A fundamental question for any entrepreneur: What do I want from my business?

[MTF]

Elaine's book came out today so I guess I can post the short page that I'm in. I'm quoted in a few other places but they were just a couple sentences and not worth mentioning. I've haven't started the book yet, so I can't make any comment on the rest of it.


View attachment 42126View attachment 42127

Thanks for reminding me about this book. I was waiting for it. Cool to hear you're featured there.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

Don't a lot of "lifestyle businesses" fall into MJ's "monomorphic pay" principle?

Not if they comply with CENTS.

 

[Ivan Koretskyy]

For me, it’s having to build an enterprise type of business but with the intent of having the most automation and little employees to suit my lifestyle but requires a lot of executing. Im assuming it’s possible to have a mixture of both?

 

[Jonathan French]

I’ve got a friend that I call a few times a month to see if he’s taken action on his ideas and help him break down any barriers he may have. We’ll talk about what he’s doing and he’ll throw up a bunch of excuses about why he can’t launch yet, albeit it’s been 4 years since he started his entrepreneurial journey. His excuses may be something like this; “I have to have videos first, I have to have a website first, I have to have this and that before I can make my first calls”. Mind you, this cycle has been going on for years, but he's made a bit of cash here and there while hustling.

I never knew if there was a single question I could ask that would help him find out what it was he really wanted from being an entrepreneur.

I had a thought that maybe I should figure out what question should be asked at the beginning of anyone's journey.

The question that popped into mind was: Do you want a lifestyle business, or an enterprise?

It turns out he wanted a lifestyle business, but was getting advice from someone building an enterprise. He never knew that what he wanted was a lifestyle business, but now he can go out and get the resources he needs to get it done.

I think that this is a fundamental question that any entrepreneur should ask themselves before starting any sort of business.

What is it that you are wanting out of your journey? What do you want your journey to look like?

Let's break down the two business types.

Lifestyle Business: Some E-commerce/Amazon businesses, drop shipping, SEO services, copywriting services, Freelancing, other internet related ventures that focus solely on you as the one and only “employee” in a company. Lifestyle businesses make enough to cover your lifestyle and that’s about it. They allow you to potentially work a few hours a day, if that, and from anywhere in the world. Disclaimer: Some lifestyles may require millions of dollars a year, so you make that much to suit your lifestyle.

• Do you want “profitability” within 1-2 years, or even after few product sales?
• Do you want to be able to work from anywhere in the world with just a laptop and an internet connection?
• Do you want to travel a ton and have your journey to be filled with daily adventures?
• Do you want to do whatever you want, whenever you want, without worrying too much about money?
• Do you want to work as little as possible, no shame in this, and still be able support your lifestyle?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, you probably want a lifestyle business.

Enterprise: Some software companies, franchises, massive brands (Yeti Coolers, Johnson and Johnson, Hershey's), large brick and mortar operations (BNSF Railroad, RotoRooter, Gamestop), real estate. Enterprises are huge beasts of scale and a product of relentless execution. Businesses that are at the top of their game, with the intent to dominate a particular market. Enterprises offer you the chance to exit for a large sum of f*ck you money, in exchange for sacrificing 10 years of your life.

• Are you looking to build something with massive scale and impact?
• Are you looking to build something with the intent to exit for 8 figures or more?
• Are you looking to build a team that can take you places farther than you could ever go on your own?
• Are you interested in being a CEO of a large company?
• Are you interested in working 60-80 hour weeks for years? 40 hours from a dayjob are included in this estimate and don’t burn yourself out people, be smart.
• Are you willing to risk 5, 10, or more years of your life to see a business idea through to its fruition?
• Are you looking to get investors to invest in your products and ideas?
• Are you looking for your own David vs Goliath journey?
• Are you looking to push yourself to your limits and build a legacy?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, then an enterprise business is probably for you.



The right choice is what it is you want for yourself. For me, I want an enterprise. I want to take down some of the biggest companies in my industry. I don’t care about traveling, or going places. I just want a massive project to work on and lead a team, as that’s what satisfies me.

What would satisfy you might be sipping coconuts on a beach in Puerto Rico and enjoying seeing $500 in profit for the day. You might enjoy a trip to Thailand to meet up with other like minded lifestyle entrepreneurs for a few months just because you have the freedom to do so.

