Black Girls Consult TOO!
The Black Girls Consult Too! podcast provides a business resource for women in consulting, especially women of color, to successfully navigate a hyper-masculine, highly competitive industry. It demystifies how to start and grow a thriving consulting business by simplifying the process and helping to avoid common pitfalls that can derail even the best ideas. Each episode is crafted to dive deep into consulting practice, business strategy, mindset, and more. For more information, visit www.excelatconsulting.com/podcast.
Black Girls Consult TOO!
Episode 137: Is Solo Consulting a Trap or Ultimate Freedom?
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Are you caught in the crossfire of the solopreneurship debate? Perhaps you've heard people declare that solo consulting is a "trap" or wondered if you're limiting your potential by not building a team. This debate touches the core of how we define success in consulting and whether we're allowing others to define it for us.
The truth is more nuanced than blanket statements allow. As high-achieving women, especially women of color, we've spent too long assuming we must follow predetermined paths that weren't designed for our lives. When your business model supports your personal vision rather than someone else's expectations, you've found your path to success.
Interested in this conversation? Tune in to learn more!
Welcome to the Black Girls Consulting Podcast. I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and if you have been tuning into the podcast in the past, then you know that I have been working on bringing this podcast to you in video form on YouTube. It has been a journey, to say the least, and I have had ups and downs and it has been a huge learning curve. So while the early videos that are coming out may be a little bit messy, I am excited they continue to improve as time goes on and you get to actually see what it's like to take something like an audio podcast that does not have a video attached and turn that into something that is available in multiple forms. So it helps to reach more people, which is a great thing for the podcast, but then also for you. You get to see the messy middle, all of the ins and outs and everything in between. So this episode is from the video podcast. It is a conversation about solopreneurship and whether or not it's a trap. Are you meant to have a solo consulting business or are you destined to have a firm or some bigger corporation one day? I wanted to tackle that question and consider all of the things that help us to make this decision and are we making the right one? So if you are interested in this conversation, then keep listening along. Let's get started. Is solopreneurship or solo consulting a trap? Are you making a mistake when you try to go into business solo, all along, with no help whatsoever? At least that's what solopreneurship implies, or does it?
Speaker 1:I was scrolling online recently on LinkedIn, and that's part of why this came up as a topic for this episode because when I read the statement about solopreneurship being a trap, I was immediately conflicted. And the reason why I felt that way is because, in all honesty, my answer was you know well, it depends. It depends on the type of business, it depends on your goals, it depends on who you're talking to, it depends and I think whenever we're talking or speaking in absolutes, we can get ourselves in trouble. If you cannot say that in 100% of the cases that something is true, then more than likely you're not thinking as broadly as you should about a topic, and it's very rare that we fall upon a circumstance where we can say, in 100% of cases, going into business as a solopreneur, as a solo consultant, is going to lead to a negative outcome. So, yes, I would say that if you want to build an enterprise, then you're not going to be able to do that as a solopreneur or a solo consultant and I would say in 99.9% of cases because, look, I can't contradict myself when I'm trying to explain and talk about how we shouldn't be thinking in absolutes, because there may be some random circumstance where that can be the case, but I think we all know that when you're thinking on that level, it's going to require a lot more than just you as one particular person working in and on your business.
Speaker 1:But I do think that there is a misconception that solopreneurship has to be limiting when it doesn't. When I was reading the commentary around the post that I saw recently, a lot of it talked about how they viewed solopreneurship as being lonely, something that they didn't find enjoyable because they felt like they were often working by themselves and they were stuck to a laptop and the business didn't run, unless they were running and in some ways it was logistically challenging. But that doesn't have to be the case and that is not always the case. For many, solopreneurship has led to having multi-million dollar revenue streams with very high profit margins because you don't have a lot of overhead. When I think about certain business entrepreneurs, such as the Justin Walshes of the world, that focus a lot of their efforts around solopreneurship. They've been able to amass not only a very large audience, but then also a lot of money has been built in their business without having a massive team, and I can go on and on with a number of examples where that has been the case. So there is the possibility of you achieving financial goals that you may have and still be a solopreneur or a solo consultant. It can offer greater freedom and greater flexibility. I can speak to that in terms of being able to operate in your own way and design everything without thinking about a lot of moving parts, because those moving parts are not dependent upon you and so you do have a level of freedom or flexibility that may be there.
