Are you also a Solopreneur?

Hey, you! Good to see you again. I have just finished reading Paul Jarvis’ book, Company of One, and let me tell you, it couldn’t have arrived at a better moment in my life. You don’t need a huge budget to be a Solopreneur — you need to have enough. Let’s see why you should also read this book.

ENGLISH
Do you have everything it takes to be a Solopreneur?

Would you believe me if I told you that you can build a business with little money?
Well, I’d agree with you if you didn’t. It sounds sketchy. If you make the stressful decision of having a side hustle, the usual question that you’ll wonder is how much money, time and effort it will take to even have success, which can even make someone just feel tired by thinking about all of those tasks.

However, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You don’t need to have a big company, dozens of employees and the best tools to begin. This is how Company of One starts: how to run a business with less? It is a very basic question, but that in the end, puts into perspective what you want to achieve in the short and long term, not only in terms of money, but with your life. Because becoming better doesn’t necessarily mean growing bigger, and you have to accept your reality and what is your sense of purpose.

That was a bit hard to digest personally, because like I told you 2 weeks ago, I’ve always dreamed of having something of mine online where I could just grow an audience. A blog, a YouTube channel, or just being active on social media sharing some insightful content. And something always stopped me before clicking on that ‘Publish’ button: are these the best sources of information, is my video editing good enough, am I even using the best platform…?

Instead, you have to focus on getting your product released as soon as possible. Plan from where you are currently, not where you hope to be. All those systems, automation, processes and software that you want to integrate are important but work with them while you build an audience, not before. Start sharing something that is your Minimum Valuable Profit (MVPr). Let’s define what is this:

• Minimum → is the prototype of your product or service going to be able to generate enough money to cover a salary for the owner? (you!)

• Valuable → is your offer going to support at least 1 client in the long term or will increase its value with time? That’s your Social Capital. Building a true, strong and honest relationship with a client means that you will be paid more often, and even have the opportunity to get new customers by word-of-mouth.

• Product → how simple is your solution? Is it easy to understand? Are you really being honest with your client? Remember: don’t explain what is your product. Explain why is better.

The idea of being your own boss sounds very appealing to anyone, because there is this pre-conception that you will be able to just work when you feel like doing it, while you are having a very nice time in the middle of a beautiful Mediterranean beach. But let’s be real: how much time would that take to achieve? Is that even doable? Chapter 4 talks deeply about this, and defines what is the usual enemy of every person who has decided to have a personal business: Ego. Everyone wants more, but why?

There is a quote in the book that Paul put that I liked: The Disease of More, by Pat Riley, NBA coach in the 1980s. Winning athletes, just like some entrepreneurs, usually focus on more instead of better. When they finally achieved a goal -could be winning a championship, getting a good salary, etc-, their ego would get in the way of all the discipline that had helped them to achieve that.

They would feel entitled and think they deserve more of everything: money, influence, social media followers, cars, and houses. This would take them away from what truly mattered, and decrease their performance in the field. These players would stop winning games, not just because of competitors, but of internal forces.

If you want to know more about this reading, I will share with you tomorrow my book notes in detail on my website. You can have a look at what I’ve said about other authors too! In the meantime, here’s the official link to acquire your own Company of One copy and support the author.

See you next week!

ESPAÑOL
¿Cómo manejas tus finanzas personales?

Han habido 2 momentos de mi vida en donde literalmente me he quedado a 0s en mi cartera, debido a gastos inesperados, y el estrés fue enorme. Mirándolo ahora, no creo que debería de haberme presionado tanto, puesto que tampoco trabajaba formalmente, no tenía alguna obligación mayor, y sobre todo, mi única responsabilidad real era la de estudiar como buen alumno, no generar algún ingreso.

Pero esos 2 días bastaron para darme cuenta de lo necesario que es estar al tanto de tu propia economía, por lo que después decidí crear mi propio sistema. Tampoco es que sea algo de genios, pero creo que tuve suerte al identificar esto a ‘temprana’ edad, considerando la cultura de ahorro que hay en este país.

Y justamente es algo que discutí con unos amigos hace unos días: ni siquiera se fomenta este tipo de información en la educación -al menos en mi caso-, donde habían pocos (opcionales) o casi ningún curso para aprender de finanzas personales, inversión y ahorro a largo plazo. Más bien, aquí es algo que aprendes si tienes la suerte de estar rodeado de la gente adecuada a temprana edad.

En mi caso -y evitando exagerar y decir que es imposible darse un gusto de vez en cuando-, tener este tipo de registro me ha permitido disfrutar más y preocuparme menos. Traté de usar diferentes aplicaciones en línea, empezando con Excel, pero para no alargar esto más, la que más me ha funcionado es Notion, que se ha convertido en una de las apps que más uso.

Probé muchos sistemas de otros creadores pero a alguno siempre le faltaba o le sobraba algo: demasiado complejo para mis propias necesidades, muchas páginas que solo usaba 1 vez al año, etc.

De esta manera, junté lo que más me servía a mí de manera que sea lo suficientemente práctico y visualmente atractivo, puesto que si bien voy a estar registrando mis movimientos seguido, lo que más necesito es ver en unos cuantos segundos cómo va mi cartera. En la plantilla puedes encontrar lo siguiente:

• Resumen → Balance Total que te permite observar tus ingresos y gastos totales desde el primer momento en que abres la app, así como cuánto te falta para alcanzar tu objetivo financiero.

• Tablero de Ingresos → Registro mensual de los ingresos que has percibido, con la posibilidad de vincularlo a un cliente o compañía en específico.

• Tablero de Gastos → Registro mensual similar al anterior, y puedes determinar de qué tipo son cada uno.

• Tableros Generales → Visualización alternativa para todas tus finanzas a lo largo del año.

• Objetivos → ¡Tú mismo puedes escribir cuáles son tus próximas metas en el corto y largo plazo para tenerlos siempre en mente!

Puedes probar esta plantilla en Español e Inglés aquí.

¡Hasta luego!