Planning a Business for the Lifestyle You Want
The article was written by: Suzy Wraines

When you start to dream about your work and personal life in the future it will cause you to start figuring out what is needed to make it a reality. 

Before I started my business, I would daydream about what my workday would look like in my business. It consisted of me slowly starting my day from home.
I knew I didn’t want to work in one specific location all day long. I wanted the flexibility to work from various locations (home, coffee shop, outside…). This meant the services I provided would need to be online through a connection on the internet. 

From this daydream vision, I was able to work backward on how to create a business that at the same time created my dream lifestyle. 

Instead of work-life balance, I would create a business for my lifestyle. In my situation because of the type of services I provide I’m able to create my business around the life I want to live. 

For some of you, the business you want to create may need to be designed in tandem with how you want to live. 

Key decisions you need to make when creating a business lifestyle:

  • Location of the business service
  • Type of service you provide
  • Price of service
  • The time it takes to provide service
  • Who will provide the service
With a service-based business making these decisions will affect what type of lifestyle your business will allow for. Let’s look at each of these key decisions.

Location of Business Service

In real estate, it’s always about location, location, location.  This is also the case when creating a business to fit the needs of your lifestyle.  If you are looking to make an impact in your local community the location of your business is key. 

In a business that offers services that can be delivered over the internet the location isn’t as important but connectivity is. 

Type of Service

Defining the type of service your business provides will affect your lifestyle in many ways. The service you provide will dictate how you work in your business. 

For example, if you are a wedding photographer, you will be traveling to various locations to provide services. 

In contrast, if you are a photography editor you can work anywhere if you have access to the photos you are editing. 

In my business, I provide business plan coaching through video calls and an online app. This can be done from anywhere if I have a secure internet connection. This allows me to be able to travel easily while still working. 

Price of Service

Pricing the services your business offers directly affects how you provide service which will change your lifestyle depending on what is required. 

For example, if you want to hire people to work for you providing a service you will need to account for the cost of hiring employees. 
If you are providing the service yourself the price will directly affect how much money you will make in salary to live the lifestyle you desire. 

Time always is directly linked to money. You will either pay in time or pay in money for providing a service. 

Creating this blog article cost me time. As I type this my husband is in the kitchen making dinner. Since I have a business where I work from home, I choose to write when inspiration strikes. This can be at any time of the day. 

This is the lifestyle we agreed on when I started my business. I don’t “have” to write at 6 PM in the evening I decided to on this specific evening because I wanted to. 

Right now, I am the person who provides a coaching service, writes blog articles, creates marketing campaigns, does bookkeeping, and all other aspects of my business. 

This is by design. Setting the price takes into account that I’m not hiring a staff (at this time). When I’m ready to hire help with aspects of my business I will have to re-evaluate pricing and expand the services I provide to cover the cost.

Time it Takes to Provide Service 

One of the considerations when pricing your services is how much time it takes to prep, travel, and provide services to clients. 

It’s important that you enjoy all the steps involved with providing services and charge the right price for your time. 

For example, I take about 15 minutes to get ready for a client call, spend 30 minutes on the call, and 15 minutes to close out notes after the call. That is an hour. I also, spend about 15 minutes per week reviewing client information and communicating with my clients when they have questions between calls.

In total each client service takes me 1 hour and 15 minutes per week. 

Now that I know how much time it takes per client I can use this information in my pricing. How much is your time worth? 
This will help you determine what price your service should have. 

Who Provides the Service?

As you are planning out your business lifestyle a huge part of this is who will provide the services your business offers. 

If you are the one providing services thinking about what your daily, weekly, and monthly life will look like is helpful in planning out how many clients you will see. 

For example, I am the only one who provides my service. In order to have the lifestyle, I am comfortable with I will only take on a maximum of 4 clients per month. 

This allows me to plan out my schedule for the other tasks I am doing in my business and take time off regularly. 

If you are hiring staff you will be planning out a work schedule for your staff that allows them to work the hours you have hired them for.

It comes down to if you want to manage staff or work by yourself. That is up to you. 

Conclusion

When planning your lifestyle business it’s important to consider…
  • Location of the business service
  • Type of service you provide
  • Price of service
  • The time it takes to provide service
  • Who will provide the service
In order to create a business lifestyle, you enjoy start with the end in mind. 
Imagine yourself working in your business…
  • What is your daily, weekly and monthly working time like?
  • Do you have a staff? 
  • How much regular time off do you have?
When you visualize your business it allows you to identify the areas that you enjoy and the areas that won’t be so fun. 
It’s normal to have parts of your business you don’t enjoy. Knowing this ahead of time, allows you to plan for outsourcing these tasks or hiring staff. 

For example, I don’t really like marketing. In the future, I would like to hire someone to take over my marketing tasks to free up my time for other tasks I enjoy doing. 

When you take the time to plan out your business setup you can plan for the tasks you enjoy and hire out the ones you aren’t as excited about. 

Are you ready to start planning your dream business lifestyle? 
I would love to hear what you are planning… 




0 Comments

Leave a Comment