Company of One: Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing for Business

But to stay a company of one and stick to the definition of success you’ve set for yourself and your leadership, you will have to turn down opportunities that aren’t a good fit. Companies of one need to be relentless in what they say no to, since plans, tasks, distractions, meetings, and emails, though they may all seem productive to a team at firs

Determining what is enough is different for everyone. Enough is the antithesis of growth. Enough is the true north of building a company of one, and the opposite of the current paradigm promoting entrepreneurship, growth-hacking, and a startup culture.

To succeed as a company of one, you have to have a real underlying purpose. Your why matters as an unseen but ever-present element that drives your business.

Companies of one can truly benefit from word of mouth because it’s easier for a company of one to create these kinds of personal relationships and stay more closely connected with customers. Urban found that smaller businesses thrive on recommendations because they can focus solely on their specific audience and build relationships with them (even

A company of one isn’t simply a practicing freelancer either. While freelancing is a perfect first step to becoming a company of one, freelancers are different because they exchange time for money. Whether they’re getting paid by the hour or by deliverables, if they’re not working, they’re not getting paid. All of a freelancer’s relationships are o

So a company of one is not anti-growth, or anti-revenue, and it’s not just a one-person business either (although it certainly can be). It’s also not just working with a tech-focused or startup mind-set, although leaning on technology, automation, and the connectedness of the internet definitely makes it easier to be a company of one. A company of

Figuring out your purpose requires actual reflection on both your own desires and the audience you want to serve.

Since most of us aren’t even aware of how much time daily job maintenance takes up, Glei suggests doing a productivity audit once or twice a year: for a week or two, record what tasks you’re working on, for how long, and where the big distractions lie.

Salim Ismail states, are extremely fragile by nature. They’re designed to be temporary organizations that may grow into large companies, under conditions of extreme uncertainty. They expend money and resources in the anticipation that revenue will catch up to spending. Most startups fail because that doesn’t happen often.