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*Formerly known as Solopreneur: The One-Person Business Podcast*
Welcome to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the weekly podcast that dives deep into the world of solopreneurship. Join us as we bring you insightful interviews with industry experts and successful solopreneurs who have mastered the art of running their own businesses.
Are you a solopreneur looking for guidance on how to attract clients? Or maybe you're searching for ways to stay motivated and overcome the challenges of working alone. Perhaps you're even struggling with the intricacies of taxes and financial management. No matter what obstacles you face, The Aspiring Solopreneur Podcast is here to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration, and practical advice you need.
In each episode, our hosts, Joe Rando and Carly Ries, sit down with a diverse range of guests, including seasoned solopreneurs, marketing gurus, financial experts, and productivity specialists. Together, they unpack the secrets to solo success, sharing their personal stories, strategies, and actionable tips.
Learn from those who have paved the way before you, as they reveal their tried-and-true methods for growing their company of one.
Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business. So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, be sure to check out LifeStarr Intro!
Access LifeStarr Intro: https://www.lifestarr.com/lifestarr-intro-for-solopreneurs
What if the scariest part of building your business isn't the strategy, the tech, or the sales, but simply telling people it exists? In this episode, Joe and I break down the invisible force that stops so many solopreneurs from sharing their work with the world, and that is the fear of being seen. From perfectionism to vulnerability hangovers to the worry of looking salesy, we unpack the real reason solopreneurs hesitate to go public and the massive opportunities that disappear when they hide. If you've ever felt excited to build your business but terrified to announce it, this conversation will help you reframe visibility as service, take back your confidence, and finally get your work out there. You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for anyone on the solo business journey, whether you're just toying with the idea, taking your first bold step, or have been running your own show for years and want to keep growing, refining, and thriving.
Carly Ries:I'm Carly Ries, and along with my cohost, Joe Rando, we're your guides through the crazy but awesome world of being a company of one. As part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all things solopreneurship, we help people design businesses that align with their life's ambitions so they can work to live, not live to work. If you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the place for you. But if you want real world insights from industry experts, lessons from the successes and stumbles of fellow solopreneurs, and practical strategies for building and sustaining a business you love, you're in the right spot. Because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone.
Carly Ries:No matter where you are in your journey, we've got your back. Joe, we work with hundreds of solopreneurs at this point in our community and and even thousands beyond that with people that receive our newsletter, people we've talked to on their show. Like we've had a lot of solopreneur time. we try to find patterns between the people we talk to. And something that I have found fascinating is that people get so excited to build their business, but then they get so scared to actually put their business out there.
Carly Ries:And tell their friends, tell their family. We've had a few podcast guests who are very successful, who really struggled with that in the beginning. So I just wanted to cover that topic today because I think it's something a lot of people experience, but not a lot of people talk about. We talk about impostor syndrome and all that, but there's a genuine fear, like a vulnerability of being visible to your audience once it's ready to go. Do you have thoughts?
Joe Rando:Yeah. I have a few. I think there are a couple of different ways that this, you know, root causes, I guess, and ways that it manifests. But one of the root causes is perfectionism. So it's not perfect. And I'm guilty of that. I've been struggling with that my whole life. just it's not perfect, and therefore, it isn't ready. And sometimes you just gotta get it out there and figure out which imperfections are actually relevant to your customer, because they might not all be. so that's one that really, I think, holds a lot of people back. There's that fear, like you said, of vulnerability of being being out there and maybe being criticized. That can be really scary. And I think the third one that pops into my head is the idea that, oh, I don't wanna seem salesy. I don't seem like I'm selling to people.
Joe Rando:And Then they're gonna be like, oh, he's just trying to sell me stuff. It's like, oh, it's like Amway. You know?
Joe Rando:They're trying to just treat friends as customers. And, they've all got, you know, a core validity. Right? I mean, people aren't crazy for thinking these things.
