Lifestyle Entrepreneur

George Rodriguez, writing iin PowerHomeBiz.com discusses one view of what a lifestye entrepreneur is.

Freelance writer Mark Henricks says that self-employment can allow you to do what you love and love what you can do in his book Not Just a Living: The Complete Guide to Creating a Business that Gives You a Life. Henricks asserts that not everyone starts a business for the money. In fact, more people are turning to entrepreneurship to support the lifestyle that they have always dreamed of. He calls this under-reported but growing phenomenon "lifestyle entrepreneurship."

Studies support his assertion. According to the market research company Warrillow and Co., as many as 90 percent of the roughly 20 million American small business owners appear to be motivated by lifestyle more than money. In a 1999 Lou Harris survey, it was found that money was the main driver for very few small entrepreneurs and self-employed people. Instead, nine out of ten entrepreneurs said a desire for independence prompted them to become entrepreneurs.

The book provides practical tips and advice on how to create a business that offers both financial gain, as well as satisfaction, personal fulfillment and joy.

What is Lifestyle Entrepreneurship?

Henricks defines a lifestyle entrepreneur as "somebody who goes into business not primarily for financial rewards but for lifestyle reasons."

They are usually after some kind of pay-off, and the motivations could range from living on a beach or a mountain; or working only when they feel like it and with people they like. Others choose to become a lifestyle entrepreneur to be near their aging parents or stay at home with their young children. Still others want to get off the travel grind and away from overbearing bosses. Mostly, they want to do the kind of work that they love...'Being a lifestyle business owner is more than a lifestyle. It is also a way to make a living.' So how then does a lifestyle entrepreneur compare with the traditional entrepreneur? He acknowledges that it is difficult to separate entrepreneurship from lifestyle. After all, running a business is more consuming than working at a job.

Check out PowerHomeBiz.com. It looks like it has a lot to say about entrepreneurship. Not everybody is going to, or wants to become, the next Bill Gates. In fact, what may start out to be a lifestyle entrepreneurship may turn out to become a full-blown case of entrepreneurship. As for me, I'm going to check out his book.

What do you think about this? I'd like to know. So, if you have something substantive to add, post a comment.

Entrepreneurship 2.0 is my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.