Speaker 1:For many, solopreneurship can offer you reduced stress because you're not managing a team. There's a lot of benefit in having a team because there's a lot of help. There's a lot of ways to get things done faster and to have the business run behind the scenes more seamlessly because you have other people involved. But that does not necessarily mean it is stress-free for everyone, and in some cases, having a team can add a level of stress that's not desirable, because, in order to have a team that runs effectively, you need to also be able to train that team, to make sure that you're in constant communication with that team, to make sure that team has all of the resources and tools that they need in order to be successful on your behalf, and so it is another level of responsibility that even comes from the business owner that many people don't think about. It's not as simple as just hiring a team and handing everything off to them and letting them run free. You have to have the training in place in order to be able to do that, and especially in consulting, that can be somewhat challenging, because we are making money based on our expertise, our knowledge, and therefore we have to be able to put that into something that's more of a concrete framework or some type of guidance, so that those who work for us and work under us can follow.
Speaker 1:Without that, then, it's going to be difficult for you to be able to provide your level of service to the best of your ability, and then, for some, being able to work as a solopreneur offers happiness and fulfillment and joy, and there's something to be said for all those things. It means that many times you can end up with greater alignment and even fulfillment in terms of the type of life that you want to live. So if what you are building meets your lifestyle goals and your lifestyle needs, then that may be the approach for you. So this is one of the reasons why I say that it depends. It depends on what you want to accomplish and what your goals actually are, what type of personality you have and whether or not you see having a team and a firm and working with a lot of people as being more desirable than, maybe, working by yourself.
Speaker 1:There are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of things to consider, but I will argue that whenever people make this comparison, they're making the comparison based upon one person delivering the service, one person doing all of the communication, one person creating everything, one person showing up and serving every day. And that does not have to be the case, because part of the biggest benefit that we have in today's society is that we have a lot of things at our disposable a lot of tools, a lot of resources, technology, a lot of different ways to show up. Who thought that we would be doing so much business right now on Zoom. Most people would not have imagined that that would have been the case, and, to be honest with you, it wasn't until we had a global crisis that this actually pushed this type of communication forward. So the world continues to change, and we continue to embrace new ways of doing business and new ways of showing up. We have a number of ways for us to be effective, even as solopreneurs and solo consultants. The thing is that it's not the actual business model that is potentially problematic, but it's whether or not you are able to leverage your expertise, and so I would say that leverage is actually the key, because when you are able to leverage what you know most effectively, then it is possible for you to achieve a number of goals, financially and business-wise, without having a massive team.
Speaker 1:Entrepreneurship does not mean that you are on this journey alone. It doesn't mean that it has to trap you. It doesn't mean that it has to be limiting, which is why I always like to have the discussion with my clients when we first start. We start off with a process of vision mapping, and one of the reasons why I like to use vision mapping is because I think often we don't think about or consider what we view as success, where we want to go personally, what makes us happy, what fits our lifestyles, what goals we may have.
Speaker 1:Everybody may not necessarily want to have an enterprise, business or a large corporation. Maybe the goal is to have a very renowned solopreneurship business or small boutique firm that's able to make millions upon millions of dollars and still be highly profitable, that can afford the lifestyle and the legacy that you may want to leave, and that's absolutely fine. And the one thing I want us to move away from is the feeling that we're somehow not achieving as much if we choose to use a different business model. If someone chooses solopreneurship, then that doesn't mean that they're going to be less successful at all. You'll be surprised how many solopreneurs actually generate greater revenue than many who have larger firms, and it all has to do with the amount of profits that they're able to achieve. We can't just make blanket statements and assume that because someone decides to utilize one particular business model, that is going to somehow handicap them or make it not as good as, and on the flip side, we don't want to assume also that by having a large firm with team and other consultants surrounding you is going to be the best approach.
