Author: Michele

A lot of people assume that solopreneur is synonymous with “startup,” and that nobody would actually have a solopreneur business over the long haul.  People

who aren’t familiar with this way of doing business assume that you’d only have a one-person shop until you could hire a second person.  This is far from the truth!

There are already lots of solopreneurs you may know – fitness trainers, massage therapists, hair stylists, consultants, artists, personal stylists, house cleaners, handymen/women, and dog trainers are just a few of the businesses that often operate as solopreneurs.  According the US Census bureau, over three-quarters of the businesses in the US are solopreneurs!  (source: US Census Bureau).

Some businesses may not lend themselves to the solopreneur model, but many do.  Some solopreneurs used outsourced help in the form of contractors.  The key to having a solopreneur business you can sustain over the long haul is in how you set it up.

Here’s a few ways to make sure your solopreneur business works for you over the long haul:

• Make sure you love what your company (you) do.  It’s hard to coast in a solopreneur business.  If you don’t love it, find something new.
• Focus on what you do best, both in what you do for customers and in your business activities.  Use promotion strategies you find fun and energizing.  Consider outsourcing tasks you aren’t good at or dread doing.
• Always be learning!  This applies not just to the skill or craft you do for customers but also to your business skills.  The world is always changing, and you have to evolve to keep up.
• Look for ways to systematize anything you’ll be doing more than once.  Write down your best guess at a process before you do the task the first time and revise it with each subsequent time you do the same task.
• Automate when possible!  The better you can use your time the more profitable you can be.

The bottom line is don’t discount solopreneurship as a destination, not a stopping point.  Being a solopreneur can be a journey that lasts many years.  There may be a limit to how big you can grow or how much money you can make with your solopreneur business, but those limits may be high enough that it doesn’t matter to you.

Tell me about your solopreneur business in the comments.  How do you keep your business going over the long haul?

Neither is “Twitter,” “speaking,” or “handing out coupons.”  These are all tools or tactics used to implement a strategy, not strategies by themselves.  Your

strategy may include one or more of these, but they are not strategies.

Way too often, I work with overwhelmed, overworked solopreneurs who don’t have any strategy in their business.  There are so many experts (and some regular people too) telling you to do so many different things to build your business that it gets to be too much just to keep up.  This is the problem of working without a strategy – you just keep doing more and more and hope that something works.  Eventually, you’ll run out of time or become fried. How might one of these tools fit within a strategy?  Using Facebook as an example, here’s how it might fit into a few bigger strategies:

• A business has an offer (something for sale or a free download) on their site, and uses Facebook posts to encourage people to click through and see the offer.  Other things being equal, more views should equal more sales or optins.  The strategy is to get views on the offer and make sales from your site; Facebook is one tool to get views on the offer.
• A business offers something unique that most people don’t know exists and uses Facebook to educate people that this product or services is available.  Making sure the right people know about the company and the problems it solves can help generate sales.  People can’t buy what they don’t know about, so the strategy is to educate people so they can buy if the product is right for them; Facebook is a tool to educate potential customers.
• Facebook can be one way to gather interested and targeted prospects and communicate with them.  The strategy is to stay in touch with interested people; Facebook is a tool for that.

There are many more examples of how Facebook can be a tool you use to implement a strategy, but the point of these examples is that the tool is not the strategy.  If you are using Facebook, you can’t expect to generate sales just by being on Facebook.  The same can be said of any other tool you might use to implement a strategy. Before you add the next activity to your workload, make sure you have a clear strategy for this new activity.  Don’t ever add something without knowing how it can help your business. In the comments, tell me about one strategic activity you do to build your business.

I make it a point to do a lot of training.  For years, I’ve listened to experts tell me “people don’t care what you do, your credentials or how long you’ve been in business they just want to know if you can help them.”  I tried to internalize this and believe it – after all, so many experts say this, but I just couldn’t bring myself to believe this.  It’s so far from what I think – I care a lot about these things, and make it a point to investigate them before I hire anyone or buy their products.

I do care what people do (i.e. what methods they use to accomplish what they promise).  If somebody promises to help my skin look better, but it’s through a risky surgical procedure then I’m not interested.  If it’s through natural, plant-based, organic skin products then I want to know more!

I also care about people’s credentials.  I care not only about formal certifications but also life experiences and past successes.  I don’t think people necessarily need a formal certification if they have a track record, but I do want to see some assurance that the person I’m thinking of hiring or buying from has some experience and success in what they do.

I care how long a person has been in business.  My thinking is that a business that is dishonest or provides bad service won’t stay in business very long.  If I’m buying something for my business, I want to see that the business I’m buying from has more expertise in this area than I do.

Given that I care a lot about all of these things and that they figure prominently in my purchase decisions, how do I reconcile my beliefs with that of other experts who know enough that I opt to learn from them?

I think the answer is in the order in which people care about these things.  Before I look at any of these things, there is a first, cursory check to see if the business has something I want.  It’s only after the business has passed that step that these other factors become relevant.  Once I know I’m interested in what they sell, then I begin the process of checking them out in these other ways.

