The Solopreneur is Dead.
From one recovering solopreneur to another let me tell you frankly that the solopreneur within me has finally capitulated to the fact that it’s not nearly as an attractive model as it once was. In fact, I’m now somewhat repulsed by the idea.
Not only that, I’ve actually been more successful now that I’ve put the solopreneur act on hold. This idea of doing things “on my own” within my own little vacuum and coming up with ingenuity and ground-breaking innovation is a farce, a lie. The point that I’m making is this: It’s far more healthy, far more satisfying, and the potential for success is far higher when you partner with others.
There’s no badge of honor, no medal for keeping that title – who told you that anyways? When did you feel that that model was really that cool?
Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi, a psychology professor who studied innovation, once said this:
All great inventions emerge from a long sequence of small sparks; the first idea often isn’t all that good, but thanks to collaboration it later sparks another idea, or it’s reinterpreted in an unexpected way.
Collaboration brings small sparks together to generate breakthrough innovation.
I’ve found this to be incredibly true in my own experiences as some of the “best” ideas that I’ve had have become infinitely better in the context of a team as we’ve been able to iterate on them and refine – the process has been so successful that I cannot ever not partner with people on the ideas that I have so as to risk them not coming into fruition!
So the question sits with you – are you a so-called solopreneur? What’s keeping you there? Pride? Ego? A misguided belief that you can simply do it “better” by yourself? Or are you worried that you won’t make as much money by sharing the load (and the wealth) that comes into your small little pipeline?
Are you so special as to believe that you’ve got it all figured out and that you don’t need anyone (or want anyone) to lean into your ideas and challenge them a bit?
I certainly wrestled with these things and spent a great deal of my time as a solopreneur but I’ve been able to get past the emotional and financial challenges and see the light – partnering with others and the power of community easily makes up for those things (and then some).
I guarantee that you will be more successful in partnership with others than you could ever be on your own. There are an infinite amount of examples of this in business, in the context of sports, and all other areas of life that you could pull from and for every success story out there that features “that one guy” or “one woman” there’s a team that’s sitting behind them who helped them get there.
Even if you’re a small-time blogger (at this point) it’s never too early to find that partner to work with and to build your blogging empire together. Heck, you’ll do it faster and you’ll have much more fun in the process.
Make it a goal this year to kill the solopreneur. It was a fun model while it lasted.
Agreed. I am finding it far more beneficial when I collaborate with others.
One thing I’ve dealt with, at least from a ministry perspective, is it’s hard to get others passionate about your vision. I could call our ministry a solopreneur effort in some senses. We have teams of moderators, but the driving vision is mostly mine. We have a board, and they help with decisioning, but it’s the day-to-day where things really happen. How do you think this principle applies to volunteerism vs. professional situations where folks get paid for their input?
Afterthought – our ministry deals with a topic that folks are hesitant to talk about as well, so that could have something to do with it as well!
Being a solopreneur for you may have been defined as being alone, in a vacuum…but I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that all solopreneurs behave like that. I know many people who operate one-man/woman-companies and they constantly collaborate, cooperate and engage others. Many organizations, with lots of people operate in a vacuum rarely lifting their nose to view alternatives to those that are home grown.
Good points, Randy. In my day job as a software developer/consultant I see this quite a bit. I am not immune to that phenomenon either.
perhaps it is a difference of terms but if you’re collaborating with others actively like you may be then i don’t think you deserve (or should hold) the title of solopreneur.
What holds me back the most is my lack of experience in managing people. Being a little introverted… okay, a lot, it’s easy to get squashed in the process. I do realize I have to get out there and practice at it in order to get better…
Go and get ‘em, Kellie! You can do it!
I do admit, my favorite client is one where I handle all the advertising. I spend a lot of time on the phone, working long distance with folks either designing their ads or helping them round up a finished ad. I do enjoy the interaction in that sense. I just have a hard time delegating. A few times I’ve just passed projects on to trusted friends and often there are a slew of questions, etc, that follow. I don’t mind it, but that’s not really the way it’s supposed to flow. I figure if I’m unsuccessful getting someone to contact the client to discuss a project w/o involving me, I’m not sure how to get it to work in a shared working situation. But dangit, this is the year I’m going to master that!!
Big ups to aligning with a good Team!!
Not only is it better, its much more enjoyable if you can have a team of people you can love and grow.
I’m a proud solopreneur and I DO partner with others on various projects – it’d be dull as dirt if I didn’t!
For me, the key is having a nice mix of projects I run solo, projects I run with other people.
I agree that networking and colaborating with others is important and crucial. Being an introvert, I see the value in working alone too. Maybe it’s about balance. Here’s an article from Time magazine for your consideration: “The Rise of the New Groupthink.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/the-rise-of-the-new-groupthink.html?_r=1)
This was a great article. I do disagree about brainstorming. If you have everyone come to the table with a minimum of 3 ideas that they have thought of, and hopefully they are enthusiastic about, I’ve seen it work pretty well. It’s also a pretty good way of learning how to “be convincing”… something I’m still working at.
Good article – good points made about how introverts work. I’m an introvert naturally – but an extrovert intentionally – so I can do both when I have to
Ok, I know you wanted to mention him, so I will do it for you.
This is what Steve Jobs did with Steve Wozniak in the beginning and the others that followed after him.
Steve Jobs would have probably admitted that he did not come up with all of the great ideas at Apple. He just squeezed the juice out of the little fruits that worked for him. (Maybe a pun intended)
So, making the phrase accurate:
Getting the fruits of your labor.
This is an important article for people to read — thank you for writing it.
The amount of collaboration among solopreneurs exists on a spectrum — at one end you have people who are highly collaborative and at the other you have solopreneurs who collaborate as little as possible.
