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

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A key strategy to resist the need for growth is to create systems and automation to get more done in less time. This requires ingenuity and creativity, which I find intellectually stimulating. Instead, start a side gig while you’re working—something you’re passionate about, something you’re good at, something that will keep your mind off your exhaustive 9-to-5 job. Let's use as an example the Casper, a company that sells mattresses online. Well, Casper's target audience is already specific, it's young people who want a good night sleep, but they want to avoid the hassle of going to a physical mattress store.

Solving problems by throwing “more” also means more complexity, more costs, more responsibilities, and typically more expenses. “More” is generally the easiest answer, but not the smartest one. Well, someone probably already gave you a hint about the job you should choose: "follow your passion". However, there is a small problem with that, you can only make this concept a reality if you are passionate about something that is marketable. Otherwise, it will not be a financially viable option.The purpose of this section is to increase the focus of your product or service. There are two strategies you can adopt: simplicity and personality. Create a schedule for following up with happy clients: talk to them a few weeks after a project is finished and collect testimonials or success stories based on the real results they’ve seen. As a company of one, avoid blind user growth and concentrate instead on retaining, pleasing, and helping your customers. Renewals is often a far more important metric to measure. In the long run, this approach costs far less and aids your company far more. Working more may mean you acquire more customers. At that point, you’ll need to spend more time on tasks like customer service to satisfy this greater customer volume. You’ll have to hire more workers to meet that demand. This will effectively eliminate your company-of-one status.

The author says it perfectly in the book: “A company of one is simply a business that questions growth.” One example is Kurt Elster, who only serves e-commerce businesses that utilize Shopify. Put yourself in your client’s shoes. Would you rather have a consultant who sort of knows how to do everything or one who knows and uses the exact same platform you use? Lesson 3: Forget investing big upfront, focus on making a small profit fast instead.

But what if there was an easier way? What if it was possible to side-hustle your way into a full-time personal business? How would it feel to own a company that gave you the time and financial freedom to do what you love? Paul Jarvis‘s Company Of One will teach you exactly how to make this dream a reality: a profitable company run only by yourself. Jarvis has worked with top athletes like Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal, companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, and Mercedes-Benz, as well as successful online entrepreneurs. With 20 years of experience building one-man business ventures, Jarvis is well-prepared to deliver critical advice to those looking to do the same. Company of one ideology in a few words: "start small, define growth, and keep learning." I. Begin 1. Defining a Company of One

For years I thought that one should constantly pursue more things. More money, fame and all the “good stuff.” However, after reading Company of One by Paul Jarvis, I no longer think that you should aim to dominate the market or flood the entire world with your product.

Jarvis spends a lot of time talking about why everyone should aspire to be a company of one. The main idea is this: running a company of one allows you to build your business around your lifestyle. They are not the same. Evolve Your Side Gig into a Company of One (Works If You’re a Freelancer as Well)

A refreshing approach to entrepreneurship centered on staying small and avoiding growth - maximizing happiness, sustainability and profitability. In their research, the authors of the book "Built to Last", Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, found that most visionary companies did not start with a revolutionary idea that made them succeed right at the beginning. In fact, they had a slow start and, over time, managed to dominate their markets. A company of one needs to know how to gauge what potential customers think of their products and services. As well as that of their competitors.The relationships you could foster with your customers to incentivise them to share word of your business with others The true purpose of your business and whether it shows up in your actions (not just in your marketing material) A company of one figures out how to solve bigger and bigger problems without adding "more" to them. A company of one is small, which makes these micro-businesses extremely agile. As a result, they can often adapt rapidly to changing realities and have a consistent sense of purpose. Another benefit of this agility is less bureaucracy. For example, you don’t have to run your decisions by a board of executives or shareholders. We know that all this still seems as some anti-capitalistic, utopian pipedream. But it is happening as you read this summary—and to prove it, we will go over one of the many examples Jarvis lists in his book.