Myth Buster: Entrepreneurship Isn't for Everyone

Somebody commented on one of my TikToks. He'd started his own solo business a couple years back, it's working, he's happy. Then he said "but it's not for everyone."

I'd been repeating that exact line for years and never once dug into it.

So this episode is two things. Why people still say entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, and why I think it's true about something almost nobody is actually doing.

When people hear "entrepreneur" they picture the same movie. Raise money, hire a team, sign a lease, bet the house. That version is brutal and it isn't for most people, me included. But in 2023 roughly 117,000 one-person businesses cleared a million dollars in revenue. No employees. No payroll. Nobody to manage.

The four myths I go after:

1. You need a business plan
2. You need a website, a brand, an LLC, a logo
3. You need to be a salesperson
4. It's risky

That last one is backwards. Your corporate job is one customer providing one hundred percent of your income, and they can end it for reasons that have nothing to do with how good you are. Attach a W-2 to it and we call it stability.

The second half is the part I didn't get into in the LinkedIn article: finding clients is closer to a job search than to building a company. I've had seven or eight corporate roles and seven of them came from a referral or somebody in my network. Not one came from a blind posting. That's the same channel that brings in solo work.

I also walk through how I'd structure a first offer. Good, better, best, and why people almost always take the middle one.

In this episode:

• Where the stereotype came from, and why it was true about a different thing
• The four myths, one at a time
• Why corporate politics skills don't transfer, and why that's good news
• Your job is one customer with one hundred percent concentration
• The interview and the discovery call are the same conversation
• Good, better, best, and pricing your first engagement
• Owning your own calendar, which took me longer than I want to admit

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 — The LinkedIn article, and what this episode adds to it
• 01:30 — The TikTok comment that started it
• 01:55 — I'd been saying the same line for years
• 02:20 — Hundreds worked with, thousands talked to, and almost none were prototypical entrepreneurs
• 03:00 — Where the stereotype came from
• 03:45 — 117,000 one-person businesses over a million in revenue
• 04:10 — Stop thinking customers. Think micro jobs.
• 04:25 — Myth 1: you need a business plan
• 04:41 — Myth 2: you need a website, a brand, an LLC
• 05:15 — Myth 3: you need to be a salesperson
• 05:50 — Why corporate politics skills don't help you out here
• 06:20 — Myth 4: it's risky
• 07:15 — Your corporate job is your one customer
• 08:00 — What a diversified solo practice actually looks like
• 08:30 — If it takes six months to find your next customer, you're running it wrong
• 08:50 — Put a tenth of your job hunt effort into finding clients
• 09:55 — Finding clients looks a lot like looking for a job
• 10:25 — Seven of my eight roles came from referrals. None from a posting.
• 11:00 — Think of it as mini job applications
• 11:36 — The interview process, walked through step by step
• 12:15 — Same conversation, but with a business owner
• 12:45 — Good, better, best
• 13:35 — They take the middle option nine times out of ten
• 14:20 — Nobody's judging you
• 14:55 — You'll probably underprice the first one. It doesn't matter.
• 15:30 — You'll work fewer hours than you do now
• 15:50 — Owning your own calendar, and why it took me so long
• 16:11 — Don't feel guilty when you're not busy
• 16:40 — The few who go back, and why they go back with a plan
• 17:20 — Reallocate some of those job hunting hours
• 17:45 — It's relationships, not postings
• 18:15 — Don't chase shiny objects. Pick one or two.
• 18:30 — Maybe the word itself is the problem
• 19:00 — Corporate ends either way. Take control.

Key Quotes

"Seven of my eight corporate roles came from a referral or somebody in my network. I honestly can't think of a single job I got from a blind posting."

"Your corporate job is one customer. One revenue stream. If that customer goes away, you've got nothing."

"One bad quarter, or even a good one with a new VP, and you're gone."

"If it takes you six months to find your next customer, you're not running that business very well."

"Put a tenth of the effort you put into a job hunt into finding problems to solve, and you'd have more customers than you'd know what to do with."

"The people who got ahead in corporate because they knew how to play the games, that doesn't work out here. These people just want their problem solved."

"Nobody's judging you except you."

"Corporate's going to end whether you choose it or not. You might as well take control."

LINKS

Questions, or an episode idea? bt@bretttrainor.com