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		<title>Lifestyle Businesses or Why I Quit Web Design</title>
		<description>Discuss Lifestyle Businesses or Why I Quit Web Design</description>
		<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/</link>
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			<title>Clive Clifford says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8632</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Interesting discussion. As someone who has been a small business coach for over 7 years it is my view that their are very few businesses that have to be what you called "lifestyle businesses". However, there are many businesses that operate this way because of the mindset of the owner / CEO. If you have not read Michael Gerber's book "The E-Myth" I strongly recommend it. He is credited with coming up with the philosophy of "working ON your business and not IN your business". You are correct in saying that what you need to do is to adopt an attitude of "building a business that works without me" (the business owner). Obviously as you start out this is normally not possible but if you make your decisions with that goal in mind - there are very few businesses that can not be set up that way. The thing that normally gets in the way is the owners passion for some technical aspect of the business. Giving this up is not very easy, especially as the business hits some tight patches. The interesting thing is that if you get it right you end up with the choice of indulging your passion as much as you like. You get to pick and choose what you want to work on because the business no longer depends on it. On last comment on "lower-paying" or cheaper customers. Every business has its ideal customers and if you are set up to deal with them profitably, that's all you need. One company may choose to have clients that pay it a lot of money and only have a few of them Another may choose to have hundreds or thousands of clients that pay much less. They can both work!]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Clive Clifford</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:26:27 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8632</guid>
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			<title>Richard Byrd says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8631</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Thanks Steve for the blog post- I have been struggling with this same concept for a while. I give this advice to others but find it hard to take myself. I have started to let go of the design strings at my firm and I will be handing over day to day operations in a few weeks - I then will concentrate on the overall vision and making this thing a profitable place. Again thanks for posting]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Richard Byrd</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:18:34 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8631</guid>
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			<title>Steve Burge says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8564</link>
			<description><![CDATA[True - the agencies I know have a bag of tricks to keep lower-paying customers away. The contact form has a "Budget" option starting at "$20,000 to $30,000" for example. FWIW though, these agencies have been losing Fortune 500 companies. Even some of the biggest Atlanta names are trying to cut back.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Steve Burge</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:43:26 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8564</guid>
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			<title>Rick Blalock says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8560</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I'd say that if a client goes to another agency because they're cheaper...they probably aren't the right client. Of course this is all relative because I don't know what "cheaper" means. If a client chose another competitor because they'll do the site for $500....I'd say they aren't my competitor because I'm not targeting those clients.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Rick Blalock</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:05:53 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8560</guid>
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			<title>Steve Burge says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8559</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Thanks Rick - a nice rebuttal to my points. I guess the profitability comes when you become a CEO in webdesign also ... offices, larger numbers of support staff, setting a very high minimum price for projects you take on. Maybe I'm hanging around the wrong agency guys at the moment but I've seen quite a lot losing work to cheaper competitors.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Steve Burge</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:48:53 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8559</guid>
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			<title>Rick Blalock says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-7880</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Hey Steve, I agree with the principles of this post but I don't agree with this statement: "Web Design is a Lifestyle Business". A business is only a lifestyle business if, perhaps, it meets the criteria you mentioned above. I could say "Dry Cleaning is a life style business" if it was one guy who started his own shop because he liked it. However, the smart business man would say "Ok...I grew this now let's start 5 more in our county....let's franchise...." etc. a web design business does not have to be setup as a "life style business". In Brendan Sinclair's "Web Design Business Kit" he admits he knows very little about web design and development. He's just a good business man and sales man. He has built an empire not because he was the head dev or designer and enjoyed coding but because he saw an opportunity to make money and jumped on it. Life style business, to me, means no vision, purpose statement. No desire to grow. And from what I've seen, targeting the wrong type of clients. The web agencies I know are booming at the moment. One agency I know just became profitable (out from under venture-capital) and is getting ready to be sold for big $$$. Another I know has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year. They landed 12 clients just last month, all with contracts that started at $20,000.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Rick Blalock</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:18:37 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-7880</guid>
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			<title>Commercial_Matters says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8013</link>
			<description><![CDATA[CEO is an interesting idea, but it is cash flow and sales that are what really drives business. Thinking commercially is the only strategy. You are so right about lifestyle businesses thought, there is no point, there is just no future in it long term. It is the end game that is important, if you can't sell what you are building, then what is the point. May as well be working at Walmart! /Peter.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Commercial_Matters</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:56:18 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8013</guid>
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			<title>Steve Burge says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8039</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Hey Barrie - SEOMoz is another good example. They finally got their business clicking in 2007 also. I suspect the SEO industry provides a very interesting roadmap for what might happen in the Open Source CMS business over the next couple of years.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Steve Burge</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:56:58 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8039</guid>
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			<title>Sean Cook says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8106</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Now you are thinking like an MBA! ;-) Since you have a good idea how to crow an online business Steve, you can somewhat replicate it and sell it. It is like remodeling a house knowing your market, comps and not over-building. Build something that is sell-able. That is what house "flippers" do, make small upgrades or if needed large ones, then re-sell. (Yes, the housing markets sucks right now, but it is just an example). I didn't start thinking that way either and still don't, it is just getting me by for now, but you really have something here along with other sites I see powered by a strong Joomla! community. Yo have to think ROI when doing anything and a large website with products to sell and subscriptions needs to be strategical for the long-haul with an eventual sell. A lot of sites have good traffic, SEO/SEM, products, solid teams, and subscriptions. Now you need to think about how much that is worth and the idea of selling it. 8) Regards, Sean Cook, MBA/TM]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Sean Cook</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:56:53 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8106</guid>
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			<title>Barrie North says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8208</link>
			<description><![CDATA[There was a great post by Rand about how he met with a management consultant and get led through this path. Its really good reading for any wannabe consultant -> CEO ... can't for the life of me find it though...]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Barrie North</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:44:34 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/business/lifestyle-businesses-or-how-i-quit-webdesign/#comment-8208</guid>
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