A lifestyle business is a small business whose main goal is to meet the lifestyle needs of the owner(s).

How is that different from a startup? Typically, a startup has growth goals beyond just supporting the founder’s lifestyle needs. The ultimate goal of most startups is to grow into a larger business or achieve a similar high-value exit such as a merger or acquisition (although most do not achieve such high goals).

Examples of lifestyle businesses might be:

• An individual freelancer, coach, or consultant,
• A “micro” business (typically fewer than five employees),
• A solo online business,
• A “side gig” business, such as selling from home on an online marketplace like Etsy or Ebay,
• A small family business,
• Running a blog, being a social “micro” influencer, etc

Keep reading this article about lifestyle businesses on my website, SoloBizGuide.