Success in Sweatpants

I have coached hundreds of solo business owners. Although each took a different road in terms of business model, services, and target market, I have found common skills and characteristics that all share.

These seven characteristics are critical to your solopreneur success: 

1. Responsibility
   There are many benefits to owning and operating your own business, and freedom is certainly one of those perks.  With freedom comes responsibility.  There is no one telling you that you must work between from 8 to 5, but you are responsible for meeting obligations made to your clients.  However you choose to do that is fine, but you must have the drive and determination to get it done without anyone standing over you. 
2. Expertise
   It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway – you should have the skills needed in the business you are pursuing.  Many of the solo business owners I work with do not have a degree in their area of expertise, but they used their educational background and past work experience to carve out a niche for themselves.  You do not have to be an award winning journalist in order to operate a writing business.  However, you should have writing skills and the ability to learn various styles. 
3. Communication skills
   You must be clearly articulate verbally and in writing.  This is especially important because a great deal of your communication may be via the internet.  Without the benefit of face to face contact, you will have to be able to maximize each communication and build rapport with your client through an electronic medium.  Are you able to write brief email communications that clearly delineate key points?  Is your communication free of local jargon that might be lost on someone from another country or even another industry?  You do not want to make a client angry or worse lose an opportunity because of a miscommunication.  You also have to be comfortable with the process of communication.  You will need to clearly spell out the scope of work to ensure that you and your client are on the same page.  If a problem arises in the middle of the project, you will need the ability to be direct and honest with your client in order to resolve the issue. 
4. Self-motivation
   When you work for someone else, motivation comes in many forms: a steady paycheck, bonuses, performance reviews, or verbal praise. When you are the boss and you work alone there is no outside stimulus to get you going (other than caffeine).  There will be assignments that are less than exciting, and clients who are less than pleasant.  Great feedback is wonderful but there are times you may get none.   Without regular feedback, without the water cooler pep talk, can you get excited enough to get it done all by yourself?
5. Adaptability and flexibility
   You will be working with a variety of personality types, cultures and business styles, and you must be able to adapt quickly.  You will not always have the luxury of doing things your way but will have to adapt to the client’s preferences.  You will also have to adapt to market trends and changes.  What is hot today may not be hot tomorrow.  Also, you will need to be the ultimate in flexible or you will lose not only your mind but your clients!  Being flexible does not mean comprising on your integrity or your values, but it does mean being willing to accommodate within reason.
6. Ability to handle rejection
   The one thing that is guaranteed is that you will not win all your proposals, and you will not win rave reviews for all that you do.  You must be tough enough to withstand the losses.  A prospect’s rejection of you does not mean that you will never work again, it is not even a statement on your ability.  It simply means that someone else was a better fit for their particular needs.  You may also face rejection when you deliver a job and the client is not satisfied.  Bad reviews are a fact of life, and you must be able to take them and move on.  Do what you can to give the client what they want, offer to make things right to their specifications, but don’t argue or try to convince them that you are deserving of a better review. 
7. Project management skills
   You alone are responsible for completing every project.  Keep in mind that no matter what you do and how simple it may seem, each new assignment is a project that will have various components that must be managed.  If project management has not been your greatest strength, you will need to learn it!  You can get project management tips from the internet, library or even by taking a class at a community college.  You can use organizational aids ranging from project management software to simple project management notebooks.  Some people have found that a simple whiteboard or wall calendar helps them stay on track. You may have to try out a few things before you find the system that works best for you. 

There is more. In work as well as in life, you should have a healthy dose of optimism and patience.  Your business will have its ups and downs, and your attitude will determine how you handle those natural swings.  If you are optimistic you will take the negatives and use them to grow and learn. 

And you will need patience;  there is a reason for the term “building a business.”  It takes time. You lay your foundation and you build upon it.  You will also have to be patient with yourself.  You may not be as fast as you want or as smart as you want in the beginning.  Give yourself room to grow.  Don’t beat yourself up when you make mistakes – you will make them, learn and move on. 

Finally, learn to laugh at yourself (if you don’t already know how), because there will be plenty of opportunities to do so!