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, and both journeys have their own challenges.

Think about what sort of business it is that you want, lifestyle or enterprise, and then figure out how to build it.

Great post

I prefer my enterprise type business and the reason is because …. I’m lazy

The enterprise is the only place where you have a system working for you, i have a brick and mortar business with 3 locations so far, i can be gone for a month and noone would notice, but i would stil get richer each day.

My job now is to find new locations and it’s great fun and no pressure.

In a lifstyle business i would be kinda slave to my work (no work no money).

Regards
Jonathan

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

In a lifstyle business i would be kinda slave to my work (no work no money).

Why do you assume that in a lifestyle business you have to work all the time to make money?

There are many business models that sever this work-money relationship and allow you to work once and benefit long-term.

 

[Andy Black]

I work from home so I can spend more time with my kids and family. I’ve no interest in getting an office or hiring employees. I’ll grow my business using processes and technology (and by picking/finding a model that can allow me to scale without increasing headcount).

Hmm. I may increase headcount soon. But still work the same number of hours.

 

[Kak]

Great post

I prefer my enterprise type business and the reason is because …. I’m lazy

The enterprise is the only place where you have a system working for you, i have a brick and mortar business with 3 locations so far, i can be gone for a month and noone would notice, but i would stil get richer each day.

My job now is to find new locations and it’s great fun and no pressure.

In a lifstyle business i would be kinda slave to my work (no work no money).

Regards
Jonathan

Good post! It highlights the irony of a lot of arguments. That is that the lifestyle business actually demands more of YOU as the owner than the enterprise.

Don’t believe me?

Who handles pissed off customers? What about the happy ones? Who does your books? Your taxes? Your bank account BS? Your website? Who orders inventory? Who monitors inventory? Who forecasts sales? Who runs the ad accounts? Who photographs the shit? Who designs it? Who handles wholesale orders? Who finances large wholesale orders? Who checks a company’s creditworthiness? Who sells? Who manages social media?

I can do this all day…. The answer is you.

An enterprise begins to offload that stuff on someone else and because that person is dedicated to that position, they do it better. Your company becomes better and your customers like you better. Your company is stronger and more competitive because of this and can withstand the test of time better.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MTF]

Good post! It highlights the irony of a lot of arguments. That is that the lifestyle business actually demands more of YOU as the owner than the enterprise.

Don’t believe me?

Who handles pissed off customers? What about the happy ones? Who does your books? Your taxes? Your bank account BS? Your website? Who orders inventory? Who monitors inventory? Who forecasts sales? Who runs the ad accounts? Who photographs the shit? Who designs it? Who handles wholesale orders? Who finances large wholesale orders? Who checks a company’s creditworthiness? Who sells? Who manages social media?

I can do this all day…. The answer is you.

Ever heard of contractors?

Most of the stuff you mentioned can be delegated to an independent contractor. There's no need to hire someone for most of these things because they don't even take a few hours a week.

I pay a ridiculously small monthly amount to an accounting firm. They take care of everything for me, including bookkeeping, taxes, bureaucracy, etc. Why would I hire a bookkeeper, accountant, tax guy, etc.?

I don't need anyone for my website because I have simple websites. But when I had some problems, I emailed technical support and it was resolved without any work on my part.

If I need design work, I hire a freelancer for that. If I need someone to help me with marketing or any other task I don't want to or can't do, I find a freelancer or a company for a specific project, too.

Sometimes to solve a time-consuming problem you don't even need to hire anyone in any way but just need to find the right software.

How does any of this require more from me as a lifestyle business owner? I don't need to deal with:

• building company culture,
• having to have an office and all the headaches associated with it,
• learning management strategies,
• being a boss,
• selling my ideas to my employees,
• office politics,
• organization structure,
• cashflow issues (because I only pay for specific tasks),
• a board of directors,
• employee fraud,
• a shit ton of other corporate bullshit I'm not even aware of.

I don't understand why you assume that the only way to reduce the owner's workload is through early 20th century style "more workers."

You can't throw every lifestyle business owner into the same category.

There's a lifestyle business owner who runs a boutique B2B agency and they work way more than everyone else due to the nature of their business.

