When I started off my journey as a speaker, I had an obsession with trying to solve a significant problem that every speaker faces—or, more generally, anyone in a line of work that depends solely on you, your availability, and your knowledge. That problem was growth. I mean, there's a limit to the number of in-person talks you can give in a day, week, or month—firstly because you can't possibly be in multiple places at once (even though the metaverse may help with that in the future), and secondly, because too much travel takes a toll on your health, well-being, relationships... in short, it limits your freedom. Nevertheless, I kept racking my brain trying to figure out how to grow, grow, grow. Should I raise my prices? Should I transition to online talks? Should I launch new digital products? Many sleepless nights were spent pondering this.
Over time, however, I realized that the effort to grow came at the expense of my freedom, and that perhaps, just as I had set a minimum revenue goal for myself, it made sense to set a maximum revenue goal as well! Moreover, I realized that since my cost structure was so low (I have a small team of freelancers, all logistics are handled by clients, and my agency handles sales), the profits I generated were much higher than in any conventional business. I began to focus more on profits than revenue. I started to reclaim my freedom. These, among other decisions, are what I came to understand as creating what I now call the "Solo Business Model," which is also known as the "One Person Business Model" in the United States and is increasingly being accelerated by AI.
Let's hear a quote from Paul Jarvis, the best-selling author of "Business of One," one of my favorites, which explains the relationship between lean business structures and freedom. Listen to the video below and don't forget to enable YouTube subtitles.
“A lot of us get into business for ourselves because we want to have more freedom - and that seems pretty good because that's why I run a business. But then we get into it and into the machinations of running a business and then we’re like “Oh this has to be a legitimate - I don’t know what legitimate means that’s why I am quoting it - but I have to run a legitimate business so that’s why I need to have an office, and then employees and then payroll and a CFO, and it’s like we start a business with these intentions of wanting more freedom, and we just keep adding more trappings and more responsibility on the business because we want to legitimize it, or we think this is the way a business is supposed to run, so I am just going to keep adding more because more is apparently better, and the message of the book is that more is not necessarily the byproduct of business success, or it doesn’t have to be. Freedom can be the byproduct of business success, because when you have success, you should have the freedom to choose: does this growth makes sense for me: maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, maybe it does impede my freedom and then I can say no to that and I can feel better about saying no to this opportunity or this growth because it’s challenging or it’s hindering the freedom that I want to have in my life, the freedom that I want the business to give myself”.
In an episode of Joe Rogan's podcast, Naval Ravikant, an Indian-American entrepreneur and co-founder of AngelList, expressed his vision of a future where there will no longer be long-term, exclusive employment relationships. Instead, companies will fundamentally hire in a 100% virtual and real-time manner, on a project-by-project or problem-solving basis. Workers will be available on recruitment platforms where applications will match a company's needs with a candidate's skills.
In other words, a data privacy expert might wake up in the morning and open her phone to find notifications from companies looking to hire her for the day, week, or month, based on their specific challenges and projects. One company may want her to review a significant data-sharing agreement with one of their partners, another may want her to participate in a crucial board meeting, and a third may want her to lead a project to rewrite the terms and conditions for their e-commerce platform. She will see the corresponding salary for each job and decide to accept the second one while declining the others. She then adds it to her daily task and responsibility list. This is very much like many freelance platforms today, but imagine if this were the standard hiring format for all companies in all markets and sectors. Technology today has the potential to empower professional mobility by connecting employees and companies in a very deliberate manner, that's a fact.
At the same time, technology, particularly AI, is enabling the growth not so much of these professions but of a new business model behind these professions. Instead of monetizing through a salary (exchanging your time for money), the monetization is a result of your knowledge (exchanging it for money), allowing you to profit more by reclaiming your time (using technology to automate processes and create content in your place). Confused? Allow me to explain it better.
Knowledge-based professions, such as speakers, consultants, lawyers, and the like, can transition their business model to what I call the "Solo business model," a way of managing businesses that prioritizes financial freedom and more.
"But Andrea, I do have my freedom!" Hmm, think about it carefully; the truth is, we are much less free than we think.
The truth is that, although technically free, people in modern society aren't truly free because they are bound by the need to work and pay for necessities and luxuries. For example, the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre argued that societal restrictions and the need to work for a living can lead to a sense of alienation and a lack of genuine freedom. According to Sartre, humans are inherently free beings, but societal demands can restrict that freedom, leading to unhappiness and frustration.
