14 Best Lifestyle Business Ideas (With Real Examples) To Start in 2024

With so many options to choose from, finding the best lifestyle business idea can be daunting.

In this guide, we’ve put together a list of the 14 top lifestyle business ideas in 2024. They all have proven businesses that fit almost everyone’s lifestyle.

By reading this article, you will learn:

• What is a lifestyle business,
• why do people start their own lifestyle businesses,
• the best lifestyle business ideas to start in 2024,
• frequently asked questions regarding businesses,
• and lots more.

Additionally, I’ll provide you with the ideal business plan format and some examples to help you get started on becoming a lifestyle entrepreneur.

I run a lifestyle business (a website blog) since 2016. My goal is not to maximize profit or revenue; it’s to improve and maintain my own personal lifestyle.

What is A Lifestyle Business?

A lifestyle business is one in which you start to earn extra money to support your lifestyle. It’s not about making big profits or growing into a huge company. Instead, it’s about having the freedom to live life the way you want.

From my experience, a lifestyle business is started by an individual (for example, you can start your own lifestyle blog) to earn extra income to support their lifestyle.

The goal of a lifestyle business isn’t necessarily to raise capital or become the biggest company. Instead, individuals like you and I build it to support an ideal lifestyle.

In other words, it operates for personal freedoms and quality of life. This type of business suits anyone who wants:

• financial freedom,
• regardless of any reason, like enjoying life,
• spending more time with family, or travelling.

However, over the past few years, lifestyle businesses have become increasingly popular among individuals.

14 Best Most Profitable Lifestyle Business Ideas To Start Today

Imagine crafting your ideal job and achieving the perfect work-life balance as a lifestyle entrepreneur. Check out these lifestyle business ideas that let you earn money while building scalable and flexible lifestyle businesses online.

1. Start A Blog

Starting a blog is one of my favourite lifestyle business ideas that anyone can start today!

If writing content is your passion, I firmly recommend starting a blog as a desired lifestyle business. Blog writing is a form of information marketing, and you earn profit from the information you write.

Blogging could be one of the best lifestyle business ideas for generating passive income. Many people like me start a blog as a side hustle, or some take up a full-time career.

So, if you want to build a profitable blog, find your blog niche first and then identify your target audience. You can also narrow down a list of topics that your target audience might be interested in.

After that, you need to set up your blog and create original content using free stock images and graphic design tools. 

Writing quality content and knowing how to optimize it so it ranks on Google. It literally might help your blog be successful.

2. Create A Digital Product

Selling digital products is another profitable lifestyle business idea on our list.

If you want to create and sell something online, your lifestyle business can revolve around designing and selling digital products.

First, you must decide what digital product you want to sell.

Some real examples of digital assets are:

• online tools/software (like WordPress plugins and themes),
• worksheet templates,
• budget spreadsheets,
• printable artwork,
• calendars/planners, or kid’s colouring pages. 

Sell your product by designing your own website or opening a store through a third-party online shopping platform such as Etsy.

Once you have digital products ready and your site is live, market your products through social media to elevate brand awareness and drive traffic to your site, then start selling to your audience and make money.

3. Become a Freelancer

Becoming a freelancer is a flexible lifestyle business idea for 2024. You can set your own hours, and always working on new projects is your thing, then consider diving into freelance work.

Providing expertise in a specific type of service is always in demand for those searching for freelance workers on sites like Upwork. 

Freelancers prefer not to be tied to one employer and enjoy the freedom of picking the types and number of projects.

Clearly communicating your rates and hours and providing a portfolio of past work will help you acquire more potential clients.

Note: You edit your videos fluently for free, which may help! Ramp up as an individual worker and proceed with prominence.

4. Become A Coach

If you thrive on providing quality advice to others, your perfect lifestyle business ideas may be career coaching.

Select an industry or topic that you have expert knowledge of and craft a coaching business catering to that target audience.

Your services can be sold on a website or through a social media platform. This way, clients can schedule virtual consultations to discuss rates, personal goals, and your services.

This job works best if you consider yourself to have the following skills and personality traits: effective communication, honesty, and empathy.