Then there's a lifestyle business owner who runs a content or e-commerce website where any task that they don't do well is delegated to a freelancer or an external company (like order fulfillment) and they're free to build 5 or 10 more such businesses if they want.

Likewise, there's an enterprise owner who dies at 40 of a heart attack caused by working 12 hours a day managing 500 employees who all hate him. And then there's an enterprise owner who has an incredible life with every little aspect of his business managed by his trusted managers.

An enterprise begins to offload that stuff on someone else and because that person is dedicated to that position, they do it better. Your company becomes better and your customers like you better. Your company is stronger and more competitive because of this and can withstand the test of time better.

You can offload that stuff to an entire company dedicated to this job. They'll do it even better than one guy.

Why would your customers like you better just because you have more employees? How do you like traditional banks? They hire for every little thing to the extent their employees play solitaire all day yet the service they offer sucks.

 

[justinbiz]

Not if they comply with CENTS.

I knew I had just listened/read about CENTS (again), but I had a damn hard time re-locating the core text in the Rat Race book. I even had a book mark on #44! Calling it "The Fastlane Strategy" in the TOC was the issue, since it didn't refer to CENTS at all.

 

[Hanabi]

Growing up, whenever I thought of companies and their impact on consumers and the world, it was always enterprises. I never heard about having a "lifestyle business" until "business gurus" would talk about them during the entrepreneurship popularity boom across social media platforms in the past decade. A lot of ads for entrepreneurship related courses would highlight the benefits of lifestyle businesses. That coupled with gurus only talking about how it would benefit entrepreneurs and not talking about providing value to customers and improving their lives for the better caused me to have a very negative perspective towards these businesses. I thought enterprises were more legit, because they lasted much longer. I don't have such a negative view towards them as before, but I'm still in favor of enterprises.

Why? I see entrepreneurs of enterprises shaping societies, setting the course of the future for the world, and drastically changing how people live their lives in a way that entrepreneurs of lifestyle businesses don't. I think this is apparent in media outlets and major magazine publications. The entrepreneurs that get interviewed are mostly enterprise entrepreneurs. They lead other entrepreneurs including the lifestyle business entrepreneurs based on my observations. The entrepreneurs and businesses that are selected for case studies in business classes and in business schools are yes, you probably already guessed it, the enterprise entrepreneurs. They've created that legacy that Ravens_Shadow already mentioned in the original post.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Walter Hay]

Enterprise or Lifestyle
How about if you put it in the perspective of income generated from the business?

Personally I am always more impressed by businesses whose team headcount is always small but the income generated from it is always Big money or legendary money. And personally it's the income/profits that I go for and I go for it from the pov that I need to solve someone's problem or even provide a need to be able to get the income/profits. So I don't know whether the small headcount is on the enterprise side or the lifestyle side.

Was my first business lifestyle or enterprise? A short stroll to work, a plunge into the swimming pool beside the factory whenever I liked, tax saving business trips (holidays) to Pacific islands with my family - these all seem to point to it being a lifestyle business.

When I sold it the amount I received was huge, and that was because with only one casual employee in the factory and one casual salesman I was generating profits that made the deal attractive to a large merchant bank and the senior executive from a huge Chemical company in partnership with them.

Prior to offering the business for sale I had checked the marketplace and found that chemical businesses for sale with much lower annual profits were employing 10 to 20 times the number of employees I had.

Hmmm........ Conclusion - It must have been an enterprise, but there was a secret sauce; it was my formulas that solved manufacturing problems in a lot of industries.

Walter

 

[Andy Black]

What are we defining as a lifestyle business and what are we defining as an enterprise business?

I know a guy who runs a Facebook Ads agency with over 200 clients and has a team of freelancers doing the prospecting, sales calls, fulfillment, and customer service. He works a couple of hours a day and is travelling with his wife at the moment.

Is his a lifestyle business or an enterprise business?

Are we discussing solopreneurs vs having a team? Can the team be on demand, or do they have to work a set number of hours per month?

Or are we saying the goal of a lifestyle business is just to cover the cost of our lifestyle and we’re not concerned with growth?

 

[Paul David]

Ever heard of contractors?

Most of the stuff you mentioned can be delegated to an independent contractor. There's no need to hire someone for most of these things because they don't even take a few hours a week.

