"Alone or Agency" the myth holding you back

Links mentioned:

• I'm speaking more about this topic at the upcoming LevelUp 2026 Designer Boss Summit – free to sign up!
• Sign up for my weekly newsletter
• Join my community Web Designer Pro®

Chapters

• 0:00 A New Weekly Solo Format
• 1:47 Newsletter, Playlists, And Setup
• 2:43 The Myth Of Solo Vs Agency
• 4:05 Solo Doesn’t Mean Alone
• 6:05 Defining Alonepreneur, Solopreneur, Ownerpreneur
• 7:15 Tip 1: Build A Support Network
• 9:06 Tip 2: Collaborators, Not Employees
• 11:09 Tip 3: Create Referral Partnerships
• 12:21 Tip 4: Peers And Masterminds
• 14:06 Tip 5: Work With A Coach
• 16:17 Choosing Job, Business, Or Exit
• 17:15 Tools To Scale Your Way
• 19:06 Next Week’s Masterclass Preview
• 20:41 Feedback And Ways To Connect

Transcript

A New Weekly Solo Format

Josh Hall 0:00

All right, my friend. Last week I released a little casual solo bonus episode. And in that, I asked you if you would be interested in me popping in generally once a week to most often share a little more about my latest newsletter entry. If you're not signed up for my newsletter, I send those out every Friday at noon now. Just a little tip or strategy or piece of advice to help you in your web design business. It's completely free. You can sign up for that at joshhall.co slash newsletter. And the idea was to expand on it in audio format as well. And I got a lot of good feedback on that. So that's what we're going to do. I'm going to commit to doing this for a little while. Again, most of these will be going out every week and most often be around my latest newsletter entry. But one thing I was reminded of in that was that just because I'm sending out newsletters, and this is probably beneficial for you if you ever do a newsletter, whether it's weekly or monthly, or at the very least quarterly for clients, even, is that somebody may see an email and they may even open it, but understandably you get busy or you're multitasking, you want to go back, you forget about it, or you accidentally delete it, or you just don't have time that week. So this is just another opportunity for me to connect with you and help you build your business week to week. And um, so that's what we're gonna do. I'm really I'm looking forward to this because as you know, I like to riff generally in an audio format that's low post-production, low uh, low um editing and stuff. Also, side note, real quick, I am gonna create a new podcast playlist for these episodes. We'll probably have it just under bonus or solo episodes. So uh if you didn't know, you can go to joshhall.co slash playlist. And there is, because there's 400 plus episodes of this show. Well, actually, way more with bonus episodes, but there's a set of categorized playlists based off of topics, and this will be a new one there. So if you want to catch all of these, that will be over there at joshhall.co slash playlist. So let's get to this one. And I think I am gonna primarily kind of read this one. I'm not always gonna read them, it's not gonna be like an audiobook, but this one I do want to read a little a little bit because I think it's gonna help you. And it's titled Alone or Agency, The Myth Holding You Back. And this is based off of my experience with this idea, because in my experience, and I know I'm not alone in this because I've talked to many Web Designers Pro members who have faced this as well. I came up as an entrepreneur thinking there were really only two paths. One was being a solopreneur slash freelancer, which meant I'm wearing all the hats, I'm doing all the tasks, everything in my business, I'm fulfilling all the roles in my business, mainly to keep creative control, to avoid becoming a project manager, to avoid having team expenses, payroll, and just stressful overhead. The other option was to be an agency owner, which in my mind meant that I'd be doing pretty much everything I sought to avoid as a freelancer: managing projects, team expenses, payroll, overhead, nonstop meetings, calls, just putting out fires, HR work. So that's how I kind of came up as an entrepreneur, thinking there was really only two paths, solo or agency, or as we're going to talk about here, actually a loan or agency. But as you know, by this point, probably, especially if you're a member of Web Designer Pro, because I have a course on this, I found a very sweet scaling spot in the middle. I really did over the years learn to scale my way. And I'm here today in 2026 to tell you that in my 17 years now of being an entrepreneur, I'm here to tell you that I'm not a burned-out freelancer, but I'm also not a stressed-out agency owner. So there is absolutely hope for you two in this. And that's what we're gonna expand on just a little bit here. And this was actually very, very top of mind. I had a conversation this week. It was a podcast interview that's gonna be coming out next month, and it's with a it's the the author of the book, Staying Solo. And there was a bit of a revelation for me during that conversation, and I want to share it with you here. And because uh we really dug into like how you can stay solo without becoming an agency, but also avoiding burnout, what I realized is this. So, this is like the most important quote if you're multitasking, come back to me because this is it right here. And it it's this quote that I kind of realized being a solopreneur doesn't mean being alone. So one more time being a solopreneur doesn't mean being alone. And I I think we often, or at least I have, thought about the term solopreneur as doing everything on your own. But in this conversation and in my experience, I can truthfully say that's not the case. You can still be solo, you can be a solo business owner, a solopreneur, while still having a support system behind you in your business. Solo isn't alone. But there is a difference between being alone in your business and being a solopreneur. And technically speaking, and for tax