You’re an individual.
You do your own thing. Your way.
Having a me-myself-and-I business makes sense to you: no committees, no compromise, no commitment, ultimate control.
But could you be short-changing your purpose & greater ambition to ignore the power of a team?
Solo entrepreneurship is all the rage. Its romantic notion of location independence, sky-high profit margins, and ultimate flexibility is alluring. Solo entrepreneurship might even look like your only option if you’re bootstrapping a brand new business: if you can’t even pay yourself, how are you going to share profit with someone else?
At World Domination Summit last weekend, Chris Brogan issued a challenge:
If we are this powerful as individuals, how much more powerful might be we be together?
Chris wasn’t just spouting platitudes. This was a legitimate world domination strategy.
If your purpose is bigger than you (as it should be) and aimed at serving your customers (as it must be), then doesn’t it stand to reason that building a business that’s limited in scope by its very makeup is a problem?
Yes, small can be beautiful. Yes, flexibility is liberating.
I’m not suggesting that your goal should be to create the next Google or Apple. Although, if it is, that’s great! Your goal should be to build the business that makes your purpose a reality.
The question isn’t whether being a “solopreneur” is the right way to go. Is anyone else sick of that word? The question is…
What does the business that will make my purpose a reality look like?
It might be a small, long distance team. It might be a group of friend huddled around a kitchen table. It might be an office or studio at a co-working space. It might be a store front.
Your business might require employees. It might require a team of contractors. It might even require a business partner or a team of co-founders.
But thinking you’re in this alone – and, even worse, romanticizing this notion – is the wrong way to go.
The people who are doing the great things with their businesses are harnessing their networks, the power of paid team members, and the beauty of outside expertise. They may look like a solo act but I guarantee, almost without exception, that they are not alone.
My business has been a small team for 2 years now. This Fall, I’m launching a larger business with a bigger team. Oh, the suspense…
The possibilities are what you make them. There are opportunities for collaboration, expansion, and profit all around you.
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PS I’ve got room for 3 more Insight Intensives in August. Get 3-6 months of strategy, ideas, and insight on your business straight from my brain. Click here to learn more & apply.
“This was by far the most important investment I have made in myself and my business so far!”
— Meg Ward, Be More Fear Less
