Lifestyle Matters the Most

"The money is not the point. Your lifestyle as the owner is."

All too often work becomes the epicenter of our lives. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or an employee of a company, work can become all consuming. But the danger in doing this is that you can lose perspective of the bigger picture that is your life. I’ve certainly experienced seasons like this in my own business – work becomes too intense, hobbies go by the wayside, friendships start to gather dust. It becomes a sad state of affairs. To combat this common problem, Fox suggests making your lifestyle the foundation of the business.

Fox says that it’s important to prioritize lifestyle benefits over growth and profits. “Change your thinking to focus first on your goal of living better, however you define that personally”. He suggests reflecting on these three questions as a starting point:

• How do you want to spend your days?
• What do you most like to do?
• What kind of contribution do you want to make to the world?

Find Your Audience, Not the Product

"Your first challenge is not to find or create the perfect product – it’s to collect attention."

This was easily the most useful piece of advice around the brass tacks of building an online business in this book. At the end of the day you have to sell your products and in order to do that, there needs to be people who want to purchase them. It is far more profitable to focus on the people and the problems that they may have rather than a dream product that you want to create. Ultimately understanding that audience and having a clear picture of who they are will allow you to find and build a loyal audience in need, which translates into customers. When you focus on building this audience, you will not only be able to create better products but you’ll also bake viability into your business model.

A New USP

"Instead of worrying about what you can sell, I’d like you to find your Unique Service and Purpose."

Traditionally USP stands for “unique selling proposition”, whereby you differentiate your business and its offerings from the rest of the competition. Fox reframes this to encourage readers to think about USP as “unique service and purpose.”

“How can you provide a service that others really need? What unique purpose are you here to serve? What it is about you that it’s time to maximize and share with the world?” These are great questions that Fox poses to readers to reflect on what makes their business truly unique and how they can leverage the uniqueness.

This message particularly resonated with me as I’m constantly asking, “How can I be of service to our customers?” Anytime I create blog content, develop a new product or offer a new service, the brainstorm always begins with that question and usually leads to some interesting and valuable ideas.

Fox is a seasoned online entrepreneur and the simple ideas that he shares lay out a great road map for anyone building an online business. But what really makes this book great is Fox’s desire for people to be their authentic selves in business and to build a business that truly reflects who they are.