Getting a lifestyle business off the ground may seem easy, but the truth can be far from the surface. After all, who hasn’t seen all those photos floating around Instagram with socialites living a luxurious, globe-trotting lifestyle? The reality is, however, that building any form of business is really hard work that requires a great deal of sacrifice and patience.

If you are considering breaking from the corporate grind, as I did over seven years ago, you may find my tips below useful. My journey as an entrepreneur has been anything but easy, as it is for most people, but hopefully, you can leverage my advice to aid you on your own journey.

1) Sell A “Virtual” Service That Will Have Demand For The Foreseeable Future

It goes without saying that the internet revolution has changed the way we work for good. Many jobs can be done remotely, and to be a lifestyle entrepreneur, you will likely need to learn and sell a service offering that will allow you to travel freely without being tied to a physical location.

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2) Beware of “Partners”

Unless your partner is a fellow lifestyle entrepreneur, business partners or investors don’t care about how many stamps you have on your passport. They care about the bottom line. If they see you expensing exotic travel through the company, they may start pulling back on your travel plans or questioning your commitment to the company. Conflict may arise.

I recommend starting a business that requires little to no capital to start. Without capital costs, you’ll be able to stay independent and won’t need investors or partners cramping your style. Instead, you should leverage strategic partners and resellers to provide a similar function without the messy and legal paperwork. 

3) Exploit Inefficiencies In the Labor Market

Take advantage of overpriced human capital costs in large urban areas by hiring your talent in low-cost areas and offering services to businesses in the high-cost markets. Companies are always looking to cut human capital costs and your business may be the perfect way to do so. 

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4) Build Partnerships With Established Companies

I spent years trying to work with small businesses that were very demanding and paid next to nothing. In crowded, service-based industries, acquiring new customers can be a long and painful journey. Thus, I recommend focusing on building fewer, more stable relationships with larger companies that generate consistent cash flow.

5) Adapt!

Lifestyle businesses typically have low barriers to entry, which means you will likely see fierce competition. If what you’re doing can be done from a laptop, not much will prevent anyone else from doing the exact same thing as you. If you’ve been working on your business for years and aren’t achieving your goals, don’t hold an emotional attachment to what you’re doing and consider a pivot.

Start diversifying your commitment into ventures with higher growth opportunities while leveraging your current business model to pay the bills. Consider a product-based business rather than a service-based business. Service-based businesses can be hard to sell, time-consuming, and hard to scale, whereas products can be sold on a larger scale and revenue can grow quickly if your concept gains media attention or goes viral.

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