What makes a true solopreneur, are the following traits:

• The number of customers you can serve is limited by the number of hours you work
• You don’t need others to provide value to your customers
• Your customers pay you for your skill or experience, for the expertise or wisdom you possess in a certain domain. This is true even if what they purchase is a product (like artwork).
• And , obviously, no employees.

Examples of true solopreneurs: Artists (graphic and fine), consultants, plumbers and other trades people, dog walkers, coaches, piano teachers, wedding planners.

SoloPreneur Business Model

The critical success factors of a solopreneur business model are these.

• Your goals – what do you want to accomplish with this business at this time in your life, and how will you measure it?
• The cost to acquire a customer
• The value of a customer to your business
• The number of customers you need to achieve your goals
• Where to most effectively spend your time

Programs for SoloPreneurs

• Coaching
• Defining your business model
• Defining your sales process
• Time Management

Would you like to Learn More?

Call me. 203-775-6676. I’m on eastern time. Or shoot me an email: john@betterceo.com.

Let me know what questions you have and we’ll see if it makes sense for us to work together.

In fact it’s useful for this reason:  companies at any stage need all the functions performed by big companies. But they usually don’t need them full time. Nor can they afford a full time position for many functions. That’s why employees have to wear many hats.

One other characteristic of these companies is they are frugal.

What’s missing is they often don’t have time to plan for the future. They tend to management from crisis to crisis thinking they don’t have time to be strategic. And that often becomes a barrier that prevents growth. That is a bad thing.

What’s the Solution?

The first place to start is The Company Blue Print. My program called 20 questions will help you specify what you want from your company at this time in your life and translate that into a blue print that will help develop your company so it can achieve your personal goals.

After that we usually work on better cash flow management. Why? Because taking time away from the day to day to focus on the future requires cash.

The next step is to document work flows and job expectations. Expectations (rather than descriptions) define what you expect a person to produce. This leads to better management, fewer crises and a more organized company.

Would you like to Learn More?

Call me. 203-775-6676. I’m on eastern time. Or shoot me an email: john@betterceo.com.

Let me know what questions you have and we’ll see if it makes sense for us to work together.

Which instrument do you play best?

Would you like to Learn More?

Call me. 203-775-6676. I’m on eastern time. Or shoot me an email: john@betterceo.com.

Let me know what questions you have and we’ll see if it makes sense for us to work together.

That means you need systems and managers in place to deal with the ongoing operations and keep them up to the standards that have got your company where it is. In other words, the wisdom and experience that you’ve developed can’t just live in people’s heads. It has to be transferred throughout the company.

The way to do that is by having standardized processes for routine tasks. This must be done in a way that doesn’t burden people with needless bureaucracy. You should also allow for new ideas to arise and be incorporated into the systems quickly.

But what about your job? As CEO you’ll now have time to focus on the more strategic aspects of growing the company.

• Looking toward new products and new markets
• Deepening relationships within your industry
• Improving relationships with vendors

Programs I have that help with this include:

• Coaching to focus on building your CEO Skill Set.
• 48 Point systems assessment to determine which systems in your company are functioning well and which need shoring up.

Would you like to Learn More?

Call me. 203-775-6676. I’m on eastern time. Or shoot me an email: john@betterceo.com.

Let me know what questions you have and we’ll see if it makes sense for us to work together.

There are 4 kinds of small companies. What makes them different is the potential scope of the business and this is defined by business model and the owner’s goals.

• Lifestyle & Legacy Business. These are the companies that 50% of Americans work for. They usually have fewer than 100 employees (most have way fewer).  They range from a Mom & Pop storefront or janitorial company started to put food on the table to construction companies or manufacturing plants that become a legacy of wealth for future generations.
• Scalable Startup. These are the companies that founders hope will become the next Google, WalMart, or Ford.
• Large Company Entrepreneur. These are skunk works or other protected enclaves in a large company carved out to protect them from the bureaucracy of the large firm so they can start something fresh.
• Social Entrepreneur. These companies are in it to make money, but are started with a vision to improve the world. They often focus on ecology, social justice, or empowering the poor.

To get over the hump of being a start-up it’s critical to know which kind of company yours is. Then develop a plan to raise money and scale in the most appropriate way.

Programs for Start-ups

• Finding your Business Model Using Customer Development / Hypothesis
• How to Pitch to Investors
• Devil’s Advocate. If this is your first time or you’re starting with only an idea and some passion, this two hour session will tell you what you’re in for. It may keep you from losing your shirt.

Would you like to Learn More?

Call me. 203-775-6676. I’m on eastern time. Or shoot me an email: john@betterceo.com.

Let me know what questions you have and we’ll see if it makes sense for us to work together.