You have a great idea for business and you decide to strike out on your own. But your dream isn’t to build a conglomerate with hundreds or even thousands of employees. Your dream is to work for yourself. Becoming a solopreneur is the way to realize your dream of going into business for yourself.
Independence
When you are a solopreneur, the vision for your company is your vision. You don’t have to run each idea by a board of directors or gain the approval of stockholders. If you don’t like the direction your company is taking, you can change it.
While you may need to appeal to customers or clients to gain their business, you choose the means and strategy that you employ to do so. In fact, you even choose which potential clients or customers you choose to target. If for some reason certain customers or clients become more trouble than they’re worth, you can drop them without the need to justify your decision – except to your bottom line.
Image by Mikael Altemark
Flexible Schedule
A common misperception is that solopreneurs snooze until noon and lounge around all day in their jammies once they’ve made it out of bed. Anyone who actually works as a solopreneur knows better. In fact, one danger facing many solopreneurs is that they are nearly always working.
Nonetheless, one of the great advantages of becoming a solopreneur is the freedom to dictate your own schedule. Of course, you need to be accessible to customers or clients, but your actual work schedule is your own. If you need or want to take time out to run an important errand or just enjoy a beautiful sunny afternoon, you can do that, without making up an excuse to your boss.
Making It Work
It may seem ironic, but every solopreneur needs help to make his or her life work. Going it alone in business doesn’t mean doing it all by yourself. Knowing when to get help is one mark of a savvy solopreneur.
If you’re a writer and savvy about the web and social networking, it may make sense for you to create and maintain your own website and social networking presence. On the other hand, if you are a nutritionist, your time and efforts may be better served by concentrating on attracting and keeping clients – and contracting with a professional web designer and one or more social media experts.
Clerical tasks may be another area where delegation is a wise strategy for a solopreneur. Virtual assistants can take care of tasks ranging from writing correspondence to maintaining your schedule. Contracting the services of a virtual assistant need not involve paying someone full time; many virtual assistants have several clients for whom they only work a few hours per week.
Isolation is another problem faced by many solopreneurs. Find an organization that addresses the type of work that you do and attend meetings and networking events. Take your computer to a coffee shop or to the library to work for a morning or an afternoon. Take advantage of the flexibility and freedom of working solo to meet a friend for lunch or surprise your partner with a romantic dinner.
On the other hand, you may also need to be firm with family and friends who believe you’re freely available to run errands for them. Kindly but firmly remind them that your working hours are just as important as their time in the office or at school. Sweeten the message by reminding them that the sooner you’re finished with your work, the sooner you can enjoy their company.
For Further Reading
- The Five Rules of Solopreneur Success
inc.com/marla-tabaka/the-5-rules-of-solopreneur-success.html - How to Become a Successful Solopreneur
chasethepaper.com/2011/how-to-become-a-successful-solopreneur/ - International Virtual Assistants Association
ivaa.org/ - Three Strategies to Help Solopreneurs Tackle the work/Life Tug of War (and Enjoy More Life!)
selfgrowth.com/articles/3-strategies-to-help-solopreneurs-tackle-the-worklife-tug-of-war-and-enjoy-more-life - What Is a Solopreneur?
freefrombroke.com/what-is-a-solopreneur/
About the Author: Guest post contributed by Stacy Pruitt, a freelance finance writer. Stacy writes about entrepreneurship, advanced trading and forex indicators.