I pay a ridiculously small monthly amount to an accounting firm. They take care of everything for me, including bookkeeping, taxes, bureaucracy, etc. Why would I hire a bookkeeper, accountant, tax guy, etc.?

I don't need anyone for my website because I have simple websites. But when I had some problems, I emailed technical support and it was resolved without any work on my part.

If I need design work, I hire a freelancer for that. If I need someone to help me with marketing or any other task I don't want to or can't do, I find a freelancer or a company for a specific project, too.

Sometimes to solve a time-consuming problem you don't even need to hire anyone in any way but just need to find the right software.

How does any of this require more from me as a lifestyle business owner? I don't need to deal with:

• building company culture,
• having to have an office and all the headaches associated with it,
• learning management strategies,
• being a boss,
• selling my ideas to my employees,
• office politics,
• organization structure,
• cashflow issues (because I only pay for specific tasks),
• a board of directors,
• employee fraud,
• a shit ton of other corporate bullshit I'm not even aware of.

I don't understand why you assume that the only way to reduce the owner's workload is through early 20th century style "more workers."

You can't throw every lifestyle business owner into the same category.

There's a lifestyle business owner who runs a boutique B2B agency and they work way more than everyone else due to the nature of their business.

Then there's a lifestyle business owner who runs a content or e-commerce website where any task that they don't do well is delegated to a freelancer or an external company (like order fulfillment) and they're free to build 5 or 10 more such businesses if they want.

Likewise, there's an enterprise owner who dies at 40 of a heart attack caused by working 12 hours a day managing 500 employees who all hate him. And then there's an enterprise owner who has an incredible life with every little aspect of his business managed by his trusted managers.



You can offload that stuff to an entire company dedicated to this job. They'll do it even better than one guy.

Why would your customers like you better just because you have more employees? How do you like traditional banks? They hire for every little thing to the extent their employees play solitaire all day yet the service they offer sucks.

I love this post!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Simon Angel]

Hmm. I may increase headcount soon. But still work the same number of hours.

@Andy Black I don't have that desire to hire and manage people either. I like my work and delegating it to others means I'd have less control over the end result. I still use others as resources to help me pull off a marketing campaign when I only have the time (and desire) to get the copywriting done, though.

 

[Simon Angel]

Good post! It highlights the irony of a lot of arguments. That is that the lifestyle business actually demands more of YOU as the owner than the enterprise.

Don’t believe me?

Who handles pissed off customers? What about the happy ones? Who does your books? Your taxes? Your bank account BS? Your website? Who orders inventory? Who monitors inventory? Who forecasts sales? Who runs the ad accounts? Who photographs the shit? Who designs it? Who handles wholesale orders? Who finances large wholesale orders? Who checks a company’s creditworthiness? Who sells? Who manages social media?

I can do this all day…. The answer is you.

An enterprise begins to offload that stuff on someone else and because that person is dedicated to that position, they do it better. Your company becomes better and your customers like you better. Your company is stronger and more competitive because of this and can withstand the test of time better.

I fit the "lifestyle business" shtick more but I can definitely see your point. Curiously, as soon as I read your post I instantly had this sort of objection in my mind:

"Ok, so they delegate everything to others. As "lazy" as that is, they still needed some money and resources to even be able to afford to delegate all of that to others, though, so they still had to get a job at first to be in that position, etc."

But then I remembered you could have zero money and a good idea + execution plan which you can sell to investors/like-minded individuals and still get a business up and running... And be the driving force behind it all.. And then turn that into a machine that pumps out money, jobs, and freedom.

And so, once again, I arrived at the following conclusion:

I F*cking love capitalism.

 

[MTF]

What are we defining as a lifestyle business and what are we defining as an enterprise business?

IMO an enterprise business is a business modeled after corporations. You have an office, managers, employees, departments, investors, a board of directors, etc. Your goal is to increase the profits and value of the company, not necessarily yours. You're receiving a salary and can't easily increase it to whatever you want. In general it's more of a "serious" corporate environment than a casual small business.

In a lifestyle business you're the sole owner (or maybe have a partner), have few employees (and ideally zero 9 to 5 employees and only freelancers), and can pay yourself as much as you want without any scrutiny. This business is generally location-independent, works with clients/contractors ideally remotely, and is designed in such a way to maximize whatever kind of lifestyle the owner wants.

