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

In this guide, we’ve compiled 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 successful businesses,
  • and lots more.

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

I have run a successful lifestyle business (a website blog) since 2016. My goal is not to maximize profit or revenue but to improve and maintain my personal lifestyle.

What is A Lifestyle Business?

what is a lifestyle business

A lifestyle business is ONE where you start earning 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.

In your lifestyle business, you’re not just the founder, director, and manager—you’re the architect of how it operates, ensuring it aligns perfectly with your vision and values.Harpreet Kumar

From my experience, a lifestyle business is started by an individual (for example, you can start your own lifestyle blog), made successful, and earns 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.

Why do people start their own lifestyle businesses in 2024?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major shift in the worldwide workplace, with many businesses moving to remote work or firing employees.

About 20.5 million Americans lost their jobs after the first wave in 2020, and many others left on their own in what is referred to as the Great Resignation.

The value placed on the standard corporate American job was no longer held in high regard, as 32% of Americans left their jobs voluntarily in 2021.

They left to start their online businesses (for example – blogging) and sought after what their 9-5 jobs couldn’t give themfreedom.

The rise of entrepreneurship allowed individuals to rethink their careers and seek remote work, flexible hours, and jobs fueled by their interests.

To help you out, I’ve come up with a few different ideas for starting a successful lifestyle business (coming in upcoming sections).

14 Best Most Profitable Lifestyle Business Ideas To Start Today

lifestyle business ideas

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.

Real Examples:

  • Personal blog
  • Fashion blog
  • Travel blog
  • Niche blog
  • Small business blog
  • Beauty blog
  • Home renovation blog

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.

AIO Shortcodes is the best digital product or software example. It’s a WordPress plugin that lets users add dynamic shortcodes to their websites.

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.

Real Examples:

  • Printables
  • Calendars
  • Planners
  • Digital illustrations

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, so 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.

Real Examples:

  • Freelance writing
  • Editing
  • Videography
  • Graphic design services

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 you know 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.

Real Examples:

  • Athletic coaching
  • College coaching
  • Career Coaching 
  • Mental health/mindfulness coaching

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.

Real Examples:

  • Virtual receptionist for a business
  • Virtual assistant for a CEO

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. If you have any particular expertise or skills, you can sell your online course to make extra cash.

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.

Real Examples:

  • Adobe Creative Suite course
  • Canva graphic design course
  • Microsoft Office or Google Suite course

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.

Real Examples:

  • Girls/boys only podcast
  • Surviving college podcast
  • Freelancer podcast 

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.

Real Examples:

  • Social media manager
  • Social media strategist

9. Selling eBook

Selling Ebooks 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.

Real Examples:

  • Self help
  • Children’s e-books 
  • Mystery & thriller
  • Fantasy & science fiction

10. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another successful lifestyle business idea 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 unfamiliar with affiliate marketing, it is the activity of promoting 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.

Real Examples:

  • PPC affiliates
  • Coupon affiliates
  • Content affiliates
  • Incentivized traffic affiliates
  • Comparison shopping sites

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

Real Examples:

  • Product reselling.
  • Business extensions.
  • Product creation.
  • Print on demand

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.

Real Examples:

  • Vlogging
  • Unboxing
  • Live Steam

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.

Real Examples:

  • Residential Real Estate. 
  • Commercial Real Estate. 
  • Raw Land Development.

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.

Real Examples:

  • Taco truck
  • Cheese stand
  • Baked goods
  • Catering

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.

What is the difference between a lifestyle business and a startup business?

The difference between lifestyle and startup businesses is that startups usually rely on large funding from investors, and the return on investment can take years to happen.

Over time, the return on investment can grow into million or billion-dollar companies such as Google or Facebook. Startup businesses start small, and the founder can scale bigger.

They may be dependent on location and require a higher time commitment to please investors in the long run.
Lifestyle businesses typically don’t need that amount of funding to get started but tend to make less money in the long run.

What is the difference between a lifestyle business and a small business?

Unlike lifestyle businesses, small businesses (or online businesses) require a higher amount of time and money at the start for the owner to get the company running.

The owners usually rely on their savings or bank loans. Depending on what is sold, some small businesses can be labelled as lifestyle businesses—for example, an eCommerce business where the owner sells homemade jewellery dishes on Etsy is both a small business and a lifestyle business.

What is the difference between a lifestyle business and an MLM?

Multi-level marketing (MLM) is different from lifestyle businesses because an MLM is a business model.

A corporation at the top that makes products has individual business owners or members selling products on behalf of the corporation, and these owners make a commission from every sale. 

MLM business owners do not have to pay any upfront costs; instead, they spend money on buying the company’s products to build inventory.

Some similarities between lifestyle and small businesses are their dependency on social media and the freedom to work anywhere.

What are some tools that benefit any entrepreneur?

These specific apps and tools help run your business more efficiently.

1. Use the scheduling platform Calendly, which helps clients find a time to meet with business owners.
2. Trust the graphic design platform Canva to create all types of visual content for marketing purposes with free and paid features.
3. Add the file-sharing platform Dropbox to your list with its ability to save files to the cloud, synchronize, and easily share with business owners and clients.
4. The note-taking app Evernote is used to write digital notes during meetings and organize and manage tasks. 
5. Rely on LegalZoom to unite lawyers and business owners to write contracts, privacy terms, and other legal documents.  
6. Use the project management tool Monday.com to help clients, team members, and contractors collaborate on one platform.

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.

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