In Defense of the Solopreneur

Courtesy of @simonmigaj

One of my favorite quotes is by Derek Silvers - which I first learned about from Ali Abdaal - and sits at the top of my productivity dashboard:

"Never forget why you're really doing what you're doing. Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn't that enough?"

How many folks have we met with dozens of business ideas and zero follow-throughs? I've certainly been guilty of this sin until I read Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business by Paul Jarvis. This book is full of remedies that incite action instead of endless brainstorming and directionless preparation.

One such tool Jarvis writes about is the Minimum Viable Product or MVP. The idea is simple: Rather than risk wasting a year and tens of thousands of dollars developing a product nobody wants, create a barebones, low-cost version and get it in front of a handful of customers as quickly and cheaply as possible.

If we're considering developing a consulting service, find just one personal connection to consult. Their feedback and your experience will be infinitely more valuable than weeks of research. Only once you've tweaked your idea should you consider developing a simple website and beginning marketing.

I took a similar approach to my first B2C workshops when I created several one-off events, rather than investing time and resources in developing an entire class.

But where do we go from there?

We tend to think that companies must grow to survive, and viewers of the hit TV show Sharktank are accustomed to seeing entrepreneurs approaching venture capitalists and angel investors. Society's expectation, therefore, seems to be to grow as quickly as possible. But what about those of us who wish to remain the little guy and keep things simple? While doing my MBA at Babson, I read Harvard case after Harvard case about companies that grew too quickly. Growth adds complexity in logistics, staffing, and, in the case of international growth, localization. That is how Walmart got clobbered in Germany, and KFC learned the hard way to serve French fries in Japan instead of mashed potatoes.

Much like how Darwin's "survival of the fittest" is often misunderstood to mean "survival of the strongest," the businesses that survive are those that can adapt to changing environments. Such change becomes increasingly difficult as companies grow and mature. A small charter fleet during the era of COVID has far less overhead than a behemoth like American Airlines forced to fly empty plains during a pandemic.

Now, I'm not saying that one should never pursue growth through outside funding. After all, a VC can provide validation, mentorship, and connections. That said, VCs will want enormous returns for the risk they're taking, which means another set of stakeholders to please. Likewise, some business models much reach a certain economy of scale to be sustainable.

With Boston Intercultural, I prefer to keep things simple, eliminate, automate, and delegate where I can, and focus on a small group of customers. I'd rather build close relationships whenever possible and spread my service or product by word of mouth and referrals.

As demand for service grows, common wisdom suggests that the most sensible course forward would be to hire additional employees to increase the supply of your offerings. Again, doing so adds complexity and may not be the best course of action for every freelancer or small business. Instead of increasing staff, Jarvis suggests offboarding less desirable clients and/or increasing prices. This strategy is specifically helpful when the amount of revenue earned from a particular client is disproportionate to the time and effort spent. I’ve found that it’s in both parties’ interest to part ways in situations like that.

The two key points from this post I hope you walk away with are the value of MVPs and avoiding simply following the crowd if the growth seems like your only possible move.

Good luck, and feel free to reach out to me at dan@bostonintercultural.com with any questions - I look forward to hearing from you!