Startups

5 Lifestyle Business Myths Debunked

Published

11 years ago

Jul 11, 2015

How awesome would it be to travel to cool countries while still making money? The first time I heard someone talk about “lifestyle business,” I thought they were lying.

Making money online seemed like a dream, but in the last three years, I have seen it’s possible.

For 12 years, I worked a physical job that I hated. I woke up at midnight to deliver bread and deal with angry customers at grocery stores. The first time I heard a podcast talking about lifestyle business, I was hooked. I wanted a lifestyle that involved travel and location independence, so my family could move to Maui, Hawaii.

When I put my toe in the water in 2011 by self-publishing my first book, I got a rude awakening with the all too common experience of not selling any books. I turned to the Internet for answers but all I got was myths and commonly-accepted hype.

Here are five lifestyle business myths I had to overcome to build my dream business and life:

1. The money is in the niche

One of the most common pieces of advice you get when building an online business is to “niche down.” You’re told the more you niche, the more money you can make. While industry-specific niches can be profitable—such as teaching Real Estate or how to become a flight attendant—theme specific niches need to be more general.

One of the best ways to build traffic to your online business is by writing for large authority websites such as the Huffington Post, or Entrepreneur Magazine. These sites have millions of visitors, being too specific won’t appeal to the wider audience. There is money in certain niches, but niching isn’t the only way to build.

2. Copying successful entrepreneurs work

Just because a strategy or way of running an online business worked for someone else, doesn’t mean it will work out for you. In fact, it’s very unlikely you can duplicate someone else’s success by copying. Your goal should be to model success and systems. Not copy them.

People buy from someone they know, like, and trust. That happens when people connect with you and that connection can’t come when you’re copying. Be you. Be original. What makes you who you are is what helps you and your business stand out.

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is going to be, why not create a life you don’t have to escape from.” – Seth Godin

3. Become an expert

While there is some truth in becoming an expert, the way that it’s taught isn’t helpful. People connect with people, not “experts.” If they don’t like or respect you as a person, it doesn’t matter what you’ve accomplished. True experts focus on adding value to their audience, not pushing titles to impress people.

You become a real expert when you add value to your audience. When you continue to learn and hone your craft, when you build a loyal following and they connect with your message, then you become an “expert.

4. Create more products and courses

When you see entrepreneurs who haven’t been successful online, it’s because they’re focused too much on the products and courses. They’re always designing a new course and creating new products, but don’t have an audience to sell them too.

If you only have ten minutes, you should spend eight of those minutes building your audience, one-minute creating the offering, and one minute resting. Building an audience is the hard part and the step too many people don’t spend enough time on. Build your audience now—even if you don’t have anything to sell. Having an audience means you can always sell later.

5. You will make money quickly

One of the most dangerous myths is that you can build an online business and make money quickly. The people preaching this myth are probably trying to sell you their program or course. Before you buy into the myth, realize that this lifestyle takes time to build.

There are 900 million websites, 250 million blogs, and 150,000 podcasts. No matter what your business topic is, many others are also talking about the same thing. It takes time to stand out from the crowd and build a solid foundation. You only get what you put into this. If you hustle, you can build quicker, but it will still take time.

Once I was able to see the truth, I was able to build my business. It was slow going at first, but I was able to eventually leave that job I hated. Today, I operate a six-figure-a-year business from my home base in Maui, Hawaii. The business supported our move here 14 months ago.

Waking up every day and experiencing the freedom to spend my days on the things that are important to me is priceless. I wasted so many years existing and have made my goal to live truly for the rest of my days. I hope you’ll join me.

Don’t accept these myths. Build a successful lifestyle business on the side and with focus.

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Kimanzi Constable

Kimanzi Constable is an author of four books and a writer whose articles have been published in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Insider, SUCCESS Magazine, NBC, CBS, FOX, and 80 other publications and magazines. He is the co-founder of Results Global Impact Consulting and Senior Editor at The Good Men Project. Learn more and get a free guide at kconstable.com.

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Startups

How an LLC Can Help Shield Your Personal Assets

Published

2 weeks ago

Aug 1, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

You are a freelance designer, and your client sued you over a trademark mistake. If you believe that your personal savings are safe, then you may be wrong. You are operating as a default sole proprietor. You and your business are the exact same person. As a result, your personal bank account, your car, and even your home are legally up for grabs.

However, if you start an LLC, you can build a legal shield between your business liabilities and your personal life. These days, you can easily form an LLC online.

How Does This Legal Shield Work

When you start an LLC, your business gets a distinct legal identity. Now, your LLC can open its own bank accounts, sign contracts, take out loans, buy equipment, and be held responsible for its own actions. You are not liable. This boundary between you and your business is called the “corporate veil.”

Visualizing the Separation

Inside the Shield (Business Assets)

Everything your company owns is included in this shield. If your business faces a debt collector or a lawsuit, only your business assets are at risk, such as:

Money in the business bank account
Inventory and raw materials
Office equipment, computers, and company vehicles
Business intellectual property

Outside the Shield (Your Personal Assets)

You don’t have to worry about your personal assets, such as:

Your personal checking and savings accounts
Your home and personal real estate
Your family vehicles
Your retirement funds (401k, IRA) and personal investments

What LLC Protection Covers

Business Debts and Contracts

When your LLC signs a commercial lease, hires a contractor, or buys inventory on credit, these are the obligations of the LLC. Your creditors will come after the assets of the LLC if your business can’t pay.

