestyle.  But being an entrepreneur has been one of the best things I’ve done for my own lifestyle, so I figured it was time to talk a little more about that. It’s also something I’ve helped hundreds of other people do successfully, so it just sort of makes sense. Want to build an awesome business? Let’s do this.

“Being an entrepreneur is a piece of cake.” – No one ever

I don’t usually talk a lot about my business here, but I’m changing things up with this month’s experiment. If you’re an entrepreneur, or you want to be one, you’ll want to follow along.

Over that last 10 years, I’ve advised hundreds of awesome entrepreneurs and helped them create and grow some really great businesses. It’s been an amazing experience, and I feel incredibly lucky to work with some of the smartest and most inspiring people in the world.

In that one Facebook movie On paper, being an entrepreneur sounds amazing. You just come up with a good idea, and then BOOM, it’s all about money and freedom… right?

Um… no. In reality, starting and growing a business takes a lot of thoughtful and dedicated work. That’s why it takes passion to build a great company. Without passion, doing something hard would just be irrational. You’re not irrational, right? Ok, good, you can read on then…

I like to talk to other entrepreneurs about why they started their business. Maybe you’re motivated by freedom, or you want to build a legacy, or maybe you don’t really know. That’s ok. What matters is that your personal motivations should determine what kind of business you create.

Lifestyle vs. Business Goals

There’s a spectrum that every business owner falls on.

On one end are people who say, “I want to build a giant company, a publicly traded empire that will outlive me.” Their goal is to build an amazing business.

On the other end are people who say, “I want to build an awesome business that takes care of all my financial needs and lets me live an amazing lifestyle.” Their goal is to build an amazing lifestyle.

My buddy Corbett Barr said it really well in his post about what it’s like to have a startup versus a lifestyle business, “A startup’s job is to grow big enough to provide a return to investors. A lifestyle business’s job is to provide a great quality of life to its owners.”

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with either approach. It all depends on your priorities. But, I think running a giant company sounds terrible, so…

Let’s Build a Lifestyle Business

Of course, the Monthly Experiments Project is all about creating your ideal lifestyle. So, that’s what this experiment is going to be about.

We’ll have two goals, depending on where you’re at in your entrepreneurial journey:

1. How to turn your existing business into a Lifestyle Business.  Or…
2. How to start a new Lifestyle Business from scratch.

Since I already have a business, you’d think I’d be in the first camp, but I’m actually going to be starting a new business from scratch just for this experiment. I’ll explain why in a future post, and I’ll be giving a lot of advice that will help you if you’d rather just improve your existing business.

My Ideal Lifestyle Business

Since I’ll be starting from scratch, I want to share some of my own goals for my Lifestyle Business. Your goals can and should be different than mine.

1. I want to do work I love.
2. I want the ability to work from anywhere. (aka “location independence”)
3. I want a highly leveraged income. (I’ll share what this is, and how it’s different from “passive income”)
4. I want flexibility.  (The ability to travel, and not work crazy hours.)
5. I want to help people. (I want to make the world a better place.)
6. I want to structure my work around my “ideal day.”

I’ll get into a lot more detail about that stuff in the coming days.

Share Your Lifestyle Business Goals

One last thing. I recently asked an entrepreneur friend about what kind of business she originally set out to build, and I wanted to share her answer because I liked it so much.

“I never had any preconceptions about what kind of business it would be. I just wanted to make something I thought was awesome that would change peoples’ lives and to be able to do whatever the fuck I wanted.”

That’s an awesome definition of a Lifestyle Business! I want to hear yours. What does your ideal Lifestyle Business look like?

Share your answer in the comments. 🙂