One Person Companies are (Still) Underrated

But life is not a portfolio: not for a startup founder, and not for any individual. An entrepreneur cannot “diversify” herself: you cannot run dozens of companies at the same time and then hope that one of them works out well. Less obvious but just as important, an individual cannot diversify his own life by keeping dozens of equally possible caree

Staying small doesn’t have to be a stepping-stone to something else, or the result of a business failure — rather, it can be an end goal or a smart long-term strategy. The point of being a company of one is to become better in ways that don’t incur the typical setbacks of growth.

1. Purchase Whitmyer et al.’s Running a One-Person Business. Make it the subject of informal (or not-so-informal) Study Sessions with a handful of colleagues. This isn’t cheating your employer: Improved one-person business skills rebound to the benefit of the services you “sell” in your Dept.

but companies of one truly need to be able to know and understand a multitude of topics and skills in order to be in control of their work.