What’s a Solopreneur? Me
Last Saturday, I attended my first “Solopreneur” conference in downtown Minneapolis at CoCo. (CoCo stands for collaborating and coworking). Besides being an energizing and engaging half day session in the old Grain Exchange building, I walked away with a new sense of who I am. I met other solopreneurs, just like me, which was a big deal for me. I learned other people experience the same things I do – as Seth Godin would say, I think I found my tribe.
They kept the board from the Grain Exchange days up and use part of it as a twitterfall board.
So what is a Solopreneur?
- You own your own business. You aren’t a freelancer doing this on the side, but you actually have an LLC, or S-Corp or C-Corp.
- You are pretty much it when it comes to your business. If you do have a staff, we are talking less than three people.
- You work out of your home, or in a collaboration space like CoCo. (I plan to write more about collaboration spaces later as the whole idea fascinated me.)
And what exactly did I learn from this conference?
- Attendees shared CPA’s who work work extensively with LLC’s and creatives, so they understand what you need to deduct etc.
- The Trip Cubby app, which allows me to quickly post mileage for business
- That many people bill by the hour while I have a retainer fee. I thought they were crazy to bill hourly and they looked at me like there was no other way. Huh.
- One lady attended said she was a “virtual assistant” for creatives who helps them keep up with their social media as well as daily calendars. What a unique idea! (Everyone at the conference wanted her card.)
- A writer is now called an Information Architect and an editor is a Content Strategist
- I discovered a new woman-only networking group of creatives that you have to be INVITED to in order to attend. (super excited about this)
And…
That its seven more times expensive to acquire a new account than to keep exisiting customers. I haven’t experienced this, but wow!!
Are you a solopreneur? All outdoor TV producers in the business certainly are. What about bloggers? Writers?
I became a solopreneur about five years ago. At first it was essentially to make some money on the side while watching my young children at home. It has become a full fledged business. After taking everything I could get for years, I started saying “no” to jobs this year. If they weren’t the right fit or didn’t pay what I felt the job was really worth, I declined. That is very empowering.
It is also exciting when people you work for recommend you to their friends. When their friends call you find out just how much you are appreciated. Many clients seem to be embarrassed to tell you how much they appreciate your work. But they will tell their friends if you are kicking butt for them. I hear about my value through them.
The downside is you are on your own. No IT person to help when your computer isn’t working. No one to cover for you when you’re on vacation(BTW, you’re never on vacation).
I have been lucky enough to work for great people. As of right now, I’ve never been stiffed. However, not everyone pays with the same speed. Sometimes you’re left waiting for the check at the mailbox!
I listen to a ton of podcasts from awesome people like Seth Godin, Marcus Sheridan, and Chris Brogan. They don’t know it but they are my business advisors.
Good luck in your endeavors. Every day I reflect on how awesome it is to be able to work like this. It wasn’t possible 10 years ago.
-Chris
Chris – thanks so much for your comments. It is inspiring to hear from a successful solopreneur. And I agree on those you named as “business advisors.” My goal is to someday attend one of their conferences (write-off, right?)
What??!! You attended an event and didn’t invite me? 😉 Did they have a potato bar?
you would have liked it too. pizza this time – much better than potato bar. And they had bean bag chairs; felt right at home.