Lifestyle businesses have a big flaw in American culture though; our safety net is not enough to make "meets expenses" a tenable long-term approach. We basically have to aim for a big wad of savings for later in life, which incentivizes going for exits and cash-outs.
VueScan (hamrick.com) is a very good example of a successful lifestyle business (first release in 1998). The founder and his son work on the product full-time. I don't think they have any other staff, but I could be wrong.
Perhaps, I would hope that a sustainable lifestyle business would be able to pay employees and founders enough to build a comfortable retirement nest egg through savings, investments, and compound interest.
I feel so happy that we have created "billion dollar global platforms" instead of universal healthcare or ensuring everyone was sleeping indoors. Woo-hoo!
