Becoming a solopreneur is not an easy path to follow, especially when you don’t have a lot of previous experience when it comes to managing a business. There is always something new appearing that makes you think that is not ready yet to hit the ‘Publish’ button.

Having said that, Simplicity is key. Becoming better doesn’t necessarily mean growing bigger, and that is a common mistake that new companies make. You don’t have to use every software that is available online to launch your idea, because guess what: in the majority of cases, you’re going to lose your biggest resource: time.

Mastering a tool that will give you an advantage is great, but as a solopreneur, it is better to plan from where you are currently, not where you hope to be. That’s what the Internet gave us some decades ago when it was created: a voice that could be heard anywhere, anytime, without a big investment.

Want to become a good solopreneur? Define your idea

You have probably guessed that Company of One is all about taking action as soon as possible. I like to think of it as a snowball, that just needs a little push to move and with enough time it will be unstoppable.

Making enormous snowballs sounds exciting and funny, but are you willing to make this effort if the idea is not something that you are passionate about?

If you are in the business of being a solopreneur, you have to understand that making a profit is the most important thing before considering any other action. Nobody will owe you some money just because you followed your dream — instead, focus on something that already has high demand.

On the other hand, something I enjoyed about this book is that it embraces the fact of giving a personality to your business. What is the vibe that you show to people? What is your commitment to them?

Because we are now living in the Attention Economy.

Unless you offer something that covers a basic need (which will make becoming a millionaire as soon as possible almost impossible), you have to develop a fascination for your product or service. Unlearn being boring and start to study how to apply storytelling to your ideas.

This is a topic that I am sure will get a lot of research in the next years, and the book shares what bestselling author Sally Hogshead thinks about giving personality to your business. There must be a particular reason why you sell a product or service, not because you want to make money (we all want that!). It is about selling your way of thinking, the way you make things work.

Also, Ms. Hogshead developed a test that can help you define what path you should follow. You can try her free version of the test here — I made this test on 10th June and I’m Mystique!

Build Systems & Rapport

Remember what I told you about being a Tech company at the beginning of this article?

Every business can be one. In fact, any successful brand you can mention now is already one.

Tools are there to be used, but choose wisely. Tons of software will probably help you, but keep in mind that you have to maintain it as simple as possible. How many great ideas have been abandoned because the time it took someone to share it was too much and made it too boring to continue?

You don’t know how to accept payments? There is Stripe, Paypal and LemonSqueezy. Not sure how to make videos? There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube. Think having a website is complicated? WordPress and Wix would like to have a word with you. Just choose one and start creating, you can make adjustments later.

You can check how to define your Minimum Viable Profit (MVPr). I talked about it in my newsletter last week. Here’s the link.

If you don’t even enjoy making your own content, selling a product or offering a service, why would anybody else care? Maybe spend more time on your workflow over the last couple of weeks, learn what has been done right and wrong, and then adapt it to your goals, but always refine it every once in a while.

I spend every Sunday morning 1 or 2 hours planning my next week and prioritising what really matters to me. Even if it’s just a small space on my calendar available, I try to use it in my projects (like this one), and what has helped me a lot is having a clear structure of what platforms I will use at that moment: just a blank page and my Samsung Notes on my phone, for example.

When you focus on emotion and ease, your clients will appreciate that customer journey you made them go through, and they will invest in you more — by buying you more or referring you to someone else!

Because word-of-mouth has never been more alive. Those clients are like diamonds — happy and loyal customers who can become brand evangelists for your company. And remember that you are a solopreneur, which means that most of the time you will be serving other people.

In my case, segmentation is one of the parts that I enjoy the most when I work with a new client. I like to craft this new buyer persona and think about how we can approach them in the best possible way. I’m not sure if it’s something with ego, but it makes me happy to show that I added my personal touch.

Clients are a relationship. Leaving the transaction part aside, we can say now that everyone can stay informed about everything. Information is massively attacking us every single day we use our smartphones or computers. But people are getting tired of that.

They want something genuine, and high value, but that also educates them in the process. Customers want to feel that they were considered in each phase of the product they bought.