Enterprise = priority on business growth over the owner's lifestyle
Lifestyle = priority on the owner's lifestyle over business growth (EVEN at the expense of profit)

Enterprise = business is an end in itself
Lifestyle = business is a tool for a better lifestyle

The way I see it, in many cases (not all) people interested in enterprise businesses are obsessed about their businesses and business growth and may not have many passions outside of it. People who prefer lifestyle businesses usually aren't as invested in their businesses and their business is a tool to help them live a better lifestyle.

In an online world, any VC-backed tech startup is usually heading the enterprise way while most content-based businesses are lifestyle businesses.

In an offline world, a local surf shop may be a lifestyle business while a chain of sporting goods stores is an enterprise.

I know a guy who runs a Facebook Ads agency with over 200 clients and has a team of freelancers doing the prospecting, sales calls, fulfillment, and customer service. He works a couple of hours a day and is travelling with his wife at the moment.

Is his a lifestyle business or an enterprise business?

IMO it's a lifestyle business. He has a team of freelancers and works very little, focusing on his own lifestyle. So the business accommodates his lifestyle instead of his lifestyle being devoted to the needs of his business.

Are we discussing solopreneurs vs having a team? Can the team be on demand, or do they have to work a set number of hours per month?

By default, all solopreneurs own lifestyle businesses (you can't have an enterprise business without employees) but not all lifestyle businesses are solopreneurial.

Or are we saying the goal of a lifestyle business is just to cover the cost of our lifestyle and we’re not concerned with growth?

The goal of a lifestyle business is to enable the owner to live their life however they wish.

If they want to work only 6 months each year and take the rest of the year off, they can do that because they aren't obsessed about maximizing profit and growth (impossible in an enterprise model).

I wouldn't say it's just to cover the cost of the owner's lifestyle because then by definition a lifestyle business would never generate more than maybe $200-300k/year (probably enough to cover living costs in any country). Successful lifestyle businesses can generate $1m+ a year. Very few people have lifestyles that cost so much so I wouldn't define lifestyle businesses by some kind of an income ceiling.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

I made my rebuttal to the Sam Ovens video finally. Sorry for the wait. It was fun.

NOTABLE! - HOT! - EXECUTION - Kyle Keegan Radio Show

As promised @Antifragile ! Glad to have you! Looking forward to listening to this on my walk.

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

The lines between enterprise and lifestyle are very blurry, especially with contractors. I don't think contract versus W2 workers is enough to differentiate. Perhaps what some people call lifestyle is actually an enterprise.

Also, when someone says "corporations," as if that means "big," that doesn't make sense. An LLC is a corporation. It can be 1 person with zero workers.

The alternative to corporation is a sole proprietorship. There is no advantage really; you just assume all liability and risks of lawsuits, creditors, etc.

Being a corporation doesn't mean you are giant or evil, it means you are smart. Corporations can be tiny, onepreneur entities. It's just a piece of paper.

And one guy could have 1,000 contractors and say he is a 1-man operation. It doesn't really matter.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I feel like I've won Wimbledon or the PGA Masters...

I don't need anyone telling me I'm inadequate or not living up to my potential because I don't want to be the quarterback of a Super Bowl team. Basically that's what this *debate* is about.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

The lines between enterprise and lifestyle are very blurry, especially with contractors. I don't think contract versus W2 workers is enough to differentiate. Perhaps what some people call lifestyle is actually an enterprise.

Also, when someone says "corporations," as if that means "big," that doesn't make sense. An LLC is a corporation. It can be 1 person with zero workers.

The alternative to corporation is a sole proprietorship. There is no advantage really; you just assume all liability and risks of lawsuits, creditors, etc.

Being a corporation doesn't mean you are giant or evil, it means you are smart. Corporations can be tiny, onepreneur entities. It's just a piece of paper.

And one guy could have 1,000 contractors and say he is a 1-man operation. It doesn't really matter.

Yeah the whole contractor argument doesn’t make sense to me at all. That’s just a tax status.

Contractor, robotic automation, computer automation, outsourcing, strategic partnerships, employee… Whatever… It’s help… It’s bigger than you. Anything or anyone that works in your name profitably is good. Anything that requires your direct time beyond what you decide you want to do, is bad.