purposes on paper, you may be the sole employee of your business like I am. I'm an S-corp and I am the sole W-2, no one else in my there's nobody else on my business on paper except for me as the W-2 employee of my S-corp business, Josh Hall and Co. Um, but the choices because of that are not, it doesn't mean that you need to be a loner agency. There is that very, very sweet scaling spot in the middle. So you can be, even for tax purposes and on paper, the sole owner of your business, but it doesn't mean that you're the alone owner of your business. So here are a few tips to help you stay solo, but not being alone. And actually, before I get to these five, I got five tips for you. I think we just came up with three new terms as entrepreneurs here. And those terms are number one, an alonepreneur, number two, a solopreneur, which is kind of what I'm getting into. And then number three is an ownerpreneur. This is how I'm visualizing this. Moving forward, I'm really gonna look at entrepreneurs, and I'm probably gonna update my business course with this methodology, which is you gotta be really honest with yourself. And it, by the way, there's no right or wrong here, it's totally fine to do things on your own for as long as you want to or as long as you can, but make sure you make the difference between being an alonepreneur and being a solopreneur versus being an ownerpreneur. All very different sets of challenges and rewards and results. So if you like me like to be in the middle, here are five tips on how to stay solo but not alone. So to be a solopreneur, not an uh a lonepreneur. Number one out of five, have a support network. Now, Web Designer Pro members, check, you're already in because as soon as you join Web Designer Pro as a community or coaching member, you have an immediate support network behind you. And I'm not talking about just cheerleaders and family who are like, way to go, Joshi. I'm so proud of you and your business. I appreciate that. But I'm talking about an actual network that I can rely on. And you as a web designer can rely on if and when you need help. And I'm not just talking about like sharing a win and getting technical help. I'm talking about like you got a lead for a project and it's a scope that you can't handle on your own. And if you are an alonepreneur, guarantee that you've been there or are currently there and you're like, oh God, how am I gonna get out of this? I want this client, and maybe they have one project, but this other project they want is out of my scope. You don't want to turn it down because you think you could do it, but you just don't know what to do. And that's where having an actual network of other designers and developers in your corner is huge. And by the way, when you're a member of my community, Web Designer Pro, you can tell your clients, I am the sole owner of my business, but I'm in a community of other web designers and we help each other out when needed, depending on the scope of projects. This happens literally every day in Web Designer Pro. We have a pros for hire space, and then we also have a post and opportunity space for those who um have an opportunity like this and want to get some help. So that's number one. Have a support network. I hope you have that as a member of my community, Web Designer Pro. I hope you join us in there if you're not yet in. Um, but you can also build this locally with other web designers. Yes, there are free Facebook groups, but that is going to be much more challenging to make deeper connections and trustworthy connections in a really large group. Um, so I hope you consider joining Web Designer Pro and coming into my world. But at the very least, go to meetup.com, find some web designer groups. You can also find a support network in tool groups, like if you use Divi or if you use Webflow, support groups that are based around a typical, like a topical tool that will help as well, which is what I did for many years. So, number one, have a support network. You're not alone immediately, even though they're not going to be probably on your website as a team page or anything, but it's you just know you have an extended network you can reach out to, that will immediately help you feel not alone. Number two is to actually have collaborators or contractors. And that verbiage is very specific and different to having like team members and W-2 employees. Now, I still often will have a like I have a team page on Josh Hall.co. I had a team page on Intransit Studios with just collaborators. So I still do recommend that. But just know it doesn't mean that they are employees. So the term team doesn't mean employees. They can be collaborators, contractors. They are 1099, which 1099, at least in the States, is just the tax on paper, people who are subcontracting that you're paying. Um, it's different than like a salaried W-2 employee where you're paying benefits and taxes too. So that's the beauty, is you can have contractors that you hire out either on retainer or as parts in your business, or just occasionally as needed, and they don't need to be W-2 employees. Very, very different. And I like to call them collaborators. Um, I did this for years. I share this in my business course and my scaling course, where if you go to josh.ntransitstudios.com, that is the freelance solopreneur version of my site. And on that team page, you'll see we have members who collaborate frequently and collaborate occasionally. And I call them collaborators because that's the team, but no one is like an official W-2 employee. So that's the next step is to get some help and delegate things that you don't want to do in your business by having collaborators. Um, and of course, there's challenging there can be challenges to that and there can be cons to somebody who may be busy if you're not giving them consistent work. But most cases, this is what I'm helping so many Web Designer Pro members go through, is you can build up