Company of One

Being a company of one requires you to build your work around your life, not the other way around.

The four recurring characteristics of companies of one are:

• Resilience
• Autonomy and Control
• Speed
• Simplicity.

Companies of one should be normalized because you will always be better than anyone at looking out for your own best interest, even in a large corporation.

For companies of one, making the business better is a greater priority than making it larger.

A business remaining small can be a long-term plan and not just a stepping stone to a larger establishment.

• Introverts can make great leaders for companies of one.
• Companies of one are required to have knowledge of varied subjects and possess multiple skills to achieve their goals.
• A company of one needs to know how to gauge what potential customers think of their products and services.
• Resilience is key in helping a team reenergize when the business faces a setback.
• A leader of a company of one will find himself learning how to say no as a strategy to keep his priorities in order.

• How to prioritize existing customers or transform them into repeat customers
• Make your business idea vision as small as possible such that you can take action now with little or no investment
• Growth as a business or an individual won’t require you to do things you don’t want to do.

“In saying no to anything that doesn’t fit, you leave room to say yes to those rare opportunities that do fit—opportunities that align with the values and ideas of your business.”

A customer’s success is the business’s success.

Exceeding the standards of customer service by treating customers like they’re extremely important and adding personal touches gives the customer a positive emotional experience, making a company stand out.

The company of one’s ability to establish close and personal relationships with customers makes it possible for them to benefit from word of mouth. Customers love to be rewarded for loyalty.

“For companies of one, the question is always what can I do to make my business better?, instead of what can I do to grow my business larger?”

It is easier to sell to people with whom you have already built a rapport. It will not be embarrassing to talk about your product to people who genuinely care for you and your journey. This is the power of building strong long-term relationships.

Customers are interested in who the business owner is as a person. Empathy makes your customers feel you care about making them happy more than you care about making a sale.

“You can pursue any passion you want, but you shouldn’t feel entitled to make money off it. Passion in work comes from first crafting a valuable skill set and mastering your work. This is great news, because it means you no longer have to beat yourself up for not finding your true, hidden passions. Instead, you can simply get to work.”

“If you don’t think it’s possible to do better, or you don’t care if it is, there’s no point doing your own thing. In that case, it’s fine to work for someone else—they’re already established and have people handling the jobs you probably don’t want to be doing anyway.”