Many businesses begin when we see a product, service or knowledge gap in the marketplace and decide we have the skills or desire to fill it. 

You start with the product or service, work out a price and then get it into the hands of the customer. You make sure that it’s exactly what they need, when they need it, at a price that’s just right. 

You’ve covered the foundations of what’s required from a business. 

But there’s only one problem, in this style of business design, you haven’t considered yourself, at all. I believe when we don’t consider ourselves throughout this process, this is how we end up in a Biz-Life Crisis. 

Whether you have already set up a business or are just starting out, the first step to Intentional Business Design is to consider YOUR key elements in a sustainable business.

Here are mine as an example:

Connection- to clients (speaking person to person). This is my personality; I’m happy to be around people.

Values- consideration of people (my family and others), lifestyle and planet while being profit-aware.

Creative expression- to feel that I am not in a cycle of monotony.

Autonomy- to govern my own time and workload around my family life.

Freedom- having the choice to act, say and work (or not work) as I please.

Wealth- a plentiful supply of pleasurable things- energy, life, money. 

Health- the backbone of all we do, without it we have nothing.

These are ‘pillars’ of how I structure my business. I review these before I create an offer, price an offer or distribute or sell what I have created. Before I build upon my business model, my key elements of a sustainable lifestyle are considered.

I define a business model as ‘the what, to whom, how, when and for how much’ of your business. There are varying terms, ideas and frameworks. But until we’re sure about our key lifestyle elements, our business model can’t support us in making and managing money in a way that’s right for us.

What are the key elements of your desired lifestyle?