This is critical point of all this – people DO care about your credentials, but not until they know you have something they want.  There’s no point in checking out how qualified someone is until you know there’s at least a chance of doing business with them.

What does this mean for you, the solopreneur business owner?

Whenever you are communicating about your business, make sure to first communicate what you do for people.  Once someone knows you have something they want, then you can start talking to them about why they should pick you.

In the comments, tell me how you pick someone to buy from.  Do you care about their credentials?

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I was so touched by this response to last week’s Boston tragedies that I wanted to share it with you.  If you’re not familiar with the tradition, Boston Red Sox fans sing the Neil Diamond song “Sweet Caroline” at every game.  After the awful events of the week, Neil Diamond himself showed up to sing his song with the fans.  Here’s a video to see it for yourself (and I do recommend you take just 4 1/2 minutes to watch it – it’s very uplifting and inspiring):

What I love about this performance is that he just showed up and did it.  If you noticed the lag between his voice and the PA, it is due to the lack of proper audio being set up.  He was actually singing along to what was being broadcast instead of getting the sound track through an earpiece.  Instead of detracting from his performance, I think it actually enhanced it.  Instead of acting like a mega-star and demanding that the equipment be just so, he saw a chance to do something nice for people and took it.  He wasn’t concerned that this less-than-perfect performance would be widely broadcast and live forever, his mind was on the people who were benefiting from his presence.  Like a true professional, he even adapted to what he had and by the end of the song he sounded pretty good!

This is a great example of focusing on how you can help and serve others without worrying about making yourself look perfect.  As solopreneurs, it’s easy to be so invested in your business and how you represent yourself that you don’t end up releasing products and services that people could benefit from.  How sad that is!

What would happen to your business if you simply stopped thinking about how you look to others and stopped worrying about looking stupid?  What would you do?  What products and services would you launch that have been languishing in the wings?  Consider taking a leap and releasing those new ideas today and tell me about it in the comments.

I invest a lot in training and one of the things that is a big red flag to me is when someone promotes a technique or idea as the single right way to do something.  I love systems, blueprints, processes, etc. but the beauty in most of these is that there is choice.  There is leeway for an individual business owner to pick something that is right for his or her business.  Of course, there are situation when there is only one right way – for example, you should always have permission before adding someone to your email newsletter.  This is both the law and a good business practice.

What I think can be harmful is when someone promotes something as a single right way for all businesses.  It’s usually part of a sales offer and there’s usually something you “have to” doing or your business is doomed.  When someone who has never met you or examined your business tells you that they have something new that you have to add to your business and that there is only one right way to do it, take an extra look at what they are saying and make sure it really is a good fit for you.

One of my favorite ways to avoid doing this to my clients is to explain why I make the suggestions I do.  By giving the other person an understanding of why I suggest what I do, I give them the ability to assess my choice and make sure that my reasoning is sound for them and their business.  I also believe this is a high level of service – to not just tell someone what to do but to educate them so they can move on to the next level of learning.

Another reason to provide background and context to what I suggest is that the other person can assess whether the new information is a fit for them in various personal ways.  Is it a good fit for your personality?  Is it a good fit for your lifestyle goals?  Is it a good fit for your business goals?

So how can you assess whether something promoted as a single right way is a good idea for you?  First look for the person’s reasons for suggesting what they do.  If they have good reasons they usually won’t mind telling you what they are.  Beware of someone who gets upset or vague when asked why they think what they do.  Second, trust yourself and your knowledge of your business.  If someone says you have to be doing something you hate doing, it may not be a good fit for you.  There’s lots of right ways to build and promote a business and you probably can avoid a lot of things you don’t like if you have the right plan.

How do you assess whether someone’s “one size fits all” solution is for you?  Tell me in the comments.

Google and all of their related free products are some of the best resources a business owner can have.  One of my absolute favorites is Gmail.  I use Gmail for my business email even though my correspondence comes to and from an email address at my domain.  (I tell you how to do this in my system The ABC’s of a Successful Solopreneur Business if you want to use Gmail for your business.)

One of the best features of Gmail is that it comes with an abundant amount of free storage.  It also comes with an archive feature which is how you can create your own searchable archives for free.  Your own archives can become something like your own wiki.

In case you are wondering about just how much storage there is, it’s probably more than you’ll use up any time soon unless you are an exceptionally heavy email user.  I’ve had mine for over 2 years and I’m only using 4% of my available storage.  At this rate, I could double what I store and still have 24 years of space.  This doesn’t even count the fact that they increase the amoujnt of storage you get over time.

The archive function is brilliant.  It solves the problem of wanting to keep email for future reference but not have it in your workspace when you don’t need it.  It’s also let’s you instantly search for any email by sender, recipient or keywords found anywhere in the email.

