Building your "Business of One"

In today’s business world it’s difficult for any employer to guarantee employment.  There are just too many factors out of the control of companies – economy, legal, government, consumer preferences, competition, and mistakes by key leadership.

34% of all Americans are contract workers. Experts predict that over 40% of employees will be contract workers by 2020….at that pace…over 50% of Americans in the next five years will be contract workers.

Therefore, it will be necessary for professionals and executives to establish themselves as a “Business of One”.  For many, they want freedom and independence and create an unconventional lifestyle.  A sense of control of both your personal life and your career.   To achieve this freedom and protect yourself from the changing employment landscape we must take specific steps to position ourselves. Those that start now will have a distinct advantage.

For others, it may mean becoming an entrepreneur or solopreneur.

Whichever you wish – to work for a company or yourself it starts with these four things.

Get Focus and Establish Your Clarity

Often a challenge for us, has been for me, is being very clear where I bring expertise and excellence.  Especially as we gain experience our hard and soft (transferable skills) increase.  It’s only natural we want to speak to them.  Today’s employer wants Specialist, experts, to sort through all the talent that apply. While the best leaders will value a diverse skill set a hiring manager has a particular set of challenges that need to be solved. If you want to be a consultant or coach – focus on your ideal customer’s Pains. Speak to the Pains you solve and how. Once an emotional connection occurs then dive into your products' features and benefits.

A great exercise to define your value proposition is to make a list of the Pains you solve, the benefits you bring and clear results you have delivered.   Often these can be expressed as Accomplishments.  Use the PAR method to define those in 2 to 3 sentences:

• P = Pain, explain the pain you solved
• A = Action you took
• R = Results you accomplished

Also, to help you define your focus go through the process that many of us have used to help our employer determine its mission, vision, and values. What are yours?  What is your Why (see Simon Senik Book – Start with Why – it works for people also – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw)

Building a Brand – Establishing yourself as an expert.

With that clarity in place now, you can ensure your vision is carried into the documents and tools you use to communicate and share about yourself.  What branding tools you use depends on your goal - get a job, be a coach or consultant, start a company. 

• Resume -or- One-Page Sale Sheet
• LinkedIn Profile
• Elevator pitch about yourself in the form of cover letters, pain letters or emails/InMails you use to introduce yourself
• and if needed your Website. 

Ensure these tools are consistent and communicate a clear message about yourself BEFORE you reach out, and people will check you out. Many will search for you on LinkedIn. 95% of employers and recruiters use LinkedIn. In most of the business world, many will turn to Linkedin to learn about you before responding. A powerful LinkedIn profile can be key to giving your audience what you want them to know about you, your company/service, including how to connect with you.

Building Your Reputation

With a clear focus on your value proposition then you need to build and protect your reputation. The Internet and Social media are here to stay and in the professional career world that primarily means LinkedIn but not ignoring Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.   Through these sites, you can control what the media says about you and curate your perspective.    For many, a pSHINE FROM WITHIN CONSULTINGersonal website can be key to give you your voice and control of your reputation. 

Building Your Foundation

What is often not addressed by many career coaches and may be the most important is to take care of your wellness and mindset.  Wellness may seem obvious in that if our health is not good, it will be more challenging to remain professionally active. Mindset, which is gaining more attention, is a vast area of opportunity for professionals and executives to achieve a competitive advantage.  The world is not getting simpler or less stressful. Our ability to build a strong growth mindset, some are calling it Grit: the ability to not let failure and unexpected events cause us to react in ways that prevent us from progressing.

Building Your Community - with LinkedIn

I'm sure you have already heard how valuable LinkedIn can be to helping reach the audience you want. Clients, customers, partners, advocators - your Community. You also may have received dozens of InMails from "Lead Generation" experts and solutions. While I know some of these companies can be helpful, I don't think anything replaces YOU. Engaging connections right way with an approach that doesn't sound canned. Your first offer may be your hook to get that connection.  It's critical you follow that up with personalized and relevant messaging to move the conversation to email or better the phone or even better face-2-face.  

As you scale your Business you may want to expand your team to help with prospecting. Initially you driving that engagement early can be critical to understand the voice of your customer, connect with partners and advocates, to help refine your messaging and offer.

There is a "process" to do this to help you build a predictable flow of leads, qualified leads that want to talk to you. It's how I've built a network where I'm maxed at 30,000 connections and working on a second profile. Not by sending random invites but targeted connections followed by meaningful engagement. Serving people. Sharing relevant content.  

Who's This For

Let me be clear on who this "Business of One" approach works for:

• Professionals or Executives that want to build their network and avoid long gaps in employment due to layoffs or other unplanned changes in your job
• Solo-Entrepreneurs - Consultants, Coaches, Insurance Agents - making their book of business
• Entrepreneurs that are building a company to attract customers, partners, advocators, team members, and investors. Early in any company's formation, it's often more about YOU than your idea.

For more about how you can prepare yourself for being a Business of One…contact:

David McKnight

NotionPath

[email protected]

608-695-8438

Schedule an Appointment with David ? https://calendly.com/david-mcknight-/30min