James Clift is the CEO and founder of Durable. James’ mission is to make it easier to run a business than to be an employee.
When it comes to work, the traditional path the world sets for us is to go to school, get a steady job and then slowly work your way to the top. But these days, following tradition doesn’t always mean stability. In fact, amongst individuals with bachelor’s degrees, there has been a 111% increase in concerns surrounding job security. So, how do you future-proof your career? Make it into a business.
I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was in high school. Back then, I built websites for people. In university, I founded a window cleaning company. After graduation, I started looking for a “real job,” the kind of job where you wear a suit to work and sit in a cubicle in an office. As I scrolled through page after page of job postings, I realized that I didn’t want to follow that path. I wanted a career where I was in control.
I’ve now been a serial entrepreneur for over a decade, and today, I’m a solo founder. The road hasn’t always been an easy one, but I’m so happy that I pursued this path over any other.
Here are the three big things anyone needs to know before they start out as a solopreneur.
1. You don’t need anything to get started—just the customer.
When I launched my current business, nothing was perfect. I created a pitch deck in one day. Our website wasn’t very pretty. And the tech product itself had a bunch of bugs. You’d think these were all nails in the proverbial startup coffin, but that wasn’t the case at all because what we did have was the customer.
I could see an underserved portion of the population, and I was building a product that directly catered to their needs and wants. The fact that the very first iteration of my tool wasn’t perfect didn’t matter—all that mattered was that I had the perfect customers.
People so often get caught up in the details. They don’t want to launch a product or a service, even a website, until it’s flawless. But the fact is, perfection is a moving target, and entrepreneurship is a nonlinear trajectory. Don’t waste your time on overthinking things like being incorporated or designing the perfect logo. Focus on nailing your customer base.
2. Move fast, learn faster.
If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, then you’re not shipping fast enough. Everything was so quick to launch and imperfect when I first started my business, meaning that nothing was ideal. Looking back now, I’m definitely a little bit embarrassed, but it was for the best because I was able to learn and pivot a heck of a lot faster than I would have if I’d just let my ideas percolate in a vacuum.
One of the early features I launched at my current company was a banking product. I thought it was a great idea, but what it really did was add too much complexity to the business overall. Customers weren’t trusting the service, and we needed more maturity as a brand before people would actually make use of it. I still believe it’s a good product, but it was too early in the timeline for us. So, we decided to pivot into what was actually drawing people in, making website building easier.
If I’d spent months tinkering with the idea and spending precious time and energy on the tool, that wouldn’t have changed customers’ opinions. It just would have taken longer to get their feedback and realize where I really needed to put my energy when it came to shipping products.
3. It doesn’t have to be blood, sweat and tears.
There’s a narrative out there that to be a successful business owner, you have to subscribe to hustle culture—you have to rise each morning before the sun and “grind” until dark. You work seven days a week. You haven’t seen your family in months.
When I founded my first company, I subscribed to that “hustle culture” narrative. I thought that I had to be the person in charge of everything. What I quickly realized was not only was I not good at every single thing, but it was also completely inefficient. I was spending hours every week on administrative tasks when I could have been spending that time connecting with customers or working to grow the business. After a little bit of research, I discovered a slew of tools that could automate these mundane everyday tasks I had been wasting my time on—apps for creating presentations, research, note-taking and even content writing. People are concerned that AI could mean the end of jobs. I say you should leverage AI to make running your small business easier. AI tools have proven to make people 14% more efficient (paywall) in their work, and solopreneurs should take advantage!
Of course, launching a business is hard work. But it doesn’t all have to be a slog. In fact, once you have some momentum, you have a lot of freedom over your schedule and time. Recently, I met a business owner that works for eight months of the year and travels for four. One of the great benefits of solopreneurship is that you make your own schedule, and you aren’t beholden to a typical 9-5 anymore—you can work where and when you want.
In summary, solopreneurship has no formula. There is no singular way to execute. Enjoy the flexibility and the freedom. Work on what’s most important to you. Anything that’s outside of your wheelhouse outsource.
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