How to create financial security going solo. Part 1.
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Going solo.
It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. Yes, it was scary. But it was because I believed financial security was at risk.
I couldn’t be more wrong.
In fact, I make more today on an hourly basis than I ever did as a Fortune 500 CIO.
For the next two newsletters, I’ll provide a breakdown on my income, how I get paid, and how to determine your value. The goal is to empower you with information so you might overcome any limiting beliefs holding you back.
I know this isn’t just about money for you. Instead, you want more balance in your life and may be tired of the corporate treadmill.
However, what’s holding you back is financial risk. So, let me share what I’ve learned in my 7-year journey to calm you.
The problems you solve.
One of the most important lessons to learn on my entrepreneurial journey was how to determine my value in the marketplace.
For years, I was conditioned to believe you trade hours (and your life) for money. That was complete foolishness.
Your value is determined by the value of the problems you solve.
As an example, I help tech execs and senior leaders overcome dysfunctions within their team. These dysfunctions decrease productivity, increase turnover, and result in rework and project setbacks.
This is costly. My clients are committed to solving collaboration issues but don’t always know the most direct path to helping their teams.
So, they retain my services to help them quickly diagnose their key blockers and provide consulting, tools, and leadership development to overcome them.
If you want to de-risk going solo, spend time thinking about the specific problems you’d help customers overcome and the value attached to solving them.
Your unique qualifications.
There’s a misnomer in business that you have to be the best at something to succeed. You may think, “How can I start my own business when others are more qualified?”
Hogwash. You don’t have to be better; you just have to be different.
Whether you’re going solo or finding a better job, be clear about how you’re uniquely qualified to solve a problem.
A great way to do this is to think in sub-niches. As an example, consider a sports apparel company. They could focus on athletes. (Broad.) Perhaps runners. (Niche.) Perhaps just marathon runners. (Sub-niche.)
My business could be positioned as organizational health (broad) and focused on leaders (niche). But instead, I’m focused specifically on tech leaders (sub-niche).
As a former 4-time CIO who has led corporate turnarounds in large public companies, it’s easy for me to convey my unique qualifications to help when I’m talking to my ideal clients.
This is especially true because most organizational health firms are career consultants or academics who don’t have practical operating experience in the tech world.
If you want to go solo, think about the sub-niche you could serve. It’s not enough to say you want to focus on AI, as an example. Look at your unique background and be more specific.
As an example, you focus on mid-size retail companies looking to quickly adopt AI in customer service centers.
How you solve the problem.
The final stop on reinforcing your value is how you solve the problem for your ideal clients.
There are three models to consider: done by you, done with you or done for you. You = your ideal client.
As an example, I wrote a book. It provides a recipe for teams working more effectively together. This is done by you. It’s expected that my ideal client will read the book and apply the concepts most relevant to them. The book is $28. (You can get it free here.)
I also provide the People Lab. It’s a leadership development workshop that coaches tech leaders on a simple toolbox to be more effective. This is done with you. My ideal client goes through experiential learning and applies new concepts in their day-to-day work. The People Lab is $15,000.
Finally, I have executive clients, who don’t have the time and patience to ensure their leaders are fully adopting concepts from leadership development. They want a done for you service of me working with their team for an ongoing period of time. So, I created the Leadership Operating System which is a 12-month consulting program full of tools, templates, and methods. The program is $76,000.
Your ideal clients will always place more value on done for you services.
If you’re thinking about going solo, you’ll want to consider the models above and how you might approach helping them.
Putting it all together.
In summary, if you solve high-value problems, show you’re uniquely qualified to serve that sub-niche, and provide compelling done for you (or done with you) solutions … you’ll create the most value for yourself in the marketplace.
In part 2 next week, I’m going to give you the exact breakdown of how I make my income. This includes the pros and cons of each category.
Your coach,
Chris
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