- My business partner and I have been working 60-80 hour weeks for 12 years (8 years on this company).<p>- We started our business because we are passionate about the problems we are solving.<p>- My co-founder and I own 100% of our stock and our company is debt free.<p>- We get a nickel's worth of value out of every penny we spend.<p>- Our 2010 revenue was $450k, our 2011 revenue will be more.<p>- We have "world changing" funded players that compete against us (although we're regional) and we kick all of their asses.<p>- We are about to close our first M&A deal.<p>- Our customers will tell you that our website is WAY more important to them than Facebook or Twitter.<p>- We try our best to inspire our families and the people around us.<p>- We fight to win every day and dream of a $20M exit some day.<p>Instead using a term like "lifestyle businesses" (that, intentionally or not, belittles our efforts) to describe what we and many other hard working entrepreneurs do, please start referring to our businesses as "Ass-Kicking-Hyper-Awesome-Style Businesses" or something similar. The term "lifestyle business" is not descriptive. Thank you.<p>(This post was inspired by this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2337745)
So I finally bothered to check wikipedia and find out what a "lifestyle business" actually was: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_business" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_business</a><p>"A lifestyle business is a business that is set up and run by its founders primarily with the aim of sustaining a particular level of income and no more; or to provide a foundation from which to enjoy a particular lifestyle."<p>It doesn't sound like that describes your business exactly. But why do you care? Sounds like you're doing what you love, so whatever someone else labels your business is mildly irritating but essentially irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.<p>Care to share your URL?
Really, when you compare some of the "not really a business but it just might work" type ventures the term "lifestyle business" is intended to compare and contrast you with, I'd take it as a compliment. Sure, there are people who earn more per day literally and metaphorically playing poker, but I know who I respect more.