Carly Ries:Oh, no. Not at all. I mean, I think that's why so many people experience it. But I think it creeps up on people. Because I think they leave corporate America, they start their own thing, they're really excited.
Carly Ries:And I think, like oh, I actually have to show people this. I think it catches them off guard, it's a fear that they don't realize they have until they have to face it. But I agree with you on everything you said, but there are real costs to that, obviously. And I think, you miss opportunities with clients, partnerships, I mean PR even, getting your name out there. And I think you have to keep all these missed opportunities in mind as a way to help overcome them.
Carly Ries:I mean, you can be so impactful if you reframe it as, I'm not selling, I'm helping. If I don't put myself out there, then the people that I serve will not benefit. And think of everything you do for your business as like, I'm not selling, I genuinely need to give people this product or service because they need it, and I'm the one that's gonna get it for them. So if you reframe it as, I'm helping people, it is amazing. I feel like I'm gonna make this stat up because this is not a known stat.
Carly Ries:But I feel like 90% of entrepreneurship is just a mind game.
Joe Rando:I'm pretty sure it's 93.241%.
Carly Ries:There it is. There it is. Source unknown. But I think if you could reframe that mentally instead of being like, oh, I'm gonna get exposed, it's I'm gonna be helping people. And then instead of I might fall flat on my face if people see what I'm doing, every mistake don't look at it as a mistake. actually there's somebody I follow on LinkedIn. She just said this today. She was like, I only know about winning and learning. There's no losing. Because anytime you feel like you're losing or failing at something, it's just a learning experience that you can use to educate yourself, pivot, and keep moving forward.
Carly Ries:And even my daughter the other day, she was struggling with a math problem. And she was like, what if I mess up a thousand times? And I was like, well then, you're a thousand times closer to getting the right answer. And so just reframing that. I Feel like I'm rambling at this point, but it's just such a shift in perspective that I think can help people overcome that vulnerability feeling. I mean, yeah, just to kind of add on to that, I think an important aspect of this is, that you're saying, I'm helping people.
Joe Rando:So as long as you're thinking about that clearly, that you are trying to help people, that it's not just a mantra, but actually what you're doing. And, therefore, you're willing to walk away from people that don't really need your service. You're not pushing and pitching people that really don't need what you're doing. And the people that are, you're trying to help them.
Joe Rando:And you wanna help them for free to some degree to engage them and to let them, trust you and resonate with you. But then you don't wanna give away the farm either because, you know, you gotta make money. So you've gotta have this kind of line that you draw. You put it out there. Here are some free things to show that, I'm helpful.
Joe Rando:And then here's the line where, oh, now we need to engage. And don't be afraid of that. It's okay. Anybody that thinks that you shouldn't get paid for the hard work that you do and all the experience you've had in your life up to date, they're not real.
Joe Rando:They're thinking clearly. We need to be paid for our work, because otherwise we don't eat.
Carly Ries:Well, and I think there are two other things I wanna say. People I think also get scared because they're doing something that's really out of their comfort zone. So try to do things that are really authentic to you to start, and then grow from there. So if you're terrified of video, which so many people are, then start with a written LinkedIn post or something.
Carly Ries:And work your way up. Start in your comfort zone, so that you can work up to that scary out of your comfort zone feeling, just get started. The other thing I would say, again, ninety two point three four, whatever you said, percent of entrepreneurs are uncomfortable. Nobody's comfortable putting themselves out there at the beginning. maybe they're excited about it, but it's an uncomfortable place. It just is. You're putting something new out there as a solopreneur that's very very personal. So just know you're not alone. This is something that most solopreneurs, at least most solopreneurs we talk to, experience,
Carly Ries:Anything else you wanna add?
Joe Rando:I think we got it. I think we covered it.
Carly Ries:Perfect. We just wanted to put that out there because we've been hearing it a lot lately, so just know you're not alone, and we got you. Listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As always, please leave that five star review, share this episode with a friend, and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform, including YouTube. And we'll see you next time on the Aspiring Solopreneur.
Carly Ries:You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.