Wouldn’t it be nice to kick back at home, turn on your laptop and run a business from your very own sofa? If you’re the type of person who lives a laid-back lifestyle, then becoming self-employed might be the way forward for you. Although it may not be as glamorous and simple as it seems, running your own business can certainly come with a lot of perks. Not only do you get to create your own schedule, but you also get to do something you’re truly passionate about. Rather than answering to someone in a corporate setting that you have no real interest in, you can create a business that fits in with your interests and lifestyle choices. Not to mention, you can make things as easy as possible for yourself due to the power of automation. In everything you do, you always try to find the simplest ways to do things in order to thrive, so why not choose a career that gives you this sort of freedom as well?
Although it may not happen overnight, you can create a thriving business that fits in perfectly with your lifestyle. Here’s how you can make it happen and what you might learn along the way!
Choose Something You’re Passionate About
You have probably heard this a million times before, but before you dive headfirst into a business idea, you need to make sure it aligns with your interests first and foremost. Choosing a niche market that you’re truly passionate about will help you to slot it into your lifestyle, and you’ll actually enjoy it too! So many business owners regret their line of work because they followed where the money signs pointed to. However, you don’t need to make this mistake when you’re ready to get set up. Think carefully about what you actually enjoy doing and this should help you to narrow down ideas for your future business plan.
Leverage the Power of Automation
Now, if you haven’t already researched automation, or considered the many ways in which it can help your business, you are missing out on a trick. Leveraging the power of automation with your business can help you to slot your job into your lifestyle with ease. For example, you can easily build a customer service chatbot for website so that you don’t need to be on the end of the line 24/7. Whilst you’re sleeping, your potential customer could be chatting to your AI powered chatbot and they will be seamlessly guiding them through the checkout process so that you don’t have to! It really is as easy at that, and you can get results instantly. There are also many other types of automation to make the most of when you’re starting a business from scratch. You may want to make the most of automated email marketing and funnels, which can help you onboard customers in a simple and effortless way. As long as you have a way to gather some customer data such as their email address, you can easily slot them into your email marketing campaign and get them across the line with ease. As soon as you’ve got your business up and running, make sure you look into all the ways you can use automation as it will completely change the way you run your business in the best possible way!
Set Yourself Up To Work in a Place That Suits You
One of the main benefits of running your own business is being able to choose a workspace that fits in with your lifestyle and personal preferences. This may mean setting yourself up to work in a suitable place. Whether that’s in a cozy corner in your living room or in a dedicated office space that you rent in a corporate setting, you can make the choice that suits you personally. Some people set up their businesses so that they can travel the world and become a digital nomad. If this is the type of lifestyle you’re looking to create, then make sure you set your business up accordingly. You have all of the power when you are first starting out, so make sure you take all of these things into consideration and make the best possible choices for your circumstances.
Create Boundaries for Your Working Hours
Every entrepreneur will tell you that running a business often comes with long hours and sleepless nights. Although this may be the case when you’re just starting out, this isn’t a sustainable way of working and will quickly lead to burnout. This is why you need to create boundaries that fit within your personal lifestyle. Building a business is all about creating a long-lasting entity that is sustainable for you in the future. Whether you’re running it from 6pm until midnight everyday, or you’re working extra early in the morning so you can still enjoy some family time, you need to create your own boundaries and set expectations early on. Make sure your working hours are abundantly clear on your website so that your customers know exactly what to expect from you. This neatly ties into the next point, which is all about attracting the right customers that understand what your company is all about.
Build an Audience That Understands Your Ethos
Every business owner wants a collection of clients and customers that understand exactly what their ethos is and respects it wholeheartedly. With this mind, you should always be transparent about why you run your business in a certain way. This will show them why you operate your business under certain circumstances so that they can get on board with it or go elsewhere. When it comes to building the perfect target audience, you need to be honest about everything you do, and that includes what is going on behind the scenes. If you’re running an artisan business from your living room in the evenings, take them behind the curtain and show them how it’s done! If you’re running a business that only operates during school hours because you want to make the most of time with your young family, make sure you tell your audience this. These details can all be explained on your social media and on your website so that they feel truly informed about your business ethos. There is something so empowering about having amazing people in your community that understand everything about your business and why you do what you do!
Outsource The Jobs That Don’t Come Easily to You
Outsourcing early is one of the best decisions you will ever make as a business owner, because it means you can focus on what you really enjoy doing. Although you may have certain budget restrictions in the initial stages, you will actually be providing yourself with more creative freedom to grow the business from an innovation stance. Handing out jobs to professionals who know exactly what they’re doing will ensure that they’re done correctly, and they’re instantly taken off your plate. If you want your business to fit into your lifestyle permanently, then you need to be willing to delegate and outsource tasks that aren’t suited to your zones of genius.
Keep It as Simple as Possible
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of creating a complicated business with too many different elements to it when they’re just starting out. Keeping it as simple as possible will ensure a streamlined process that fits in with your current life as it stands. This could mean you only run one social media platform rather than several different ones at once. Or, perhaps you only sell one type of service to keep things very clear and simple with your target audience. When you’re first starting out, keeping it simple is key and this is also relevant to your pricing strategies too. So many small businesses offer too many different options to their customers which can prevent them from making a decision. As a general rule, try to offer one high tier option, one mid-tier option and one low tier option; this type of simple pricing strategy will instantly be appealing to your customers and will provoke fewer questions for you to answer!
Don’t be fooled by the idea of sitting on your sofa all day and running a business; it’s still going to take a lot of hardwork and dedication. However, it will be the type of work that motivates and excites you to keep going. Creating a business that uses automation and covers a subject area that truly interests you is really the key to finding something you love. Ultimately, you make all the choices when it comes to running your own business, so why not make every element work for you as much as possible? Whether you’re creating office hours that suit your lifestyle, or you’re scoping out competitors to make sure your prices are accurate, there’s so much you can do to tailor your business to suit your needs. Hopefully, the ideas mentioned above will provide you with some inspiration so that you can mold your business into your ideal type!
Image from Pexels – CC0 Licence