Build A Service Business That Helps You Live On Your Terms

What kind of life do you desire?

Will building a service business help you work on your own terms?

We have different goals in life. For some, it’s to travel the world at old age. For others, it’s to build really successful businesses that fund a lifestyle of luxury even before old age.

What’s important to take note of is how you plan on achieving your goals. And if you think building an online business would automatically help you fund that luxurious lifestyle, think again.

Some have so many clients and so much work that they don’t have time for themselves or for family.

Others only have a handful of clients, have lots of work to do and still have time to go on vacations twice a year.

So what’s the difference between these sets of people? Is it the way they work? Is it their profession? Or perhaps it’s the fact that they have multiple income streams?

It’s none of the above. In fact, the truth will shock you.

But first, let’s bust this myth that 99.9% of online entrepreneurs have.

 

The Myth Of The Internet Lifestyle

What exactly is the internet lifestyle?

Some of us believe it means staying in your pyjamas till 2pm in front of a laptop doing God knows what. Others believe it means being able to buy anything you want. And there’s the group that believes it means being able to fund a luxurious lifestyle by working only 8 hours a week.

Those are very flawed perceptions.

The internet lifestyle simply refers to the ability to work from anywhere you want. Period!

It doesn’t mean you’re making a million dollars per month.

It doesn’t mean you only work 2 hours per day.

And most importantly, it doesn’t mean that you get to be lazy.

Anyone can live the internet lifestyle. It’s not for a specific group of people. But the thing is not everyone would be successful living the internet lifestyle.

Why?

Because like building an offline business, you still need to put in the work.

Now that we’re clear on that, let’s answer the primary question; “Will building a service business help you work on your own terms?”

Yes and no!

Going back to our comparison, what’s the difference between an entrepreneur (we’ll call him Bob) who has time for himself and family and the entrepreneur (let’s call him Ted) who doesn’t?

The answer is in how the business was built.

So, the new question is, “how do you build a service business that helps you work on your own terms?

Here are 3 simple ways;

 

1. Charge Good Rates To Increase Your Worth

There’s nothing more demoralizing than having no money in your pocket or cash in the bank. And the feeling gets worse when you’re doing so much client work and yet you have nothing to show for it.

As a professional, you’re good at what you do. And the good thing about this kind of business is that there’s no limit to how much you can charge. So, how much do you charge for your services?

Do you charge per hour or per project? Charging per hour completely short-changes you because it means you must always be working, or else, you get nothing. If a project takes you 3 hours to complete and your rate is $50 per hour, that means that no matter how tough the project is, you don’t get paid higher than $150 for that project.

Now imagine if you charged for projects based on two things: the work involved and the client’s budget. How much would you charge?

The latter is more flexible than the former. Charging per project gives you the flexibility to space it’s execution within several days so you have time for other clients or family.

 

2. Turn Down Clients To Reduce Your Headaches

When you charge good rates for your services, something happens. You start to reject clients who can’t pay.

And it’s completely normal and necessary to do this.

For some reason, some low paying clients are always a pain to work with, while the clients who pay well actually don’t disturb you from working.

In our comparison above, Bob had so many clients, so much client work and so little time for himself. A good reason for this is probably because his clients are all low paying clients.

Having too many low paying clients won’t make you the kind of money and the lifestyle you want. Yes 30 clients who pay you $100 each would make you a lot of money, but your health will be at stake.

However, 10 high paying clients who pay you $300 would make you the same amount of money and you’ll still have the strength to go swimming across the Atlantic (if that’s your definition of a vacation anyway).

By only working with clients that can pay your rates, you give yourself the ability to rest, deliver better results and even look into other income streams.

 

3. Attract Clients To Build Authority

Increasing your rates and turning down clients requires an audacity only gotten by becoming an authority. An authority is a thought leader with a sphere of influence (an audience). Having that kind of “power” allows you to dictate how you want things to go in your business.

Your business needs an audience and the influence you have over that audience determines just how much money you make.

So, how do you attract your clients? By owning your own digital media platform. Let’s use Ted, a branding consultant as an example.

Ted helps entrepreneurs get their branding and messaging right so they attract the right kind of market for their products. However, for Ted to get clients, he’ll probably have to hire a marketer who would go round companies pitching because Ted himself would be busy educating his clients and serving them.

Or, Ted could save himself the extra salary by building a digital media platform — a professional website — that can help him reach any client in the world. Through his blog, Ted then uses content marketing (teaching his clients and potential clients about branding and messaging) to get his name out there. He takes his teachings also to other blogs where he knows his kind of clients are (guest blogging).

This way, when these potential clients see Ted’s posts and are excited about it, they click through to his blog to know more about Ted. If Ted sells himself well on his website, Ted automatically gets new clients.

And if Ted is consistent with this process, he’ll continue to attract more clients. This way, he’ll have the ability and audacity to increase his rates and turn down clients he can’t work with.

That’s the authority you should have in your business. It’s that authority you should desire more than anything else online. Because when you have it and you have your audience, you can monetize in different ways.

So, are you ready to build authority online? Share in the comments or subscribe below to receive my free ebook on how to get more clients like Ted, using content marketing.

 

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