3 Ways to Build Your Solo Business Faster
Cover your children’s ears….
The tortoise and the hare is a pretty shitty story.
The moral of that story is, “Move slow and calculated. Don’t give up. You’ll win eventually.”
Maybe that’s enough if you’re up against one easily distracted opponent like in the children’s story…
But as a one-person business, you’re up against a whole sea of businesses where many are more experienced, much larger, and have more money - all competing for the same thing - attention and sales.
What if we could move faster than everyone else while still maintaining the quality of persistence that the tortoise represents?
You’d be a savage.
But here’s the thing…
Many solopreneurs get in their own way causing a snails-pace level of progress at best which usually results in burn-out and/or the need to ‘get a real job’ again.
I asked ChatGPT, “Why do solopreneurs procrastinate?”
Whether it be fear, lack of technical skill or accountability, or even just poor self-management abilities. There are a lot of stumbling blocks and possibly even a few excuses that continue to hold us up from reaching our real potential.
What’s at Stake if You Don’t Pick Up the Pace…
Whether it be:
your health
your relationships
your profitable business
your next breath
….Nothing is guaranteed.
Regardless of your speed or output, this is a truth we all have to reckon with.
If nothing is guaranteed, then why the hell would you be satisfied with taking forever on the things that you value the most?? Seriously think about that for a second.
To be clear…
This has nothing to do with patience.
Practice patience in all things.
But this is not an excuse to move and take action like molasses.
If you want to have more time living your dream outcome for your life, then we’ve got to pick up the pace.
I’m preaching to myself on this too FYI.
I’m realizing how much room there is for me to improve in this arena.
As I’ve contemplated, researched, and evaluated what it means to pick up the pace and why it’s imperative, I have 3 action items to share that will quickly begin to help you increase your speed and output in all things.
Get Scrappy
Do Less, Better
Let Go of the Little Things
The root of all of this is in decision-making.
These tips will help you make quicker decisions and improve your chances of success.
1. Get Scrappy, Not Sloppy
As a one-person business, you gotta be scrappy.
What I mean when I say scrappy is… be resourceful, flexible, and clever.
Work outside of the boundaries. Be a little cheeky. Have some personality.
And by all means…
Kill the perfectionist mentality.
I’m not saying be sloppy and haphazard with how you run your business. But leverage loopholes and tinker with unconventional solutions.
Aim for ‘Good Enough’.
It tends to turn out better than ‘perfect’ anyway.
Making something ‘good enough’ is all you need as a one-person business. Especially when starting out. Your website doesn’t need to be primo, your content doesn’t need to be flawless, and your offers don’t have to solve every problem.
Anymore these days, it seems that people prioritize substance-value over production-value.
With advancements in tech and software, high production-value has become more and more commoditized.
What your audience is really drawn to is substance.
Things that are meaningful to them.
Things that solve their problems. Instantly.
Don’t aim for great.
Aim for good enough.
You will still be able to create a meaningful impact for your people.
ex:
Whether it be products or content… Ship your work before it’s done.
Use the free versions of software where you can
Hit up the bigger players in your niche before you feel comfortable (you’ll never actually feel comfortable)
Regardless of how well you implement some scrappiness into your biz, if you don’t pay attention to the next point you’re doomed either way.
2. Do Less, Better
Oh man, I shouldn’t be the one to say this (cause I am soooo guilty here) but…
Stop doing so much.
I’ve spoken on this before, but we as entrepreneurial-minded individuals need to do less. I’ve really gotta get better at this.
I’m currently writing weekly entries that get built as an email newsletter, blog, and recording a podcast and video for it, developing digital products, managing a small team of 3, posting on all of the top social media platforms, working as an email marketing freelancer for multiple clients, playing in my church band several times a month, raising a family of two young boys (3 and 5yrs old), blah blah blah… It’s wild.
Not to mention my goals of buying other small businesses and growing them to re-sell, getting into the short-term real estate rental game, building a portfolio of other residential properties, traveling more, starting a radio show, releasing new products, and putting out consistent vlog content to document the journey…
WTF am I thinking??
I don’t know, but all of these things are exciting to me.
My business coach Joel is constantly having to reign me in on this.
In order to support my future escapades, I have to focus on a ridiculously limited amount of things right now.
You don’t need to be making content on every platform.
You don’t need a product or offering to become profitable.
You don’t need to spend another 8 hours on research
You don’t need to read every email immediately.
You don’t need to serve everyone.
You don’t need to be in most meetings.
You don’t need to pay for the blue checkmark on Twitter in order to grow on the platform.
3 Steps to Do less… Better
Optimize what you have
Eliminate what’s unnecessary
Add nothing until the first two steps have been repeated 100 times
As Alex Hormozi says,
1 product, 1 channel, 1 avatar = a million-dollar business
Before you add to your business, subtract from it.
3. Let Go of Small Decisions
Loosen your grip on things that aren’t massive lever-movers in your business
EX: my content creation perfectionism - I’ve had to chill out, but now we get more out.
Let the Server decide
practice not making every single decision for yourself
Some people actually know better than you - believe it or not
Play the Best/Worst Game.
I’ve been known to have control issues…
Not in a super aggressive way, but just in all things I…. have a tendency to steer the outcome in a direction that I feel is best.
I tell myself that this is a quality of leadership. But that ship is a slippery slope.
Let me ask you a question…
On average, how long does it take you to decide what to order off the menu when you go out to eat?
Is it a big deal to get the ‘perfect meal’ or is a delicious option enough to give you satisfaction?
I watched a video recently about what billionaires do differently from everyone else and one of the things that they are experts on is, not wasting time. EVER. Why look at the menu? ask the server what’s best and go with that. Especially at a nice restaurant - you can’t go wrong.
What are you micro-managing in your business that’s not leading to a major positive impact?
Whether you’re truly working as a lone wolf or you have some hired help here and there. You’ve gotta let go of small decisions.
I used to nit-pick everythinggggg.
And who was negatively impacted the most by this immature, low-level IQ behavior?
Me.
It’s something that you have to continually work at, but let go of the small stuff.
Preserve your energy and intensity for the things that actually move the needle in your business.
In order to get to the level of success you’re chasing, you have to be quick to let go of small things and stay focused on the big decisions.
Show me someone who is decisive and keeps the ball rolling, and I’ll show you success in the making. Might as well be you!
Stay scrappy.
Keep taking action… on fewer things.
Drop the little things that don’t matter.
And you’ll pick up the pace in a way that no one can match.
Rooting for you my friend.
Til Next Time ✌️🙂
Ev