When I started my entrepreneurial journey years ago, nobody even know what the word meant. Today it is become trendy and cool. Social media is full of people who are trying to teach others how to build entrepreneurial business’s that they have never built.
Most people are getting advice from people that still have day jobs.
Here are 5 things you really need to wrap your mind around. Questions you need to ask, and as you read threw these five remember, “To thy own self be true”. The truth is everybody can become and entrepreneur, but not everybody should.
So with that said, here are the the 5 attributes you must have if you are going to be a solopreneur.
- TOLERANCE FOR RISK
Tolerance for risk. “Solopreneurs must be risk-takers, they must have confidence in their ability to continue finding fresh gigs and in their ability to continue delivering the required services or products in a timely manner,” says John Nesheim, a lecturer in entrepreneurship at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and the author of High Tech Startup (Free Press), a best-selling book on entrepreneurial effectiveness.
2. GRIT, GRIND & STAMINA
2. Grit and stamina. Probably the most important question potential solopreneurs need to ask themselves is: do I have what it takes to run my own business? “Being a solopreneur requires grit and stamina beyond your wildest imagination,” says Reeb
3) CONSISTENCY
A quote I coined early in my entreprenuerial career is
“Consistent effort Doesn’t always create consistent Results, but it always creates Success”
A “holding environment” to sustain productivity. Virtually all solopreneurs must deal with a sense of precariousness, according to research published in a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article.
Even the most successful and well-established still worry about money and reputation and sometimes feel like their identity is at stake. The way successful solopreneurs deal with this is by cultivating a “holding environment” that lets them maintain an intense focus on productivity.
The holding environment consists of four “liberating connections” that both free them up to be creative and bind them to work so their output stays robust:
Note we are not talking about being productive, because sometimes results aren’t predicatable, we are talking about being consistent.
A place to work that protects them from outside distractions and pressures and helps them avoid feeling rootless.
b. Routines to improve workflow, such as keeping a schedule, following a to-do list, or prioritizing challenges. Personal routines involving sleep, meditation, nutrition, or exercise can also be helpful. Both types can enhance a solopreneur’s sense of order and control in uncertain circumstances.
c. Purpose. Most successful solopreneurs in the HBR study defined success as doing work that connects to a broader purpose. Self-employment is more than a means of earning a living for them. Purpose creates a bridge between their personal interests and motivations and the need they are fulfilling professionally.
d. People. Solopreneurs must be aware of the dangers of social isolation and take steps to avoid it. This can be done through interactions with a formal peer group, informal support networks, direct role models, mentors, and/or collaborators.
. A unique selling proposition. Technology is opening up the gig economy—especially its platform-enabled sectors—to global competition. “As a solopreneur, you are now competing with people who may be located all over the world.
“If something about your product or service, or the way you deliver it, isn’t uniquely differentiated in this market, you’ve got a problem,” says Michael Goldberg, who teaches entrepreneurship at Case Western University’s Weatherhead School of Management.
5. A plan to replicate the benefits structure of traditional employment. A working paper on the rise of alternative work arrangements by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Tax Analysis concludes virtually all the growth in self-employment is coming from solopreneurs.
“These trends have important implications for the income, health insurance coverage, and retirement security of self-employed workers,” it warns. It found that individuals who earn a significant share of their earnings from self-employment are less likely to be covered by health insurance or to participate in or make contributions to a retirement account.
A Prudential study found that only about 40 percent of gig workers have access to employer-sponsored health insurance, and an even smaller number can access employer-sponsored dental coverage, vision coverage, or disability insurance.
When gig workers do have access to employer-sponsored benefits of any kind, it is generally through a spouse or through membership in a professional association. Bridging this gap should be at the top of every solopreneur’s to-do list. Fortunately, there are companies like VSP® Vision Care, that are responding by offering independent plans for independent workers, leading the way in an entirely new “independent benefits” industry.
Comments