How this might help you

You can begin practicing “inbox zero,” where you make it a regular practice to empty your email inbox.  I’ve worked with numerous business owners who have hundreds or even thousands of emails still in their inbox because they have no place to store them.  With the archive feature, you can keep all those emails “just in case,” but not ever see them unless you need them.  When your inbox only contains current, incoming mail you can see right away how much you have to process and what still needs to be acted on.  If you work in a business where you might be called on to document something, you can keep emails for that purpose.  I use my email archive to store information in  way that will support ME when I want to search for it.  I email myself a link or note with the keywords I would look for it under.  When I’m ready to act on it, a quick search finds the information I want.  My email archive has become my own personalized reference library.

How to do it:

• Start by creating a gmail account just for your business if you don’t already have one.  Your address can be your name, your business name or some variation on either but make it professional because other people may see it someday.
• Set your domain email (the email address that ends in “yourdomain.com”) to forward to your gmail address.
• In gmail, set your emails to come from your domain email address.
• When you have an email to save, use the archive button to archive it.
• Consider installing the “send and archive” button from Google labs.  As the name implies, it will send your message and archive it in one shot.
• When you find something you might want someday, email it to yourself using keywords you’ll think to use when you are ready for the information.  Archive the message from your inbox.

That’s it!  You can have this set up in very little time, and I’d love to know what creative ways you find to use your own searchable archive.  Tell me about it in the comments.

PS – if you need help setting up your domain email to work with your gmail, that’s just one of the many topics I cover in my complete business set up guide “The ABC’s of a Successful Solopreneur Business.”

Time and task management is such a key skill for solopreneurs that it comes up a lot in my work.  I was already an avid student of productivity even before starting this business, and now I make it a point to always be testing and improving my practices.  One trap that is easy to fall into is getting sidetracked during task work.

Task work is the nitty-gritty work you do to run your business.  It’s not the big picture and planning work, but actually doing the keystrokes, calls, or actions necessary to do your work.  Much of this kind of work happens on the computer or online, so it’s ripe with places to get sidetracked.  How does it happen?  You want to log into a site and find out they want you to change your password.  You go to your email to get the reset link, and see just one email you have to take care of right now and hours later you still haven’t reset your password or finished the initial task.  Social media is the worst for getting sidetracked!

There’s lots of ways to avoid this, and the important thing is that you do avoid it!  Here’s a few ideas to try:

• For especially bad tempting sidetrackers such as email, news sites and social media, have designated time slots to check and use them daily.  If it’s not your time, you should only be on those sites if it pertains to your current task.
• Do your big picture planning so you know what the best project to be working on right now it.
• Plan your projects in enough detail that you know what your next few tasks are
• If something tricky comes up that is going to require multiple steps and therefore increase the risk of getting sidetracked, use a piece of paper to write down the steps so you don’t forget what got you where you are.
• Consider using a prominently placed post-it note or small white board that always has your current project on it so you can only ignore it if you try.
• Schedule your calls ahead of time and have limited phone hours so you don’t feel compelled to answer the ringing phone.
• Support your own efforts to focus – use headphones, shut the door, close programs you aren’t using, have a good chair, etc.

What helps you stay focused on small tasks?  How do you avoid getting sidetracked?  Share your ideas in the comments.

Early on in our home renovation, I hired a contractor for work he said would take 6 weeks.  If you’ve ever done extensive home renovations, you know what’s

coming – 9 months later we fired him and still had holes in the floor down to the dirt under the house and a 2″ gap under an exterior door where he ripped a threshold out on his first day and never replaced it (among many other problems).  Way more went wrong than I could ever put in a blog post (or even a series), but the one of the biggest things he did wrong was that he didn’t manage us, his clients.

As the client, it’s not my job to know whether an idea is feasible, realistic or even a good idea; it’s the contractor’s job to know that and steer us accordingly.  It’s also his job to say “no” when it’s appropriate or when he can’t fulfill our request.  This person said yes all the time and ended up way over his head and we paid the price.  What I learned from this is that one of the most important roles you can play is to make sure you manage your work situations so your clients get your best work.  More than once, I’ve helped my clients dig out from bad situations caused when they hired someone who didn’t manage the work and much like my contractor got in over their head.  It doesn’t serve you or your client if you’re a “yes man.”  If saying no to a request is the best for the client and you, then you owe it to both of you to say no.

So how do you say no gracefully and preserve the good relationship between you and your client?  Lay the groundwork way ahead of time by being honest and meeting your commitments.  If you answer questions about your skills and knowledge honestly from the beginning, your client will respect that and when you opt to say no because something is out of your expertise your client will be grateful you said no.  Likewise, if you are selective about what you take on but always deliver your client will trust that you are making a good choice for both of you when you say no.

When it seems warranted, an honest explanation of why you are saying no can help as well.  There are loads of good reasons to turn a request down, and sometimes it can be helpful to explain your reasons.  Surprisingly though, sometimes people don’t care – they just want your answer so they can move on.

Do you always say yes to keep you clients happy?  Have you ever said yes when you shouldn’t?  How do you handle saying no?  Share your thoughts in the comments.