People think starting a business is about winning. We're told ad nauseam that the world's best businesspeople are scaling bigger, hiring more, and earning the most. What if none of that is true?
What a great post. I’m currently in Italy for a month with my family, which is awesome, but I’m far from getting this solopreneurship thing optimized the way Justn has described. I guess that’s why I’m here 💪. Excited to keep learning.
I agree with everything you wrote, especially this: "Business should support your life, not consume it. It should be a vehicle that serves the life you want to build rather than an endless series of obligations that distract you from living."
Now I have to figure out how to "Keep margins high" and "Be the person who makes good money.
And a lot of times when you grow, you get farther from the original reason you wanted to start the business in the first place. This reminds me of Derek Sivers and CD Baby. All he ever wanted to do was help musicians get their music out into the world. He never intended to start a business. Just wanted to help people. Figure out who you want to help and only focus on that.
"Useful, Not True" has been the book I've been giving to people all year. I bought a stack of copies and just give it to people, especially people who have strong beliefs.
This sounds like me! Never planned to make money, but now I feel like a failure if I don’t. It also makes me feel bad not to be valued and compensated. I turn away free riders. But it breaks my heart and is against original goals.
Such a great and spot-on post! It really resonates with me. Almost 10 years ago, I fell into the same trap of constantly trying to grow my business. As Justin already pointed out: more growth means more employees, more investment… and quite literally, more problems.
That “more” also hits you as a business owner. You end up working even longer hours on top of an already overloaded schedule. No surprise I eventually burned out, felt depressed, and barely recognized myself.
I ended up exiting that business. But later, I started a similar one. This time with a completely different mindset and a clear awareness to avoid falling into the “more-ness” trap again.
Reminds me of the fisherman and the investment banker “parable”…
A banker sees a fisherman catching just enough fish to feed his family, and then have time to spend time with his kids and wife, and sleeping late the next day..
He tells him to “fish more, scale up, build a business, get rich, retire… So you can, get up late, fish a little, relax on the beach with your family”
The fisherman smiles and says, “But I already do that.”
Sometimes you already have what you and others expect you to want.
This is one post that I keep coming back to ... this is foundational to what we are all seeking here. I have recently bid goodbye to corporate and in the process of building my own thing - exactly how Justin described it here.
I can totally relate to this. It's something that you have to be super-diligent about avoiding.
I let my guard down during the pandemic time period. Business was booming. Our organization swelled. Now that the dust has settled, I spend a lot more time and do more work - rather than less. It's also tedious and painful to reduce the size of a business once things have grown.
My advice: do whatever you can to stay lean - because losing weight is a lot harder than putting it on.
Yep! This one hits home as well, Justin! I remember reading a business book that described how business is a three-legged stool comprised of client results, your lifestyle, and scalability. As I read it, I remember questioning the validity of placing the "scalability" objective on equal footing as the other two. Sure, many people starting a business initially think that scaling to the moon would be awe$$$0000me. But as that complexity kicks in, they realize that their lifestyle and offer(s) suffer. Therefore, as my wife and I originally began scoping out our long-term business plan, we distilled it down to just wanting to provide immense value to our clients while still being able to enjoy the freedom that we were seeking. After that, then sure, scaling isn't a bad thing. But we didn't see the point of starting our business with an equal-footing component that could jeopardize the other two.
I'll add: have a long-term mindset + avoid comparisonitis. This reduces the pressure to grow rapidly. Your race, your pace, your life. (I'm no expert, but I'm learning and trying to cultivate this mindset).
While I agree with you about the risk of not spending time on the things you most enjoy, I am struggling to make any money doing what I enjoy. Not thinking of scaling. Trying to get better at selling instead of giving away. My challenge is not being taken advantage of by students. The problem is they have no money and I feel bad taking from them. The result is I talk to them less. But talking to them is my favorite thing. So I need to find some happy medium. I will keep chugging along. The book was huge, and eventually my course will be. It’s the hourly stuff that is killing me. Sorry to ramble. Having bad solopreneur Monday scaries here. 🙂 Cheers to you- 💌
What a great post. I’m currently in Italy for a month with my family, which is awesome, but I’m far from getting this solopreneurship thing optimized the way Justn has described. I guess that’s why I’m here 💪. Excited to keep learning.
It takes time, but you’ll get there!
I agree with everything you wrote, especially this: "Business should support your life, not consume it. It should be a vehicle that serves the life you want to build rather than an endless series of obligations that distract you from living."