Lawsuits

If your business is sued over a contract dispute, faulty service, or an operational issue, lawsuits will be filed against your business. All your personal assets are safe.

What LLC Protection Does Not Cover

Personal Torts

The term “tort” refers to an act that causes harm or injury to someone else. The LLC shields you from the mistakes of your employees and general business liabilities. However, it never protects you from your own personal actions. For example, if you personally commit fraud, you can be sued personally.

Personal Guarantees

Vendors often hesitate to lend money to new, growing businesses. Such businesses don’t have long credit histories. Lenders often require you to sign a personal guarantee.

How Owners Accidentally Destroy Their Protection

The legal shield provided by forming an LLC only works when you run your business properly. The corporate veil can be pierced when a court decides that your LLC is not legitimate and strips away your protection in a lawsuit. This usually happens when you make one of the following three mistakes.

Commingling Funds

Many small business owners often mix their personal money with their business money. You are commingling funds when you use your business debit card to buy your personal groceries or you deposit a client’s payment directly into your personal checking account. The legal wall crumbles when you don’t treat your business and personal finances as completely separate.

Missing an Operating Agreement

An operating agreement is the legal document that outlines:

How your LLC is run
Who owns what percentage
How profits are handled

If the creditor’s lawyer finds out that an operating agreement is missing, they may argue that your LLC is just a shell.

Falling Out of “Good Standing”

When you start an LLC, you must file annual reports and pay franchise taxes to keep it active. The state will place your business in “Administrative Dissolution” or bad standing if you miss any of these deadlines. You could lose your limited liability protection if you operate a business under an inactive or dissolved LLC.

Startups

Move Fast without Breaking People: Product Safety Lessons for Ambitious Startups

Published

1 month ago

Jul 15, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

Fast growth can hide product risks until customers get hurt, especially when safety comes late in development. A software bug can be patched, but a chair, charger, or smart device can cause a burn, fall, cut, or crash.

For founders moving from a prototype to mass sales, the cases handled by Michael Kelly Injury Lawyers in Boston show why launch goals should not push testing, warnings, and foreseeable risks aside. A product claim can involve the design, how a unit was made, user instructions, or several firms in the supply chain.

Why Minimum Viable Should Never Mean Minimally Safe

A minimum viable product should test whether people want an idea, not how much danger they will accept. Teams can delay colors or premium finishes, but not guards, safe heat limits, sound wiring, or clear instructions.

Set Safety Rules Before the Build

The product brief should define who will use the item, where, and what could happen during setup, cleaning, storage, wear, or mistakes. It should also consider what a child, guest, tired worker, or first-time buyer might do.

Shared rules help teams move faster. Designers know which guards must remain. Engineers know which parts cannot fail. Suppliers know what cannot change without review.

Test How People Really Use It

A neat demo is not the real world. Users place products on wet counters, soft rugs, or rough ground. They skip a guide, use the wrong cable, or handle an item in unexpected ways.

Testing should cover misuse without predicting every extreme act. When a risk can be reduced through a guard, lock, stop switch, or clear signal, that design change is often greater than a warning alone.

How Design and Manufacturing Risks Differ

Some risks are built into the design. Others arise when production fails to match the approved plan. Teams need to identify the source before choosing a correction.

Design Problems Start with the Plan

A design problem can affect every unit. A base may tip, a blade may sit too close to a hand, a control may activate too easily, or a battery space may trap heat.

Final inspection cannot repair a flawed plan. The team may need a new shape, shield, limit, material, or control, followed by testing before more units ship.

Manufacturing Problems Break the Plan

A manufacturing problem occurs when a unit or batch does not match the approved design. A fastener may be missing, a weld may be weak, a wire may be damaged, or the wrong component may enter production.

Good records help define the scope. The team should know who made each part, which batch used it, what checks occurred, and where units went. Fast trace work can keep one fault from becoming a wider crisis.

When Customer Feedback Signals More Than Dissatisfaction

Support teams hear about delays, difficult setups, strange sounds, and refunds. Most reports are routine. Yet heat, smoke, sparks, breakage, sharp edges, sudden movement, falls, or failed guards require review.

Treat Complaints as Safety Data

One report may lack key facts, but similar reports can reveal a pattern. Staff should record the model, batch, date, use, photographs, and outcome, then alert someone who can pause sales or order testing.

Teams should not blame unusual use before asking whether another reasonable buyer could make the same choice. A support ticket can be the first sign of a hazard that lab testing missed.

Preserve the Product and the Record

After an injury, the product can help explain what failed. A repair, disposal, or undocumented test can remove evidence. The same applies to old labels, manuals, test files, customer messages, and design notes.

Startups should keep relevant items safely, record who examines them, and preserve earlier versions of instructions and warnings. This history can show what changed and why.

Why Warnings Must Reflect Real Use

A warning works only when a user notices it at the right time. Dense text at the back of a manual may not help during setup. The message should name the hazard, explain the harm, and state what reduces the risk.

Placement matters too. A charging risk belongs near the port. A weight limit belongs where weight is added. Even so, warnings should not replace a safer design when the hazard can reasonably be removed.

How Founders Can Preserve Speed without Cutting Safeguards

A delayed launch, redesign, or recall can feel like defeat. In practice, early action can prevent harm, protect trust, and give the team better facts for the next version. The strongest startups move quickly because their systems protect people.

When a product injures someone, legal guidance can help preserve the item, collect design and manufacturing records, identify responsible companies, and examine whether a defect or unsafe choice caused the harm.