My key is not trying to shoulder everything myself. W2 employees can be part of the picture, but it’s absolutely not what I’m advocating. I want non-CEO work off of my back by any efficient means available to me and I’m willing to grow to any size from that position. Not from this hypothetical position of being worked progressively harder as my business grows.

No large notable business is structured to continually drop more and more work on the CEO as it grows.

The entire point is the recognition of my limitations as one person, with 24 hours in a day, and interests outside of business… And how I can most effectively deploy the hours I am willing to devote to business. It’s “enterprise.”

Deciding when something more important to me overtakes my need or desire to continue working is really a retirement discussion, not a lifestyle vs enterprise discussion… And that decision is entirely personal.

 

[soulprenuer]

What are some examples of a software or digital product lifestyle business?

 

[Mathuin]

What are some examples of a software or digital product lifestyle business?

Anything sold on Gumroad

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[soulprenuer]

Anything sold on Gumroad

Good point! I've heard about it but haven't explored it much. Have you sold on there before? Do you like the platform?

 

[Walter Hay]

Good point! I've heard about it but haven't explored it much. Have you sold on there before? Do you like the platform?

Check out Trustpilot reviews before you even think of selling on Gumroad.

Walter

 

[Leo Hartas]

I'm definitely looking at building a lifestyle business that is pretty much automated, certainly as far as product creation and dispatch is concerned (It's a personalised book POD system). Marketing is somewhat hands on for now as we get going, but over time we'll subcontract as necessary. At a minimum we aim for it to sustain us into retirement with the books we have already created, adding new titles if we feel inspired.

Looking at our market and competitors it has the potential to grow and support a quite lavish lifestyle, but we're just not interested in hiring employees, offices, big houses, fancy cars and travelling all over the place. All that seems like loads of hassle. I'd probably crash a supercar (and there's no space in them for groceries). An automatic business that covers our modest outgoings is enough.. although we could do with a new sofa, the saggy one we have was bought second hand in the 1980s!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Luthien]

I’ve got a friend that I call a few times a month to see if he’s taken action on his ideas and help him break down any barriers he may have. We’ll talk about what he’s doing and he’ll throw up a bunch of excuses about why he can’t launch yet, albeit it’s been 4 years since he started his entrepreneurial journey. His excuses may be something like this; “I have to have videos first, I have to have a website first, I have to have this and that before I can make my first calls”. Mind you, this cycle has been going on for years, but he's made a bit of cash here and there while hustling.

I never knew if there was a single question I could ask that would help him find out what it was he really wanted from being an entrepreneur.

I had a thought that maybe I should figure out what question should be asked at the beginning of anyone's journey.

The question that popped into mind was: Do you want a lifestyle business, or an enterprise?

It turns out he wanted a lifestyle business, but was getting advice from someone building an enterprise. He never knew that what he wanted was a lifestyle business, but now he can go out and get the resources he needs to get it done.

I think that this is a fundamental question that any entrepreneur should ask themselves before starting any sort of business.

What is it that you are wanting out of your journey? What do you want your journey to look like?

Let's break down the two business types.

Lifestyle Business: Some E-commerce/Amazon businesses, drop shipping, SEO services, copywriting services, Freelancing, other internet related ventures that focus solely on you as the one and only “employee” in a company. Lifestyle businesses make enough to cover your lifestyle and that’s about it. They allow you to potentially work a few hours a day, if that, and from anywhere in the world. Disclaimer: Some lifestyles may require millions of dollars a year, so you make that much to suit your lifestyle.

• Do you want “profitability” within 1-2 years, or even after few product sales?
• Do you want to be able to work from anywhere in the world with just a laptop and an internet connection?
• Do you want to travel a ton and have your journey to be filled with daily adventures?
• Do you want to do whatever you want, whenever you want, without worrying too much about money?
• Do you want to work as little as possible, no shame in this, and still be able support your lifestyle?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, you probably want a lifestyle business.

Enterprise: Some software companies, franchises, massive brands (Yeti Coolers, Johnson and Johnson, Hershey's), large brick and mortar operations (BNSF Railroad, RotoRooter, Gamestop), real estate. Enterprises are huge beasts of scale and a product of relentless execution. Businesses that are at the top of their game, with the intent to dominate a particular market. Enterprises offer you the chance to exit for a large sum of F*ck you money, in exchange for sacrificing 10 years of your life.