Now I have to figure out how to "Keep margins high" and "Be the person who makes good money.
I have witnessed this - a friend has a large 30 million annual revenue biz and she's miserable. For some people it is never enough
Such a sad story…
And a lot of times when you grow, you get farther from the original reason you wanted to start the business in the first place. This reminds me of Derek Sivers and CD Baby. All he ever wanted to do was help musicians get their music out into the world. He never intended to start a business. Just wanted to help people. Figure out who you want to help and only focus on that.
He’s my favorite author.
Same here. Read the books over and over again.
"Useful, Not True" has been the book I've been giving to people all year. I bought a stack of copies and just give it to people, especially people who have strong beliefs.
This sounds like me! Never planned to make money, but now I feel like a failure if I don’t. It also makes me feel bad not to be valued and compensated. I turn away free riders. But it breaks my heart and is against original goals.
This is the thing so many want but get lost in their focus on need.
That’s so true, Kevin.
Such a great and spot-on post! It really resonates with me. Almost 10 years ago, I fell into the same trap of constantly trying to grow my business. As Justin already pointed out: more growth means more employees, more investment… and quite literally, more problems.
That “more” also hits you as a business owner. You end up working even longer hours on top of an already overloaded schedule. No surprise I eventually burned out, felt depressed, and barely recognized myself.
I ended up exiting that business. But later, I started a similar one. This time with a completely different mindset and a clear awareness to avoid falling into the “more-ness” trap again.
Reminds me of the fisherman and the investment banker “parable”…
A banker sees a fisherman catching just enough fish to feed his family, and then have time to spend time with his kids and wife, and sleeping late the next day..
He tells him to “fish more, scale up, build a business, get rich, retire… So you can, get up late, fish a little, relax on the beach with your family”
The fisherman smiles and says, “But I already do that.”
Sometimes you already have what you and others expect you to want.
This is one post that I keep coming back to ... this is foundational to what we are all seeking here. I have recently bid goodbye to corporate and in the process of building my own thing - exactly how Justin described it here.
“Business should support your life, not consume it.”
That’s the best framing of a “work-life balance” I have come across so far.
It’s simply true and leaves room to create the business that suits your life. If you want houses and boats, bigger business is required. Fair enough.
I definitely agree. The whole reason why I built my own business was so that I could take care of my babies at home and live in Asia
A small step that’s really helped me towards the vision of creating a business that serves in my life is charting out my ideal week on a spreadsheet.
Every week, I ask myself what is one small week I can make to move closer to that ideal week?
In the last two months, I’ve been able to add in yoga each Monday and a matinee on Fridays during the workday. Score!
This was such a refreshing and grounding read, Justin. Thank you. It's easy to forget that "enough" is a decision, not a destination.
I can totally relate to this. It's something that you have to be super-diligent about avoiding.
I let my guard down during the pandemic time period. Business was booming. Our organization swelled. Now that the dust has settled, I spend a lot more time and do more work - rather than less. It's also tedious and painful to reduce the size of a business once things have grown.
My advice: do whatever you can to stay lean - because losing weight is a lot harder than putting it on.
Yep! This one hits home as well, Justin! I remember reading a business book that described how business is a three-legged stool comprised of client results, your lifestyle, and scalability. As I read it, I remember questioning the validity of placing the "scalability" objective on equal footing as the other two. Sure, many people starting a business initially think that scaling to the moon would be awe$$$0000me. But as that complexity kicks in, they realize that their lifestyle and offer(s) suffer. Therefore, as my wife and I originally began scoping out our long-term business plan, we distilled it down to just wanting to provide immense value to our clients while still being able to enjoy the freedom that we were seeking. After that, then sure, scaling isn't a bad thing. But we didn't see the point of starting our business with an equal-footing component that could jeopardize the other two.
I'll add: have a long-term mindset + avoid comparisonitis. This reduces the pressure to grow rapidly. Your race, your pace, your life. (I'm no expert, but I'm learning and trying to cultivate this mindset).
While I agree with you about the risk of not spending time on the things you most enjoy, I am struggling to make any money doing what I enjoy. Not thinking of scaling. Trying to get better at selling instead of giving away. My challenge is not being taken advantage of by students. The problem is they have no money and I feel bad taking from them. The result is I talk to them less. But talking to them is my favorite thing. So I need to find some happy medium. I will keep chugging along. The book was huge, and eventually my course will be. It’s the hourly stuff that is killing me. Sorry to ramble. Having bad solopreneur Monday scaries here. 🙂 Cheers to you- 💌