collaborators. And it's usually such a great win-win situation. So collaborators, not employees, collaborators. Number three is to have partners. Now, you may wonder what's the difference between a support network and a collaborator and a partner. Well, I view partners as strictly referral partners, and they may often not be in your exact industry. They may be ancillary to you. I've talked about this at length over the years, but huge part of my business as a web designer and the leads I was getting in referrals came from my referral partners. One was an SEO guy, one was a photographer, one was a videographer, and then one was a business coach. Those four categories, like my videographer would do videos, and then where do they want to put the videos? Their website. Their website sucked, I immediately got a lead. And if I did a website and somebody needed a video, I gave him a lead, and it was a wonderful situation. Same thing with the business coach. I got a lot of leads from this business coach that was in my networking group, and they were partners. They were not collaborators, and they were just strictly referral partners. So that can also help you feel not alone because it's not reliant on your shoulders to do all the marketing to get every lead. And this is where going to networking groups, building again, ancillary referral partners is crucial and will really, really help you. It also helps you feel not alone. Now, number four is to surround yourself with close colleagues at your level. And the best way to do this is some form of mastermind. Now, for those who aren't familiar with that term, mastermind is typically a group that you're going to invest in. And depending on the type of masterminds that are around you, it should be folks who are around your level and on a similar trajectory. It's very hard for, for example, to be in a mastermind group, somebody who's making$500,000 and somebody who's looking for their first client. There's just, there's a, there's different challenges. There's just very different places you are in business right now. So the cool thing that we've struck in Pro is that we do have folks who are builders who are, you know, starting and beginning their business. And we also have people who are doing two, three, four, or five hundred K plus in their nice little mean and lean web design studios. But there are people who I'm finding are kind of creating like these little mini-groups with each other. And sometimes they are at different levels and working together, but there is something about finding people who are around your level just simply because they you have the same challenges they do, and vice versa. Um, and in that case, I would really encourage you, if it's not an actual paid mastermind, to be open about where you are in business and asking to connect with people who are at your level with a certain, even if you want to list out your challenges. Um, Web Designer Pro members, you can do that if you want to. Something I'm considering is um helping like smaller groups of folks pair up depending on where you are in your journey. The trick, the challenge with that is some people, like many Web Designer Pro members who have been on the podcast, Sam, Alexia, Ben, and others, who have been a builder and started beginning their business, and then within months, they're at a whole nother level. So you can level up very quickly, but in any case, some sort of mastermind. That's number four. You got to surround yourself with close colleagues at your level. It's almost like having a teammate. You're in it together, but you want to learn and grow together. Side note, wouldn't it be cool if Web Designer Pro had a high-level mastermind with top performing members that's limited to only 10 people who want a little more Josh coaching? Huh. Interesting. If you're a Web Designer Pro member, and if that sounds interesting, DM me because I'm gonna have some news for you very soon. Lastly, number five, is to have a coach. If you really want to feel not alone in your business, have somebody who is guiding you and directing you and can see things in your business that you can't see because you're juggling everything in your business. There's um a conversation coming out next week on the podcast where I was asked blatantly, how do you feel relevant? How do you stay relevant as a web design business coach if you're not actively building websites for clients? And the very short answer to that is I'm a thousand times more valuable and more powerful right now because I have my decade of experience. I am a consultant for my agency still in Transit Studio. So I see what's working. I've coached hundreds of members inside of Web Designer Pro. I see all the models, I see all the pricing, I can diagnose challenges very, very quickly. And on this podcast, I've had hundreds of agency owners at all levels that I've been able to learn from. So as a coach, even though I may not like you may destroy me with design and development, because that may be your specialty, but there are some gaps in your business if you have challenges that I can help you diagnose very quickly and solve very quickly and level up very quickly, instead of going to the painful path of doing it alone. So obviously, yes, if you are ready for me to be your coach, you can join the coaching tier in Web Designer Pro. That is uh open right now. I have that open. So, WebdesignerPro.com slash coaching. If you would like to jump in there, you can always hit me up if you have any questions on that. But lastly, yes, to not be alone, have somebody who is guiding you, who is seeing the gaps in your business. And man, I'm telling you, I mean, I've had so many members in the coaching tier pro who have told me the confidence they feel by knowing that I'm there to help guide them. It's it's I I sense like some relief because when you're alone, it's really hard to make this. Isn't it hard to make decisions when you feel alone? Because