• Are you looking to build something with massive scale and impact?
• Are you looking to build something with the intent to exit for 8 figures or more?
• Are you looking to build a team that can take you places farther than you could ever go on your own?
• Are you interested in being a CEO of a large company?
• Are you interested in working 60-80 hour weeks for years? 40 hours from a dayjob are included in this estimate and don’t burn yourself out people, be smart.
• Are you willing to risk 5, 10, or more years of your life to see a business idea through to its fruition?
• Are you looking to get investors to invest in your products and ideas?
• Are you looking for your own David vs Goliath journey?
• Are you looking to push yourself to your limits and build a legacy?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, then an enterprise business is probably for you.



The right choice is what it is you want for yourself. For me, I want an enterprise. I want to take down some of the biggest companies in my industry. I don’t care about traveling, or going places. I just want a massive project to work on and lead a team, as that’s what satisfies me.

What would satisfy you might be sipping coconuts on a beach in Puerto Rico and enjoying seeing $500 in profit for the day. You might enjoy a trip to Thailand to meet up with other like minded lifestyle entrepreneurs for a few months just because you have the freedom to do so.

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, and both journeys have their own challenges.

Think about what sort of business it is that you want, lifestyle or enterprise, and then figure out how to build it.

I’m late to this party, but just wanted to say what a great post and thread! It seems like so much business advice doesn’t make this distinction and then people waste years spinning their wheels on business strategies that won’t work for what they are trying to do.

I’m on “Team Lifestyle Business”: I always wanted a lifestyle business so I could be a stay at home mom. So many women work jobs that they are unhappy being away from their kids from. While I enjoy traveling, that isn’t the primary motivation-protecting my ability to always have the option of staying home and raising my own kids is. I agree that there’s some overlap between enterprise and lifestyle businesses-my goal is to have as few employees as possible, focusing on contractors and automation as the default. I don’t think it’s always realistic to be a solopreneur-I think most (successful) lifestyle businesses will eventually outgrow their founder and then the problem of what kind of outside help to bring in comes up.

I’m also currently reading UNSCRIPTED and have found the CENTS framework to be super helpful-I’m aware of Peter Thiel’s advice on avoiding competition and like that CENTS advocates for that and takes it a step further with more principles. So CENTS + lifestyle business seems like the winning combination.

 

[ZackerySprague]

I’ve got a friend that I call a few times a month to see if he’s taken action on his ideas and help him break down any barriers he may have. We’ll talk about what he’s doing and he’ll throw up a bunch of excuses about why he can’t launch yet, albeit it’s been 4 years since he started his entrepreneurial journey. His excuses may be something like this; “I have to have videos first, I have to have a website first, I have to have this and that before I can make my first calls”. Mind you, this cycle has been going on for years, but he's made a bit of cash here and there while hustling.

I never knew if there was a single question I could ask that would help him find out what it was he really wanted from being an entrepreneur.

I had a thought that maybe I should figure out what question should be asked at the beginning of anyone's journey.

The question that popped into mind was: Do you want a lifestyle business, or an enterprise?

It turns out he wanted a lifestyle business, but was getting advice from someone building an enterprise. He never knew that what he wanted was a lifestyle business, but now he can go out and get the resources he needs to get it done.

I think that this is a fundamental question that any entrepreneur should ask themselves before starting any sort of business.

What is it that you are wanting out of your journey? What do you want your journey to look like?

Let's break down the two business types.

Lifestyle Business: Some E-commerce/Amazon businesses, drop shipping, SEO services, copywriting services, Freelancing, other internet related ventures that focus solely on you as the one and only “employee” in a company. Lifestyle businesses make enough to cover your lifestyle and that’s about it. They allow you to potentially work a few hours a day, if that, and from anywhere in the world. Disclaimer: Some lifestyles may require millions of dollars a year, so you make that much to suit your lifestyle.