A fictional philosopher, Tyler Durden from Fight Club, born from the mind of author Chuck Palahniuk, used to say, "It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." Do you see the inverse relationship between freedom and material possessions?
You might think, "If I have nothing, I'll be happy." But that's not the case. Let's consider Maslow's hierarchy of needs: satisfying basic needs doesn't make us happy; it merely ensures that we aren't extremely miserable. As you move up the hierarchy, needs become less material and more intangible, so the marginal impact of material possessions on happiness diminishes.
Where does the primary source of modern lack of freedom come from? Well, it comes from the fact that we "rent" our time to companies that reward us with (let's be honest, not much) money. You can't earn back the time you dedicate because you'll never be free of your time but rather a slave to your schedule. Think about all the times someone asks you why you don't go to the gym, do volunteer work, cook at home, or visit your mother. The usual response is: "I don't have time for that."
Do you realize that time is the true gold of our era? A time when we're constantly in a hurry, but where, thanks to technology that allows you to outsource a significant portion of your work, you can get it back by putting your money to work for you (rather than you working for your money).
Think about how AI can save us time in our daily lives: first, through the automation of repetitive tasks. In my case, many CRM tasks in my client relationships are handled by AI tools. This gives me back time. Second, through content creation. Using tools like Chat GPT and Mid Journey, I can create extensive content in much less time. For example, I can create 12 pieces of social media content on Friday mornings, which was unimaginable in the past without AI tools. Third, but not least, the use of AI for decision-making: a lot of time used to be spent on data collection, analysis, and decision-making...now it's much faster because much of it is in the hands of AI.
Do you realize that AI is a huge ally in helping us reclaim our time and create our Solo Business Model?
Dan Koe, another creator who talks about this topic in addition to Paul Jarvis, even advocates for 4-hour workdays, where he works only 4 hours a day without sacrificing results. Sure, he could grow more if he worked 8 or even 12 hours a day. Yes, but does he want to? No, he doesn't. And now I understand why.
As I mentioned in the opening example, this relentless pursuit of growth was taking a toll on my health, my relationships, and so on. And you know what? I didn't need all that money! I didn't need a bigger team! That's how I came up with some of the pillars of this Solo Business Model concept:
- The Solo Business Model prioritizes profitability over growth and revenue.
- The Solo Business Model sets both minimum and maximum profit goals. Excessive profit comes with costs.
- The Solo Business Model emphasizes that everyone can be an entrepreneur and generate jobs.
- The Solo Business Model outsources content creation and repetitive, boring tasks to technology.
- The Solo Business Model prioritizes working fewer hours and making more profit per hour worked, rather than working more hours to grow and earn more.
- The Solo Business Model doesn't use any financial leverage to grow because debt is the enemy of freedom.
- The Solo Business Model prioritizes organic customer acquisition channels over paid media.
I know that many of these points may sound controversial or even contradictory. A growth ceiling? A deprioritization of job creation? No leverage for growth? After all, prioritizing profitability is the opposite of the thousands of startups that raise funds to grow, grow, grow without profits...until they implode, as many of them did (and for those that didn't implode and are profitable today, what cost did their growth phase come at?).
But please note, I'm not saying that we don't need companies and business models like that. I'm just saying that for those who prioritize freedom over revenue and growth, there's a new model, "powered by technology and AI," that helps us regain a professional balance that I think has been lost over time.
What do you need to do to make this Solo Business Model work? Fundamentally, it's about minimizing your cost structure through technology and organic customer acquisition channels, such as an engaged audience through high-quality content. Think about it: user acquisition costs are variable costs that decrease your profitability. Or do you think those product launches that generate millions in revenue are very profitable? Why do they never talk about profit?
A significant portion of those profits, you reinvest in passive income sources (like in my case, fixed income or even an Airbnb apartment). The goal is to reach a level where your monthly passive income covers your monthly expenses - which is crucial - they shouldn't increase proportionally with your rising profits... think about it: if you spend more as you earn more (which is what most people do), you'll never be free!
If you want freedom, embrace this business model and be happy! After all, as Aristotle said in Ancient Greece, the situation most correlated with happiness is freedom. He already knew what he was talking about.
If you are interested in learning more about how we can help you accelerate or launch your career as a speaker, please contact us.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreaiorio/
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Website: andreaiorio.com
