5 Ways to Structure a Lifestyle-Friendly Business (so it doesn't take over your life!)

Last night, I had the pleasure of speaking to the Park Slope Parents Career Networking Group as part of a panel on the challenges of "having it all" as a working mom.  During the Q+A session, I was asked a question about whether it is possible to run a successful business - without it overtaking your life.  

It is an important issue that many entrepreneurs consider, particularly those who are starting a business specifically for lifestyle reasons.  Let me share some of my thoughts about ways to structure your business in order to maintain better control over your life and your business:

1) Offer a by-appointment only service: Limiting your client contact to a by-appointment only service  gives you the opportunity to schedule your work activities around your personal life.  When my children were in elementary school, I rarely booked clients during after-school hours -- I told clients I was booked between 3:00 - 6:00 and nobody seemed put-off by that.  Clearly, I made myself available when clients had an urgent need to speak, but that was a rarity, not the norm.

2) Niche your service to a clientele that has similar lifestyle patterns as your own:  All businesses have natural peaks and valleys built into their business cycles.  For example, an internet retailer who sells camp care packages will be busiest during the summer months, while a speaker touring the college circuit will be free during the summer.  Select businesses that are likely to afford you time-off when it is most beneficial to your lifestyle needs.

3) Leverage your expertise with informational products:  If you are selling your expertise as a consultant, coach or teacher, your income will be limited by your billable service hours.  However, you can multiply that income by adding downloadable informational products -- teleclasses, membership sites, e-books, podcasts, etc.-- to your line of products and services.  It takes work to develop those products, but once you have created them, the opportunities for marketing them on the internet 24/7 are virtually limitless.

4) Partner:  Find complementary business partners who can feed you business leads and work with you to provide client services.  This will reduce the amount of time you need to spend on marketing, increase your base of clients and provide you with a network of reliable colleagues who can help you out on an as-needed basis

5) Charge enough for your services:  One of the classic mistakes newbie entrepreneurs make is pricing their services too low.  As a result they have to work twice as hard to make the same amount of money as their more expensive competitors (and they tend to get a higher percentage of pain-in-the-neck clients).  

Of course, sometimes raising your rates can backfire, making you even more desirable to potential clients because they assume you must be the top-of-the-line provider in your industry.  I once had a client who provided SAT tutoring services and was looking to cut-back her hours.  I suggested she double her rates and take half the number of clients.  She called me six months later laughing that "it was the worst piece of advice she ever heard."  Evidently, once she raised her rates, the buzz around her services grew and she was more in demand than ever before!

Comments

[Tamra Thomason]

Nanci, I have been an avid reader of your newsletters for years. We recently launched a new website, Bandycoop.com, with one of the ideas to provide a place where women could "find complementary business partners" like you mention in item 4 of your post. We think its a great idea for women who work flexible hours to work with others who are also trying to acheive work/life balance.

I would like to repost this article on our site. Is that possible?

Thanks,
Tamra
Bandycoop Team

[Career Coach, Nancy Collamer]

Hi Tamra:

Sounds like a great site. For SEO reasons, I can't have you repost the full article, but feel free to link back to the content from your site. Keep up the great work!