you're like, I think this is a good idea, but is it? What's the market like right now? What's working for others? I'm not quite sure. And again, unless you have a support network, collaborators, partners, and some sort of mastermind with other colleagues, it's really hard to figure all that out. The ideal scenario is that to be a solopreneur nowadays is to have all five, which you can in Web Center Pro, by the way. So that's my hope for you. Real quick recap have a support network. Number two, collaborators, not employees. Three, have referral partners. Four, have close colleagues, typically in the form of a mastermind. And then five, have a coach, somebody who is going to challenge you and to push you and gonna see things that you can't see. I hope it's me. There's a lot of great web design business coaches out there, but I do hope I'm the one for you. If you're listening to the podcast, you will love my coaching. I'll tell you that much, and it's gonna be fun. So, things you can do, these are things you can do in varying degrees as a solopreneur. Now, real quick, important note, I do not want to disparage anyone from wanting to be a full-blown agency or business owner. There are people who that's a great fit for. And you may get to a point where what gets you here doesn't get you there. And yes, you may want to go the owner route because this was said to me on the podcast a while back from Matt Gartland, who was at one point the CEO with Pat Flynn and his company Smart Passive Income. But he said, You're building one of three things. You're building a job, a business, or an exit. And if you're an alonepreneur, you're building a job. If you're a solopreneur, you can build a business. And if you're an ownerpreneur, you can build a business and have an exit one day. So that's my challenge for you to be honest with where you are, where you want to go. Not one is better than the other, but there's definitely going to be a time and a place where I think you'll get to this point, and I want to leave you with the quote that is in my scale your way course that I highlight. This is from Ginny Blake in her book Free Time. And the quote is this for those of you who are a be uh a begrudgingly proud alonepreneur who want to hold on to all your creative control and everything, which I understand, I'm empathetic to because that was me for many years. The quote is this the only reward for doing everything in your business is burnout. And with that, my friends, I hope you consider moving from being an alonepreneur and being a solopreneur. Two resources to help you with that. If you're a member of Web Designer Pro at any level, you can jump into my scaling course. It's called Scale Your Way. It will rock your world. I promise. Everyone who's gone through that course has given me such good feedback and let me know how it's helped them, even at a very small level. Um, even if you don't want to scale yet, even if you don't want to hire anything yet, it's good to be prepared for when you have a flood of projects and you don't know what to do with yourself. So jump into my scaling course. If you're not in Web Designer Pro yet, I hope you join at either the courses tier, the community tier, or the coaching tier if you want the entire five lists that I gave you there. Lastly, I am going to be sharing more about this for free at the upcoming 2026 Designer Boss Summit. It's called Level Up. I'm going to be sharing some of my top tips for scaling that expands on some of this in more detail. So check that out. It's completely free. You can go to the link below or go to joshhall.co/slash level up and you can grab your free ticket. I'll be speaking. There's some banger speakers there. Chris Doe's going to be speaking. James Barnard. Oh my gosh. There the it's it's a great list this year. And these are folks who are going to help you not only scale but with marketing and just you're going to get the top strategies and tips that are working today in web design, graphic design and branding, all forms of creative business. So highly recommend joining that one again, joshhall.co slash level up to snag your free ticket and I will be there sharing some more scaling tips. So I hope to see you there and I hope to see you in Web Designer Pro. All right friends, until the next well, we got an awesome episode good coming out next week. Actually the interview next week is not an interview. It is the replay of Bailey Collins' recent training that she did in Web Designer Pro. It's a masterclass on how to build your website in a day offer. So if that's of interest to you and you'd like to charge anywhere between one to five thousand dollars for one day of work, definitely don't miss the episode next week. It's going to be here on the podcast as episode 415. It will also be on YouTube. I'd actually really recommend watching the YouTube version because you'll see the slides. And um yeah I we we did that training in pro and it just went over so well I was like oh we got to share this with everybody. So it's going out to the entire world next week and you will not be disappointed. Bailey is the real deal. She's closed now I think she just crossed 500 plus website in a day projects since 2021. So I don't think there's anybody better to learn from and she's just freaking awesome if you haven't met her yet. So that's coming next week. All right my friends I would love to hear thoughts on this. If you're in Web Designer Pro, shoot me a note. You can comment on this I'm actually going to leave this as we have a little section in the in pro called Josh's corner where I post some newsletters and and writings. So this will be there. So drop me a comment there if you're in pro. Otherwise if you're not in pro but you want to share some feedback you can go to joshhall.co slash contact and zip me a note. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for being a listener of the show and I will see you on the next one friends. Cheers.