[ghaff]

>You now need to be more realistic about what is a lifestyle business or something that can be bootstrapped into a solid medium sized business through slow methodical growth

I sort of dislike the term "lifestyle business" as to me the term implies something you can do without working too hard at it--which is not necessarily the case. That said, I agree that putting a bunch of the background tech and supporting services together is easier than ever. Yes, it's easier for the competition too and maybe no one involved will make a ton of money but the basic approach is more viable than ever. You don't need to hire large supporting teams.

[gumby]

> I sort of dislike the term "lifestyle business" as to me the term implies something you can do without working too hard at it--which is not necessarily the case.

There is nothing wrong with the term. I first encountered it in the early 80s, but I think it dates back to the 60s when people started to question the big company profile of the then social contract.

Yiu say, “which is not necessarily the case”. Well in that case it’s not a lifestyle business, as that’s 60% of the definition.

The classic lifestyle business is a surf shop or dive shop: you like the activity, you don’t need a lot of money, you can shut the business for a day (or early) when the weather is good and just go surfing/diving. Some bike shops were like this too, before that business changed.

A consulting business can be like this too. I have friends who are EEs and programmers and they live the same way. One works Jan-march and then takes the rest of the year off unless something is particularly interesting. Another won’t take jobs during ski season. One key is that they love the work (I see comments on HN from people who don’t enjoy programming; for them programming could never be a lifestyle business).

Other businesses like being an electrician can be like this too but for whatever reason don’t get swept under the same rubric.

[ghaff]

You are absolutely describing lifestyle businesses. But it's also used to describe businesses without outside investment that are mostly about scraping by with a lot of hard work where people actually want/need to make decent comp. Which, as you suggest, is really a different beast.

[fallingknife]

It is utter insanity to think that running a small retail location like a surf or dive shop is easy or that you would be able to just shut down for a day on a whim and not need the revenue.

[pan69]

Obviously anecdotal, but my grandparents ran a shoe store from the 50's to the 70's and when they thought the weather was nice enough to go to the beach, they closed up shop and went to the beach. It's all about mindset I guess.

However, in general I would agree that any form of retail venture does not match a lifestyle business very well.

[gumby]

If you've ever lived in a beach town in the caribbean, south pacific, even hawaii etc you'd encounter all sorts of businesses like this.

Reminds me of the parable of the management consultant and the fisherman, oft quoted here on HN.

[wslh]

Yes, "lifestyle business" could be perfectly harder than building a startup. Mainly when your main stakeholder is your family.

[ianbutler]

I'm really just using it because it's a known term, I've never been a giant fan of it either. It has a sort of implication of being lesser in certain circles, and I don't really think that's the case.

[ghaff]

Totally agree. I've also personally experienced it in the context of we can't afford to pay what Big Tech or VC-funded companies pay but that doesn't mean you can work 3 days a week.

[jll29]

"Lifestyle business" as I know it is a term used by VCs (in a derogatory sense) for a business that sustains with small profit, enough to keep going or even permitting the founders to live well, but not exhibiting the 40x growth that VCs would like.

VCs would rather see a startup fail, for at least in such a situation they can write down their investment as a loss and move on; whereas in a lifestyle business their capital remainds bound. The founders may be perfectly happy in that situation, but never be able to produce an exit of the kind risk capital seeks.

There is nothing wrong with desiring to set up a lifestyle business from a founder's perspective. But it is not appropriate to use risk capital to fund it, because neither the risk is high enough nor is the return; so bootstrapping or bank loans are more appropriate to finance them (some individual business angels may be okay with smaller returns that professional VCs - as long as returns are at least higher than the 16% you can typically get from investing in an index).