5. Try Being A Virtual Assistant

If you have a knack for administrative work and enjoy working from the comfort of your home, consider being a virtual assistant.

Virtual assistants (VAs) are normally responsible for scheduling appointments, managing communications, answering emails or phone calls, and providing other administrative support to clients or businesses.

VAs should possess good verbal and written communication skills, have a talent for organization, and have a passion for business efficiency.

Search for roles on employment or freelance websites such as LinkedIn or Fiverr to network and apply to open positions.

6. Create Online Courses

If you have industry experience, expertise in a specific skill, or love teaching, you can create a business selling online courses.

In today’s world, Selling Online courses is one of the best lifestyle business ideas for digital entrepreneurs. Demand is rising, and people are more willing to pay for them.

It is one of the best ways to make money online from home. You can sell your online course to make extra cash if you have any particular expertise or skills.

Online courses can be packaged into learning modules so clients can learn in a structured format and go at their own pace.

You can provide quizzes and small exams so students can assess their knowledge in each module so can practice what they’ve learned.

Then, you can make a profit by becoming a virtual teacher and even offer premium features for those interested in meeting you virtually.

In fact, creating courses in 2024 is much easier than ever, using tools like Podia (my super favourite) and Teachable – are the best platforms to create online courses.

7. Start A Podcast

If you have a passion for audio and visual content, a podcast is the perfect lifestyle business idea for you to try in 2024.

Good-quality sound, engaging conversation about a niche topic, and a computer for editing are the essentials for starting your first podcast.

Podcast hosts create content based on entertaining topics and bring on guest speakers. They can also profit from sponsorships or ads.

Use platforms like Anchor to upload your content and link to your show through cross-channel promotion on social media.

8. Manage Social Media For Others

If you consider yourself a tech-savvy entrepreneur with an interest in content creation and digital marketing, social media management may be the right lifestyle business idea that fits you.

Support individual clients or small businesses by tailoring their social initiatives to current trends.

Tailoring to social trends can help attract new consumers, direct traffic to a business’s website, and drive sales.

Social media is a free marketing tool necessary to promote any business today. Management will always be required to post relevant and consistent content.

9. Selling eBook

Selling E–books can be life-changing. If you want to start your career as a writer, writing an ebook is a great lifestyle business idea to start.

Lots of writers recognize that selling ebooks is profitable and a complete stream of passive income. If you want a steady stream of side income, selling ebooks is a great lifestyle business idea to begin.

An ebook is a digital resource that typically focuses on written content rather than video or audio. They often guide on a particular topic, like growing a business, children’s books, and more.

Most ebooks have some level of design and come in many shapes and sizes. There are tons of ways to create the layout, and you’ll have the easiest time if you choose a drag-and-drop editor like Canva.

Selling ebooks is quite profitable that’s what most online entrepreneurs do. For example:

• if you sell your ebook for just $2.99,
• what if you only sell a hundred copies and earn $299?

You’re not going to make much money probably not even enough to cover your time investment. But, if you sell:

• a 1,000 copies at that price, you’d earn $2,999.
• If you sell 10,000 copies, that’s $29,999.
• And if you priced that same book at $9.99, you’d earn around $99,900.

You can sell ebooks online using plenty of platforms, such as Podia (recommended), SendOwl, Amazon, and more. It’s much easier than ever.

10. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another lucrative lifestyle business ideas in 2024 for anyone who wants to make money online, especially through blogging.

Personally, I love promoting others’ products or services through my website and making money. Honestly, it is my primary blogging income source that comes from affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing offers enormous income possibilities if you promote the right products and services. I’ll be the first to admit that it has its own pros and cons.

If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing, it is the activity when you promote a product on the brand’s behalf. And when a sale is generated, you’ll get a commission.

For example, if you are part of the Amazon affiliate program, you can earn a commission when someone buys your recommended product through your affiliate links.

You’d likely recommend that product or provide the right information so that the actual buyer can make an informed decision.

However, there are so many affiliate networks, like Amazon affiliates, that you can join to promote relevant products to your blog.

