Thursday, August 21, 2008

A Lifestyle Business

At the Channel Partner Expo in Boston, Larry Kesslin, president of 4-profit, an advisory firm to the IT channel, told agents that they needed to choose which business they were in.

Kesslin said a business owner has a just a few options: grow his business, groom it for sell or maintain it to support his/her lifestyle... “You can’t be all three,” he cautioned, noting the business decisions required in pursuit of each path usually are contradictory. For example, a growth business owner would reinvest profits in expanding the company, while a lifestyle business owner would take that money out of the business in support of his/her lifestyle (e.g. luxury homes and vacations or greater freedom to pursue non-work interests, hobbies).... Similarly, a growth business has systems and processes while a lifestyle business has little infrastructure, he said....The type of work talent that’s attracted to each of these models also varies. A go-getter salesperson might be lured into a growth company, but will find no career trajectory in a lifestyle-oriented business. [Phone+]

Which business are you in? Decide because it really matters today.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

There's also no wrong decision. That is important to understand. I agree that go-getter may not be attracted to lifestyle businesses over the long term but those who want to be business managers often are. They will see your lifestyle as their own in the future and will work towards it, allowing you to continue your lifestyle and phase yourself out of the business. It is also a way for you to exit your business gradually, leaving it in competent, like minded hands.