There’s No Such Thing as a Solopreneur
Too many are obsessed with professional labels that it almost feels like there’s a new meaningless buzzword/title every week. For example, mumpreneur, techpreneur and solopreneur…to name a few.
Let’s take the last one of those…
So, you’re run your own business and there are no colleagues or employees to answer to. Your job title could even be “OEO — Only Executive Officer”.
In spite of all this, you’re not alone. I repeat, NOT alone. Not now, not ever. Sure, it might feel like you are, but you’re not.
When you start a business, you rely on paying clients, the people who interact with your enewsletters and the people you don’t even know who share your stuff with their network or on social media. Let’s not forget there are also business mentors and networking groups. There ain’t nothing ‘solo’ about you or your work.
In 2016, I launched the Freelance Heroes Facebook Group which provides, as one member put it, some good old fashioned accountability and collaborative support.
Kathryn Priest, who would fit into the ‘solopreneur’ category if we cared about labels — which we don’t — owns Arcadia Physiotherapy and wrote “one of the best things about this group for me is hearing from real people out there and how many common strands there are despite a huge variety of business types and styles. It’s been motivating, inspiring, and kick-up-the-backsiding: a very valid and justified use of FB for once.”
Cambridge Business Lounge, a coworking space where people come to work out of in a shared office environment, is another example of people working for themselves but not by themselves. One member of our community, Caroline Broad of Broad Associates, explained coworking as “networking, some company and support, whilst building a viable business”
Forget meaningless labels. You own a business, you make money and while you may be the “Only Executive Officer”, master of your own domain, you are absolutely, positively and certainly NOT on your own.
This post first appeared at http://www.edagoodman.com/stop-calling-yourself-a-solopreneur/