Speaker 1:There are pluses and minuses on both sides. It's thinking about what your vision actually is telling you what do you see for yourself? What type of life do you see yourself living? If you do want that flexibility and freedom that doesn't come with having to manage a team, that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. And if you do enjoy the camaraderie and being able to work together and collaborate and to be able to diversify your work a bit more because you are bringing on other consultants and contractors that are able to assist you with the work, then that's great as well. I think that we have to start really taking into account what we want for ourselves in defining what success looks like in our lives not success by other people's standards. Success by other people's standards. So if you found yourself toying with whether or not you should continue to try the solopreneurship route or if you need to go and build a big firm, I want you to instead ask yourself what is your vision, what are your goals? What are you trying to accomplish? What life are you trying to live? What lifestyle do you want to have? Because when you're able to answer those questions, then it's easy to reverse engineer the best business model for you.
Speaker 1:There shouldn't be a blanket statement nor a general expectation that in order for us to achieve success, we need to follow one particular path. There are a number of ways to get there, and one thing that I want to stress, especially as a coach and mentor for other consultants, is that whichever path you choose is okay as long as that path meets your goals, and we have to start putting blinders on when it comes to what other people are experiencing. Now, if someone feels as if going the solo entrepreneurship route is a trap, then you want to utter that as well. I don't think that you should go down a path that doesn't feel aligned, but I also don't want you to assume that you need to follow a particular path to be successful. You know, that's one of the things that, as women especially women of color we've been doing for far too long assuming that we need to walk down a set path that may not be designed for our lives.
Speaker 1:The best that we can do is to better understand who we are, because when you're operating and building a business that surrounds your lived experiences and your unique perspective and your expertise, you have to find ways to embody that in every aspect of your business and for some people that may be easy to do with a team, and some people it may be easy to do with a team, and some people it may be harder. And then also, I want us to look at business building as a journey. It's not something that happens overnight. So, yes, this may be your solopreneurship season, but that doesn't mean that you won't be in your, your boutique or firm season in a few years. Everything takes time to build out, to figure yourself out, to understand what you need in order to best serve your industry, because, depending upon what you're able and want to offer, you may need a little bit more, but then also you may not need as much as you're doing right now. So when you're thinking about getting help, ask yourself am I doing this from a place of true need or am I doing this because it's what other people expect? And the one thing about us as high achieving women is that often we do a lot of things that people expect of us, and not necessarily what honors who we are. But in this season, we want to focus more on our vision, on what we want to do in our business for our lives, and so if that means that you want to be a solopreneur, a solo consultant, so be it. And if it means that you want to build a team and have a larger corporation, business or enterprise, then so be it. Corporation, business or enterprise, then so be it.
Speaker 1:That is the beauty of modern consulting the fact that we don't have to choose. That is the beauty, because in modern consulting, we have access to things to help us. You have access to people who can do freelance and contract work. You have access to artificial intelligence that can simplify a lot of tasks in your business. You have automations. You have systems and operating systems that can be put in place that allow the solopreneur to function like they have a small team, and you have the ability to educate and train a team more effectively with these same tools.
Speaker 1:The thing that modern consulting offers us is choice, freedom and flexibility, not just in our lives, but in every aspect of the business journey. So if you are thinking about this question now, after we've had this discussion, I'm hoping that you're realizing that the choice is up to you Whether or not you want to lean into solopreneurship or solo consulting or you want to focus on building that firm. It is up to you. It is your choice and your decision which way you go. Your choice and your decision which way you go, and the great part about it is that, no matter which you choose, you'll be successful. I believe it because I've seen it happen. All right, guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did subscribe to the channel and if you're listening to this on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave your five-star rating and review. It'll help us to reach more people and until next time, take care.
