What the Heck is a Lifestyle Entrepreneur?
You might be wondering…
Someone like me. I am absolutely a lifestyle entrepreneur. But that probably doesn’t help you, so here is the general definition I found on the internet:
“A lifestyle entrepreneur is someone who creates a business for the purpose of changing or supporting their personal lifestyle goals, rather than making profits or growing the business. They may be passionate about their work or enjoy what they are doing, but they also value freedom, flexibility, and personal rewards over monetary rewards. They may use lifestyle design or the internet to work and live on their own terms, in a location of their choice or a location-independent way.”
Now a couple of caveats relative this definition…
*It’s not necessarily true that they don’t value profits or growth. Many do, including myself. However, they will more closely weigh the cost in terms of freedom, priorities, and lifestyle to pursuing additional growth.
*I would also add that they may prefer to have no employees, and instead use contractors for additional help when needed, and have independent contractors on their team.
*Personal rewards in my case means serving others in doing better in life.
So…What Do These People Do That’s Relative to Everything?
They track the activities and results on the path to the outcomes they target.
Tracking numbers (everything in life is connected to math in some way. Maybe you push back on that a bit. Is love connected to math? Well, time is measured in numbers, and if you don’t invest time in a relationship….), reveals the truth about your commitment to the endeavor, it gives you a basic way to measure progress, it gives you a way to uncover areas of strength and weakness, it gives you a general formula for a predictable result, and there are lots of other things it does.
It is rare that someone becomes successful in anything without tracking their numbers in a serious way at some point. Commitment and tracking go hand in hand.
So, What Should You Track?
Those who are committed to health and/or fitness, might track calories, carbs, repetitions, distances, etc.
The focus here is business results, so that’s where I’ll dig a bit deeper.
There are many numbers that need to be tracked in a business. For our purposes today, we’ll simply focus on two basic ones. Activities and results.
Everybody tracks results. Sales volume, income, conversion, and growth are among the most common, although there are many more when you consider marketing, advertising, and expenses.
Everyone tracks results because that’s what pays the bills.
I track results too, but with much less scrutiny than I track activities. This one is the big one for me.
One of the fundamental principles I live by in every corner of my life, is that everything has a process. A series of steps, that when consistently followed will produce a predictable result.
I track the numbers associated with the process. Business to me is nothing more than math with heart.
Whatever you are trying to organically grow (this is not directed to using advertising which also requires tight tracking), will require you to contact people, share what you have to offer, follow up with them, and serve those that move forward.
There are Numbers/Activities to Track in Each Area that Provide Valuable Information.
Contacting (which I call approach), is when you actually have some method of conversation that uncovers if the person/organization is open to a discussion with you. It’s important to track how many attempts/reach-outs equate to an actual contact. The most important number in the work in this phase is number of contacts per day. In order to set an activity goal for this number you will have to derive the number of attempts it takes to result in a contact. This allows you to properly utilize your time in this area. In my first several years of building my primary business, I tracked every single attempt. This allowed me to better understand best times and methodologies to make the attempts, and gave me a formula for how many in general would equal a true contact. Then I could plan my work for maximum efficiency in this area. Then I would track the number of contacts since that was the first and most important activity goal to achieve every day. The third number in this area to track is how many contacts it takes to achieve step two which is the information (some people call this presentation) stage.
Information is the next natural thing to track. The number of information discussions you have and what they result in. This stage is where the contact determines if they are of interest in your offer. If so, they are in the follow up stage automatically, even though it may still be the same discussion, or it may stretch out over time.
The next thing to track numbers wise is the conversion. This is where your contact/prospect makes a decision to move forward with your offer.
At this point, over time, you will have developed your ratios as a general rule. X number of attempts equals a contact, and X number of contacts equals an information session (meeting of some sort…phone, zoom, in person), and X number of info sessions ultimately equals a conversion (decision to move forward in some way).
Once you know the ratios for you, the execution and road to success becomes predictable. Treat people well and work your process at the commitment level you determine for the goals you are pursuing.
There Will be Other Numbers to Track as Well.
Retention when it comes to customers, and when it comes to building a team. Level of customer volume per person, level of activity per team member, and so on.
Every single number you track teaches you something that allows you to perform better over time.
Another thing to notes, is that your ratios will improve as you become more skilled, experienced, and become known as credible.
If you are building a business, and you aren’t tracking your numbers, I suggest changing that. Now.
At first focus mostly on the numbers in the basic process. If you get this down, make a commitment, and stick to your plan of working your process each day, levels of achievement are only a matter of time and patience as you go.
I hope this is helpful for you. It’s the real thing.
Many Blessings, Todd
P.S. I am currently deep into the initial growth stage of “Project Next.” As a result, I am no longer accepting coaching clients, as my coaching time is reserved for my expanding project team. I am still accepting certain training/speaking engagements based on timing and fit. If you are currently dissatisfied with your bigger picture progress in life and would like to learn how the project may help you move forward, send me an email and we can arrange a time to talk.
P.S.S. Want to detox, lower inflammation, rid yourself of extra body fat, and change the entire trajectory of your health in a 21-day window? If that sounds at all appealing, shoot me an email and I’ll share a very unique and effective program that has been massively successful in Europe over the past seven years and is making a significant difference for several of my clients currently. I’ll send you a program guide that will allow you to learn the details, and a link where you can move forward if you choose to. No pitch, I’m not about that. Just information that can help if you need it.