Which solopreneurs are the most successful, the collaborators or the loners?
People enter solopreneurship for hundreds of different reasons, and their definitions of success vary tremendously. If revenue is the measure, I don’t doubt that the collaborators enjoy the greatest potential for success.
Agreed! And we must find a way to collaborate one day
I agree so much with this post, John! I have never been as unhappy in business than when I was working for myself…by myself…in my own little office with no one to bother me. Ugh! I thrive when people are around. It fosters productivity, accountability and, eventually, success.
Success in groups even appears to be somewhat of a biblical model as well. “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).
the level of productivity is huge.
Glad to see this myth of the solopreneur finally dying off. I wouldn’t be able to do a fraction of what we do without my team. The team keeps the momentum going and the empire expanding!
you would know…!
I completely agree — the energy and the creativity we get from working with others is irreplaceable and extremely healthy.
But how do we find good partners if they don’t already exist in our lives?
Thanks for the great post!
You have to put yourself out there, jump into conversations and join memberships that appeal to you. I’ve got the best results from a reasonably priced membership group like Lynn Terry’s Clicknewz community
I have been on both ends of this. I was working with another blogger, but the site was shut down. That was a burn. I am having fun contributing to a collaborative blog and that community is super supportive. I feel lucky to have fallen in with a good crowd.
You have to be willing to take the risks involved. You would have them solo too, but they might be different concerns.
Agreed. All collaborations are a little risky. I’ve been blessed to have good partners too!
Agree and disagree. There’s a limit to how much your work scales as a solopreneur. I’ve reached a point where I can only serve so many and earn so much, and see the benefits of collaboration. However, there are some collaboratives that are toxic. If you’re junior you are browbeaten and cowed to follow a group mentality, where brainstorming sessions are dominated by the senior clique and the resulting products are meant to win design awards (peer recognition) than meeting the clients’ needs.
I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to spend stupid amounts of money on the latest version of “office casual” clothing, sit in my car two hours per day commuting to another trendy post-modern office with open-plan workspaces to work outside of my strengths for lousy wages and not make a difference.
Please step back into the Reality Distortion Field!
Seriously, I do agree with you, but there are ways to collaborate that will make it both a win win for everybody. The challenge is to find a group that is like minded and who sees you as a peer and not a pee-on.
Collaboration creates innovation.
If you’re selling yourself, your time and talents, yes – there’s a limit to how far you can scale. But if you leverage yourself in other ways – create info products, memberships, etc – you can grow something pretty amazing on your own
I’m really hoping to find some people to partner with me for my gardening website, AussieGreenThumb.com. The problem is I have very little to offer them right now, I certainly can’t pay them. Finding people willing to put in the hard yard WITH you seems to be the challenge. Finding people to collaborate once you have runs on the board is far easier.
finding the right partner is a big goal for you this year!
I find the term solopreneur to be an oxymoron. An entrepreneur is a individual who takes resources (often money) and leverages them to create more resources. The purest example of this is perhaps Virgin Atlantic. Richard Branson spent about an hour total over the course of a month creating it. He brought resources together to make more resources. Equally important, he didn’t take flying lessons. The ultimate goal of the entrepreneur is to create a money machine and refine it until the whole world buys one. Another key to this is because it’s an external machine, it can be sold.
A freelancer, on the other hand, is a single individual who is highly skilled in gaining client’s trust in the fact that he alone can solve his client’s problem (hopefully he is also skilled at his craft). If wise, he does not hire anyone to complete the tasks. Not to say that he can’t outsource all his “extracurricular” activities. However, the moment that a writer hires another writer because he is too busy to do all the writing himself, it’s a downhill slide. He’s stuck between the two worlds of freelancer and entrepreneur in the hell known as “small business owner.” My friend calls these people “wantrepreneurs.” Now you essentially have a room full of happy freelancers with all the work they want and some poor sap who’s a husk of his former passionate freelancing self. He’s simply tasked with finding work for all these other freelancers. The small business owner burdened by this responsibility has created a jail for himself since he can never sell the company since the clients are buying him.
The wise freelancer will always do the work herself. She will find her ultimate goal in gaining bigger and better clients. When overworked, she will raise her prices living an enjoyable life.
you’ve obviously bought into the freelancer instead of entrepreneur camp … the two are very different.
Dang it!!! I had an opportunity to partner with people but decided to do it on my own thinking I would be better off. This blog post is having me think otherwise….
I love this post John. The most important part is to find GOOD QUALITY people to partner with. Once I can do that it will be time to expand.
this is truth. finding the right people is so important.
I don’t see it as “either or” proposition. I call myself a solopreneur, yet I mastermind regularly with others and have trusted advisors. I will probably hire some help at some point and will do joint ventures with others at some point. If you love working solo, you can still have the benefits of collaboration without taking on permanent partners.
hiring and “joint ventures” aren’t fundamental partnerships.
i’m not necessarily disagreeing with you as you can call it whatever you’d like!
I agree, actually I’ve been saying this about Holy Cow for over a year, but struggling to make the transition. It’s an unknown move to me. I’ve built companies, even part of bringing one public, I’ve worked for companies, I’ve been all on my own…the collab part is SO attractive yet I’m not even sure quite where to start, who to approach or how to structure it all. I’m ready to let go (though that is really hard too) just not sure my next steps.
michael,
ah. we talked about this in our last 8BIT meetup. would have loved for you to be there! i coach on this and it’s one of the biggest areas of weakness. time to scale up!
After trying to do it all by myself and push in the vacuum I have recently started to think that this is not really working for me. I know I need some support.
Then the question is – how do you find likeminded people as that is often really, really difficult.