From Laid-Off to Living the Dream

It was around noon on a weekday when I walked up to the front door of my home in Orange County, California. I was carrying a box full of stuff from my office and I took a deep breath.

I opened the door and saw my wife playing with our kids in the front room. She looked at me, then looked at the box, then back at me and said, “What happened?”

“I got laid off” I said. And then I just kind of stood there like a dummy.

For a second, it looked like she was going to cry.

But then something happened. Her whole face and posture just kind of changed.

Then she said, “That’s it! You’re not getting another job. Jobs aren’t helping us get any closer to our dreams. This is it. It’s go time!”

Deep down I knew she was right. But what was I going to do?

I mean, I had permission from my wife to NOT have to look for a job BUT we also wanted to travel and even live abroad as a family.

So the question was, how?

How would we make money in a way that would still allow us to do all we wanted to do?

What about you?

What would you do with an extra $5K a month? 10K? More?

Maybe you would pay off your car.  Maybe you’d get rid of those school loans. Maybe pay off your mortgage. Maybe you’d even quit your job and spend more time with your family.

Well that’s exactly what this whole thing is about!

College + Jobs = Happiness?

With the information we have available, literally at our fingertips, I think it’s crazy that more people aren’t living their dream lifestyle.

We’re living in the 21st century yet most people are working & making money as if it’s 1954. People are spending literally two hours a day (or more) just commuting just to sit at a job they hate. That’s crazy!

The ‘ol college degree to get a good job thing may work for some (especially if you’re an attorney, doctor, or engineer).

The chances are, if you’re reading this, you want something more. More money, more freedom, more time. After all, life should be more than commuting, cubicles, and weekend trips to Costco and Home Depot!

Why You Need to be An Entrepreneur

There has never been a better time in history to start your own business!

Check out this quote from Taylor Pearson, author of The End of Jobs:

“Jobs are getting more competitive and less profitable while entrepreneurship is more accessible, safer and profitable than ever.”   

It’s never been easier to start a lifestyle business that will allow you the time & financial freedom. Even in the very first month of my own business, I made $2050. It’s not much by some standards, but I was ecstatic! I had proof that I could provide for my family without a job!

Typical Wealth Vehicles

The three main routes to wealth include

1. Real Estate
2. Stocks
3. Business

It’s true that you can invest and put a little bit of money away every month and in 40 years become a millionaire. Well, I’m just not that patient! And I have no guarantee that I’ll even be around long enough to enjoy it. I want to live the good life now! I don’t want to put it off. 

I’m guessing you’re like me too!

Creating a business that solves a real need is the fastest way I know of to make money. You sell something and you get paid.

Easy!

But this series isn’t about creating the next Google or Apple. I want to share how you can create a lean, mean business that you can scale quickly. You won’t need investors. You don’t need a bank loan. You just need to be willing to hustle.

What is a Lifestyle Business?

Simply put, it’s a business that you create to fund your ideal lifestyle.

It’s a totally legitimate business that’s formally and legally structured. However, the main focus isn’t on creating the next “big thing” but rather providing you, the owner, with a great income to do whatever you want to do.

It may or may not be your passion. It really doesn’t matter. My primary business isn’t what I would call my passion. But it offers me a way to sell a valuable service to real people who pay real money. This is something that most people miss.

If your lifestyle business dream is to paint sunsets on the beaches of Costa Rica, that’s just fine… so long as there’s a real, paying market for it.

There’s plenty of time to live your passion once you’ve created and scaled a business that provides you with a solid income. Then you can do whatever you want!

Lifestyle Business:

a business that you create to fund your ideal lifestyle

Key Advantages to a Lifestyle Business

Let’s take a look at some important elements to creating your own lifestyle business. Ideally, it has all of the following:

• Something you can start quickly, like today
• Is profitable quickly – making money within 30 days or less
• Something you can start with little to no startup capital
• Something you can start on the side (while you still have a job)
• Very little risk or downside
• Infinitely scalable – it doesn’t matter if you have 1 or 1000 clients/customers, the work to you is the same
• Low costs with high profit margins
• Can be run on autopilot – through software or a team, all of the actual work can be outsourced
• Is internet friendly – even if travel doesn’t interest you, you shouldn’t be bound to commuting to the same location everyday (you should be able to run everything from a laptop & internet connection)
• Little to no overhead – ideally your only cost is that of your internet service provider
• The business can be as big or as small as you want it

Keep these components in mind as you start to think about what kind of business you could do. In fact, you could use them as a measure to see if any ideas you have will work.

Again, the goal here isn’t to create your end-all career. The goal is to free up your time and give you the exact amount of income you want to do whatever you want.

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In the coming lessons, we’ll explore how to have 100% success rate in your business, how to get your first sale, scaling up and more.