I recently read The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business: Make Great Money. Work The Way You Like. Have The Life You Want. by Elaine Pofeldt.

The book title caught my eye, because that’s exactly the goal that I’m working on. By itself, the later half of the book with the how-to content to run a million-dollar, one-person business didn’t give me anything much by way of practical tips and tactics in running a business. But the statistics shared in the first half of the book paints a rosy landscape of more and more solo businesses breaking the one million barrier. Granted, that’s just for the U.S. but already it’s super encouraging! It helps to know that this million dollar solo business goal that I’m trying out, is actually becoming increasingly common. So, my recommendation: if you often read business books already, skip this book, and just read the numbers in the book notes below.

Sharing them here as reference for myself, and for anyone who might find it useful. This is not a book review, just raw notes lifted directly from the book, with some minor interpretations and categorisations of my own. This is part of my reading list for a new season.

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The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, by Elaine Pofeldt

The rise of remote

40% of US workers have alternative work arrangements in their main jobs, meaning they are freelancers, temps, contractors, contract company workers or part-timers. 

Majority of small business are solo

Out of 28mil small businesses in the US, 23mil are non-employers, meaning no one has a job there except the owners. 

Year on year upward trend of solo $1mil businesses

In 2015, there’s 35,584 nonemployer firms—that is, those that do not employ anyone other than the owners—that brought in $1mil to $2.49mil in annual revenue. That’s up 5.8% from 2014, 18% from 2013, 21% from 2012, and 33% from 2011. 

Many more have potential to break the $1mil bar

Many more of these tiny businesses are approaching the $1mil mark: 258k made $500k-$999k, 584k made $250k-$499, 1.8mil made $100k-$249k.

Solo earns more than a job

Many solo entrepreneurs make more money than they did in their traditional jobs. 43% surveyed said they make more money working for themselves. A substantial 19.75% earned more than $100k in 2017, up 4.9% from 2016 alone.

Solo businesses are counterculture

One-person businesses are often seen as duds/failures, by society, governments and financial services. Businesses are seen as successful when they are job creators. But many solo entrepreneurs see these as an engine that offers potential for high income and a balanced, interesting life–on their own terms.  These businesses offer 3 things that elide most workers today: control over their time, enough money to enjoy it, and the independence to live life as they want.

New path emerging

The million-dollar, one-person business represents a 3rd path between being employed, or being an employer.

A billion-dollar solo biz?!

How much longer it will be until a one-person firm gets acquired for $1 billion?

Types of solo businesses

Solo businesses that hit the million-dollar range typically fall into 6 categories:

• Ecommerce
• Manufacturing 
• Informational content creation
• Professional/creative services
• Personal services e.g. fitness, coaching
• Real estate

Eliminate, automate, delegate, procrastinate

Continually hunt for new ways to avoid doing things that don’t matter. Analyse your workflow:

• What can I eliminate?
• What can I outsource/automate?
• What can I put in the back burner?
• What can I say “no” to?