The startup boom that began during the Covid-19 pandemic is still going strong. And while many of today’s entrepreneurs are more business savvy than startup small business owners of the past, there’s still a lot they don’t know about actually running a business.
To learn more about what solo entrepreneurs (solopreneurs) need to know about launching a business, I talked to Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau, prize-winning authors and journalists who have run a freelance writing business for over three decades. They’re also the authors of the new book Going Solo: Everything You Need to Start Your Business and Succeed as Your Own Boss. The book is available in American and Canadian editions.
Tips for starting and running a business as a solopreneur
Keep things simple
Rieva Lesonsky: How do you keep things simple when managing a small business?
Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau: Whether you are a writer, dog groomer, real estate agent, actor, lawyer, or graphic designer, managing a small business means wearing a lot of professional hats. Self-employed workers are their own sales manager, publicist, contract negotiator, accounts-receivable manager, bookkeeper, accountant, president, IT department, and more. Sound overwhelming? There are tricks for keeping things simple.
Lesonsky: Can you name a few of those “tricks?”
Barlow and Nadeau: First, get a door. During the pandemic, we watched in horror as editors and colleagues started working from their kitchen tables. Naturally, they became completely exasperated by the inevitable stream of interruptions. It’s one of the first things we learned as self-employed writers: to concentrate, you have to be able to shut the door.
It’s even more important when running a small business at home with children. We taught ours to respect office hours and avoid the office (except for emergencies). We also taught ourselves to respect home hours and avoid constant interruptions of work emails, texts, and phone calls. There’s no foolproof system for keeping a home office professional, but a closed door is the best start.
Next, get folders. Yes, folders—whether paper or digital—are indispensable tools that every small business owner needs. A folder is essentially a box where you store a problem, a concern, or an idea with others of the same nature. They help you solve problems and take advantage of opportunities quickly.
Our business is about creating new ideas, so we have special computer and paper folders for newspaper articles and notes, books we have to read, people we want to meet, workshops we plan on attending, and more. Filing folders help us organize our thoughts and make information handy and findable. One word of caution: don’t go overboard. But it’s important to go through your files regularly to throw out the stuff that’s no longer useful.
Lesonsky: You say business owners should “file every day.” I admit I don’t do this.
Barlow and Nadeau: You should. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, and a daily filing habit will keep your business active and healthy. Filing papers can sound like a second-tier priority for many small business owners—especially when you are starting out. But it’s fundamental to your peace of mind and productivity.
Regular jobs like bookkeeping, billing, and following up on receivables tend to pile up and get pushed aside by more urgent issues, like sales and operations, or computer hacks. To avoid facing a messy mountain of receipts, bills, and deductible expenses at the end of the month, do a little filing every day.
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Be willing to turn down business
Lesonsky: Learning to turn down business is hard for most small business owners, especially new ones. But you say it’s important to do so.
Barlow and Nadeau: For most small businesses, finding new clients is the name of the game. Getting rid of complicated customers can be hard, especially when starting out. But keeping things professional is one of the best ways to simplify the management of your business.
Clients can become complicated: they take you for granted or ask for special favors “as a friend.” We recently turned down a profitable translation contract because the client kept putting off signing the contract. It was a sign that all our business with him might be complicated. So we walked away. It’s a good idea for every small business owner to do occasional house clearing and purge customers who complicate your life or don’t deserve your time.
Choose the right social media
Lesonsky: There is so much disruption in the social media space right now. What’s your advice to new solopreneurs?
Barlow and Nadeau: Concentrate on one social media platform. We have learned that there is no easier way to fritter away valuable time than by going down the social media rabbit hole—or chasing too many social media rabbits.
With newer, sharper, more interesting platforms popping up regularly, it’s tempting for self-employed business owners to jump on board. But, experience has shown us that multiplying platforms complicates life without yielding worthwhile results. Most social media experts today recommend concentrating on one platform that works. After flirting with Instagram and TikTok, we’re putting our efforts into LinkedIn.
Don't skimp on crucial freelance hires
Lesonsky: You advise startups to make some crucial freelance hires. What positions do solopreneurs need to fill immediately?
Barlow and Nadeau: If there’s one person who truly makes managing our business simpler, it’s our computer technician. A computer technician is the IT department that the self-employed don’t have.
Our technician assesses our IT needs, recommends the best tools, personally delivers hardware to our door when we need it, and solves computer breakdowns, all in a timely and reliable manner. (As a small business owner himself, he understands the needs of the self-employed.) When one of our computers was stolen, our technician helped us find a replacement and untangle the mess of lost passwords in a snap. We may not need him for a stretch of six months, but we always know he’ll be there when disaster strikes or computers crash.
And get an external webmaster. Nothing is more terrifying and potentially disastrous for a small business than a website hack. That’s why we pay a relatively small monthly fee to a skilled and reliable webmaster who solves glitches and answers questions in a jiffy.
Our webmaster costs less than a housekeeper and helps us avoid much more serious headaches: we can scrub the tub on our own, but there’s no way we could navigate the increasingly complex world of computer security without his help. Google and YouTube may offer solutions to many of today’s problems, but computer security isn’t one of them.
Think preventively
Lesonsky: You also say it’s essential to “think preventively.” Why?
Barlow and Nadeau: Fixing problems is time-consuming. It’s much smarter to prevent problems before they happen. This is particularly important when you are negotiating any type of contract. In the writing business, we make sure to protect specific rights in book contracts so we can use our content for other projects, like films.
All small business owners should anticipate possible problems they might have with clients down the road while they are in the negotiations—it’s usually hard to fix them after a deal is signed. This just means doing some homework beforehand.
Preventive thinking is still important when fulfilling a contract: you need to hone your communication skills to ensure you avoid misunderstandings with clients.
Define your goals and interests
Lesonsky: What’s one of the most crucial things startup solopreneurs can do?
Barlow and Nadeau: Find your purpose. In the thousands of decisions you will make as a small business owner, staying focused on what you want to achieve is essential.
Do you want to open a social dance school because you love to teach dance? Or because you want to become a social dance champion, create the ultimate social dance shoe, or run a multinational social dance company with franchises on five continents? Having a clear purpose—defining your real goals and interests—is like a compass that guides your decisions and makes managing your business much simpler.
