Lloyd has his reasons. We have ours.

With our last child preparing for college, we began our own preparation for the next season of life. We didn’t have a clear idea of what it would look like, but we knew a simpler life should be at the center of it.

We spent a year Craigslisting, Goodwilling, recycling, or trashing most of our material possessions, (so we could try a co-housing experiment on a family farm and house sitting worldwide). We also began asking intentional questions about our calendar and how we use our time. The hard practice of saying “no” became (at least for us) a little less difficult as we had to decline some fun activities and events with people we care about.

However, the big picture has been rewarding. Simplifying created a LOT MORE MENTAL SPACE to consider what values and filters are most important to us. It was very much needed as we struggled through the early stage of defining Love + Work.

If you are thinking about a business together, we highly recommend creating more time in your daily lives to intentionally process the foundation for your business idea. (Your list may look completely different depending on your plans and preferences).

Here are the values and filters that shaped Love + Work.

 

“Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

Our Values

Customer Value

Can we offer a solution to a problem, or satisfy a need, for a specific audience? If the thing we create (our product or service) does not offer some kind of real value, then what’s the point?

Personal Alignment

Can it align with our acquired skills and knowledge, gifts we were born with, or life experiences that have formed us? Can we use our combined assets not only legally, but ethically and morally?

Global Value

Can the world benefit when our audience uses the product or service? Can those affected by the thing we create improve the lives of those around them? Extra bonus “pay-it-forward” multiplier effect!

Passionate

Can the work continue to hold our interest and be important to us? Can we continue to be excited every most mornings to get out of bed and keep pushing forward?

Our Filters

Unique

Can we create a product or service that cannot be easily duplicated. Something based on our own unique personal identity? Something that would be difficult for someone else to rip off quickly?

Mobile

This is a big one for us. Can we continue to grow and manage our business from any location with internet? Can it be done without a lot of office equipment, or storing inventory?

Liquid

This is totally about cash flow! Can we start a business relatively debt free, by building something from scratch and putting future revenue back into the business? Bootstrapping!

Light

Can processes, systems, and partnerships be created to help improve the business AND lighten our load? Can repeatable procedures be automated to increase margins in our time?

Profitable

Can it make money? Seems likes an obvious question, but many business owners (INCLUDING US early on) have issues with money and don’t want to think about it.

Income Streams

Can we create a product or service that brings in revenue through passive and recurring income streams, rather than be limited by how many hours we are awake and working hourly?

Recession “Resistant”

Can it still be valuable when economic downturn happens. Is it a luxury expense vs. necessity expense? Will people need or want what we’re offering regardless of what’s happening with the economy?

Regional “Resistant”

Can we create something that is valued internationally instead of being limited by local, or regional, geographic interests or trends?

Join us on a journey together!

We’re on a  journey, working together toward these goals, right out in the open: first in our Love + Work Facebook Group, where we would like to hear what your roadblocks are, and how we might be able to help clear them. Once we’ve gathered more info from you about how we can help, we’ll build out those functions in this site, lovepluswork.com.

This isn’t marriage counseling. It also isn’t a marriage retreat. It’s not an hour a week, or a weekend a year to focus on one another. It’s a deliberate choice to build a shared life and livelihood – day in and day out. It’s not for everyone, but if you think it’s for you, think about taking the next step!

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