The StartupCamp Podcast with Chris Graebe

How To Choose The Right Business with Elaine Pofeldt

05.02.2019 - By Chris GraebePlay

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How a regular person can choose the right business and make more for themselves

Elaine Pofeldt didn’t always enjoy writing about the business world. When she started her journalism career, she believed it was boring. But, a friendship with a fashion designer changed her perspective. This led her to investigate and report on solopreneurs and creatives who scale their business profitably – and in ways you might not expect.

Now, in her book The Million Dollar One Person Business, she explores what makes high-earning solopreneurs tick, what sets them apart from the crowd, and in what industries they participate to skyrocket their businesses to one million dollars in revenue. Listen now.

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“How do you make more?”

It’s an innocent enough question, but important for a freelance journalist like Elaine. She left the world of magazine and online journalism to enjoy more flexibility with her four children – and realized that to support herself and her family, she needed to make thirty to forty percent more revenue just to cover her health insurance costs. By asking this question, she uncovered the million-dollar solopreneur experience.

“How much am I willing to lose?”

We often think of successful entrepreneurs as risk-takers, but Elaine echoes Adam Grant’s sentiments here: successful entrepreneurs often don’t take big risks, they take calculated ones. She tells the story of a couple who started an Amazon business by investing $5,000 in a product that didn’t end up selling. Yet, they weren’t upset. They set aside that money purposefully to experiment with the product and came away with valuable knowledge about the market.

“People don’t realize what the freelancer’s or entrepreneur’s life is.”

Elaine believes that there is good in the gig economy – and the more individuals and companies that participate, the more policy can be enacted to benefit the freelancer and solopreneur lifestyle.

This episode gives you the low-down on real people with high-revenue businesses—real people, just like you and me.

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