So you want to be a solopreneur. Or maybe you already are.
You are the manager, creator, CFO, marketer, salesperson, blogger, designer, secretary, and delivery person of your business. Despite all the work, you report to no one and you like it that way.
However, while you are managing and creating and financialing and marketing and selling and blogging and designing and handling social media and Aweber who are you bouncing ideas off of? And how are making sure you are up-to-date on trends? And who is verifying all programs are up-to-date? And who is keeping abreast of the daily changes to social media? And who is keeping an eye on your competition? And do you really know how to crunch the real numbers that tell you if you are making the best decisions possible?
I love being a solopreneur! I love researching my niche to make sure I am answering the questions my readers have and providing the information they need to prepare for a comfortable retirement. I love writing: presenting data in an understandable fashion; calling the government to task when I feel it appropriate; explaining why my ideas around residual income will enhance their retirement. I love setting an example of making money on-line with plans to grow it bigger so they can see first-hand the attraction and attainability of the concept.
I do not love the techy side of building a web-site. I get nervous about where and how to spend my advertising dollars most effectively. I am not up on all the newest social media platforms. I did not know about lead costs and conversions and opt-in rates.
Thanks to several carefully chosen teams, my short-comings, my concerns, my glaze-over on certain subjects is no longer a concern. Thanks to these teams I am now very aware of my weaknesses, but knowledge is power! My amazing teams consist of industry leaders, experienced on-line marketers, techno-geniuses and number-crunchers. They share their knowledge by way of course content in my back offices; they give webinars regularly; each of them stay up-to-date on their area of expertise and can quickly explain why content might be pertinent to me or not.
In simple terms, they have my back. These gurus, and leaders, and mentors, and coaches. And many of the other members of their team are so like-minded: sharing information and knowledge freely, lending a helping hand, making suggestions.
I have grown to love the back offices. That is where all this information is stored. So I don’t have to remember information that I won’t need for another month; I don’t have to write furiously to make sure I get the pertinent details; I don’t need to suffer frustration over a forgotten concept. It’s all there, just waiting for me, ready when I am, and it stays there like my very own personal reference library.
That is the T-E-A-M in Solopreneur.
It has cost me some money, but surprisingly little (I am budget-conscious!). I have spent a little bit more money getting hands-on, eyes-on coaching. But I am confident that the money has been well-spent and has saved me months, possibly years in development time. It has saved me the frustration of dealing with my weaknesses in building on-line.
The collective knowledge of my team-mates means that quality feedback is given when I ask about an idea I have or product I am developing. Imagine having even 10-20 sets of eyeballs on your ideas, catching typos or inconsistencies, giving constructive feedback on everything from colours to content. You can’t help but develop a quality business with quality components.
That is the T-E-A-M in Solopreneur and I do SO appreciate my teams, my team-mates and the mentors who brought us all together.
We will find success together, and our successes will be so much sweeter with like-minded companions we’ve developed our businesses with.
Are you a Solopreneur with a Team?
Hi Agnes,
I agree that it is important to have a team consisting of several levels of support. No one call do it alone. In order for you to grow your business or take a quantum leap in your business you need help. A lot of the activities that you are “busy” doing can be delegated to someone else while you focus on YOUR strengths and allow them to focus on their strengths. Even though you may ‘think’ you can’t afford it – you will have more time to focus on the income producing activities that are your strengths.
I believe a team is crucial for us solopreneurs. We can get a little myopic sitting alone in front of our computers all day. We need other people to bounce ideas off of in order to stay fresh and engaged.
A team is important if only to bounce ideas off.
Working on your own can get lonely sometimes and having a support system in place for those virtual ‘water cooler’ moments is a bonus.
I’ve discovered building a business alone IS very difficult. Having a team of other solepreneurs to bounce ideas off of, collaborate, and even communicate with on a more personal level is very rewarding. :o)