• Do you want “profitability” within 1-2 years, or even after few product sales?
• Do you want to be able to work from anywhere in the world with just a laptop and an internet connection?
• Do you want to travel a ton and have your journey to be filled with daily adventures?
• Do you want to do whatever you want, whenever you want, without worrying too much about money?
• Do you want to work as little as possible, no shame in this, and still be able support your lifestyle?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, you probably want a lifestyle business.

Enterprise: Some software companies, franchises, massive brands (Yeti Coolers, Johnson and Johnson, Hershey's), large brick and mortar operations (BNSF Railroad, RotoRooter, Gamestop), real estate. Enterprises are huge beasts of scale and a product of relentless execution. Businesses that are at the top of their game, with the intent to dominate a particular market. Enterprises offer you the chance to exit for a large sum of F*ck you money, in exchange for sacrificing 10 years of your life.

• Are you looking to build something with massive scale and impact?
• Are you looking to build something with the intent to exit for 8 figures or more?
• Are you looking to build a team that can take you places farther than you could ever go on your own?
• Are you interested in being a CEO of a large company?
• Are you interested in working 60-80 hour weeks for years? 40 hours from a dayjob are included in this estimate and don’t burn yourself out people, be smart.
• Are you willing to risk 5, 10, or more years of your life to see a business idea through to its fruition?
• Are you looking to get investors to invest in your products and ideas?
• Are you looking for your own David vs Goliath journey?
• Are you looking to push yourself to your limits and build a legacy?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, then an enterprise business is probably for you.



The right choice is what it is you want for yourself. For me, I want an enterprise. I want to take down some of the biggest companies in my industry. I don’t care about traveling, or going places. I just want a massive project to work on and lead a team, as that’s what satisfies me.

What would satisfy you might be sipping coconuts on a beach in Puerto Rico and enjoying seeing $500 in profit for the day. You might enjoy a trip to Thailand to meet up with other like minded lifestyle entrepreneurs for a few months just because you have the freedom to do so.

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, and both journeys have their own challenges.

Think about what sort of business it is that you want, lifestyle or enterprise, and then figure out how to build it.

As I am debating about this, I always thought that the lifestyle business would be ideal for me, but I don't travel as much and get bored when I am alone, so probably that's out of the picture. I have been told by my co-workers at my day job that they believe I have leadership qualities by two people (one got fired, and the other I still work with. The Feedback I'd received was I'm very direct and ask questions). They think I'd be best fit for a manager or project manager haha. And as for the direction I want to go, I am looking for the exit. Running a enterprise seems scary to me, but at the same time I do love a challenge and actually wouldn't mind trying. I would definitely sacrifice 5 to 10 years of my life without seeing any results. If I found a product that I could create that impacts others and learn something new such as the newsletter Aggregator. I would work all day everyday even after my day job. Example, I love technology, when at my day job Friday. Messing around with Amazon Web Services by creating a Virtual Private Cloud, EC2 Virtual Machines, It was so much fun just winging it without even taking the courses itself. I'd jump straight in to anything tech related. I would not seek investors at all, I wouldn't want to deal with Stakeholder's, or give up equity into something I'd build. I'd focus on the customer/client first.

But I would totally take up the challenge to run an enterprise any day, it would feel good being at the top, having a team, making an impact and yet also being very competitive taking down others haha

 

[Erik Heyl]

My wife and I are definitely Lifestyle. We figure what's the point if you can't travel, and experience new things because you've got an empire. Life, especially the past 3 years (Mum dying, my brother dying in 3 weeks after a cancer diagnosis), is too damn short. So for us, the idea is moving to a country with better tax laws and lower cost of living (and maybe, please god, no idiot politicians). We're in Canada right now.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andrés08]

I want to start an enterprise business in the long run, because I TRULY want to make an impact and build a legacy, but man, I'm turning 16 in the next couple of months and I don't have the experience, the maturity, the time, or the resources. I mean I'm just a teenager right now. I don't even know if I'm going to college or not!

So by the time I'm writing this, a lifestyle business that teaches me things like sales, marketing, copywriting, and more while I sell a highly-valuable skill sounds like a pretty good thing to do while I'm in my teens, apart from all the advice that people gave me in my ''What would you do at 16'' thread, things like going to the gym, learning every day, doing martial arts, playing sports, getting laid, improving social skills, meditating, reading, etc (Thanks for the advice guys, you're F*ck*ng awesome.)