Seven Small Business Rules for Solo Operators

Seven Small Business Rules

Small Business Rules! I love running my own business. But it’s not always easy. It’s tough being in business. Especially when you are a solo operator and you’re doing everything. While there is always more to do, that’s not the hardest point.

Instead, the real challenge is knowing what to do. A lot of what is written around strategy, marketing and branding is written for large organisations. But do these rules, guidelines and approaches work for solo operators?

In some cases, yes they do. In other cases, they don’t apply very well at all. And, they can be exactly what not to do and that can lead you astray.

Recently we wrote about the gap in the conversation for running a business. Most of the publications focus on large organisations and team. And even if they do discuss small business, it’s often based on simply scaling down big business.

In our earlier two-part blog post we shared seven rules for ‘When You Are Your Business’. This was a really popular pair of posts that sparked a number of comments. So, today, I thought I’d share them as a single podcast episode in the Ideas Architect series.

[Photo by VD Photography on Unsplash]

Seven Small Business Rules for Solo Operators

To Grow Your Business You Must Grow – when you’re it, you need to grow first.
You are your brand – when you look in the mirror you see your brand. Is it what you want it to be?
When you have a bad day your business has a bad day – what’s the emotion of your business?
Your business lives in your head – Yes, you might have systems and processes, but more likely you’re carrying it around in your head.
There is no privacy – This is tricky. How much of you do you show the world?
The people you hang out with today is your business tomorrow
It’s not your work, it’s your life – think of your business as your life’s work.