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

My new business would be based on helping others first, with a contract for web design or design consulting coming later. I’d do it this way not because I frown on capitalism and want to sit around a Skype video-call singing “Kumbaya,” but because I know this is how you build a loyal client base and following.

Creating the image of busyness may be all the rage in startup and corporate culture, but the busier we are, the less space we have to think and be creative in solving the problems that companies of one need to solve.

Starting out small is the best time to learn what your business truly is and why it serves who it serves. There’s no need to rush to be noticed faster than you can handle.

When you focus on doing business and serving customers in better and better ways, your company of one can end up profiting more from the same amount of work because you can raise the prices until your demand flattens out to where you can handle it.

Focusing on customer success is a mentality and a way of doing business for a company of one that encompasses all aspects of a business.

he explained that he had calculated what he needed to make in profit in order to cover his cost of living and put a decent amount of money into investments. He had figured out the amount of wealth he needed to be comfortable and didn’t feel the need to accumulate more. Past that, he didn’t need any more money — so he’d stop working when he hit his

It can be scary to draw that line in the sand — especially when it’s your business and livelihood. Doing so immediately alienates certain people or entire groups. But taking a stand is important because you become a beacon for those individuals who are your people, your tribe, and your audience. When you hoist your viewpoint up like a flag, people

the more you can lean on processes, systems, and reusable building blocks (from code to marketing language to visuals) in your leadership, the better and faster you’ll be with your work and the less you’ll require in terms of hours worked or people hired, even as you gain more in terms of revenue, finished processes, and paid customers.

customers really don’t care if you’re profitable. But if what you sell them can help them become profitable, they’ll never want to leave your business. They’ll stay on as customers and then probably tell others to become your customers too. When you treat your relationship with your customer base as simply transactional, you’ll be preoccupied with