11. Start Dropshipping/E-commerce Store

Dropshipping/ building an e-commerce store is a great lifestyle business ideas to start in 2024.

It’s an e-commerce business model that eliminates the fulfilment and shipping process (you can sell your own items or other items through Dropshipping networks) and earn money while they are sold.

All you need is to:

• find a product at an affordable price,
• and sell them to your online store at a higher price.

The major costs of this business are buying the product from the supplier, dropshipping fees, paying to host your websites and marketing.

You can build your e-commerce store by using Shopify or WooCommerce. You do not need as much investment as a startup does; it has a minimum cost to set up your store. 

But the interesting fact is that you will get customers for your products globally. After building your store, you need to:

• do promotion via digital marketing.
• Or if you already have an existing audience it gets easy to succeed in this business.

On average, Dropshippers make between 20% and 30% profit from each sale, or up to $100,000 per year. Your work will earn between $1,000 and $5,000 per month.

In fact, today, more and more people have been involved in this business, and DropShipping is an excellent option for those who are looking to start a lifestyle business.

12. Start A YouTube Channel   

Launching a lifestyle-based YouTube channel is a profitable lifestyle business idea you can start while working full-time.

You can make money on YouTube through:

• Google AdSense,
• Ad revenue,
• Affiliate Marketing,
• Sponsorship,
• and more.

In today’s video market, YouTube channels are a good medium of business. When the number of viewers increases on your channel, your income will also grow.

Lifestyle channels have immense popularity, which makes them a good starting point for a lifestyle business. So, you can start your YouTube channel with any idea where you have expertise.

The growing creator economy has turned up more diverse ways to make money online via YouTube.

If you want to start a side business, you can tap into your creative skills on YouTube. Of course, you have to be willing to put in a lot of effort. Hopefully, it can be a profitable lifestyle business.

13. Invest in Real Estate Online

Investing in real estate obviously requires some capital upfront. However, once you start growing your real estate portfolio, it’s very easy to see good income from your properties.

Remember that the main goal of starting a lifestyle business is to make an income that is independent of your time. And Real Estate investment can do that.

Investing in real estate online is much easier than ever because of the internet revolution. You don’t have to physically be there or need a property manager to collect one of your tenants to pay their rent because you can do that via Fundrise.

With Fundrise, you can invest in real estate online with little money. You can invest as little as $10 or more with a diversified portfolio of institutional-quality real estate.

They have a low minimum investment, giving you the flexibility to invest the right amount at the right time to meet your goals. It also reduces fees and maximizes your long-term return potential.

However, real estate has traditionally been one of professionals’ most secure and profitable assets. I hope you can get to a point where you’ll have more of a hands-off investment approach.

14. Sell Yummy Foods or Desserts

If you are a food connoisseur, consider starting a lifestyle business by cooking your favourite foods or baking yummy treats.

Being a chef at heart is one thing, but turning your creations into real profit is a passion-centered business.

Decide your preferred cuisine and create a simple menu so you can focus on your craft and your food.

Using proper food licenses or permits, you can promote at farmers’ markets, small business food events or sell on a traditional food stand.

These are the best ideas for starting your lifestyle business. Pick the right one start today, and grow tomorrow.

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Starting your lifestyle business can be exciting as you experience more autonomy and flexibility in your life. However, you may still feel uncertain.

Read these answers to frequently asked questions about lifestyle businesses.

Final Thoughts On Top Lifestyle Business Ideas List

During the Great Resignation, employees willingly left their 9-5 jobs to pursue the freedom of being their own boss, and many turned to lifestyle entrepreneurship.

As passion-centered individuals, these business owners are focused on:

• working from anywhere,
• lower time commitments,
• and moderate start-up costs.

After the business landscape changed, they took their dissatisfaction with corporate America and the COVID-19 pandemic and seized a window of opportunity in their careers.

Whether your lifestyle business is your main gig or just a side hustle, adapt to your conditions and rely on yourself along the way.

The secret to success is taking the leap and committing to making your business great. Use these 2024‘s best lifestyle business ideas and additional tools to jump-start your journey today.