092 | Paul Jarvis, Company of One on creating a minimalist business and knowing your "enough"

My guest today is Paul Jarvis, entrepreneur and author of the book Company of One: Why Staying small is the next big thing for business.  I read this book over the winter break and so much of what Paul talks about resonated with me.  We live in a world where we’re conditioned as entrepreneurs to strive for more — more revenue, more products, more customers, more followers, more visibility and notoriety. While it’s true striving for bigger isn’t always better, I know many of us still struggle with the big question - How do we grow strong, profitable businesses but in a way that feels good and sustainable?     In his book Company of One and during today’s interview, Paul challenges us to explore a different way of thinking about business. During this episode, Paul and I discuss the contrarian view that business growth isn’t always good, and isn’t always required. We also talk about being a solopreneur, why that doesn’t necessarily mean your working alone, and why we need to know our “enough.” If you’re trying to break the mold, embrace minimalism and find balance in your own biz, trust me, this episode and book will help a ton!   ON TODAY’S EPISODE: Why Paul decided to write a book The truth about the single business narrative Examples of how different people define business How to play to your strengths Making decisions based on your best use of time Paul’s perspective on hiring His definition of a minimalist business    The benefits of investing in talent Why he works in flexible processes The importance of interacting with your audience   KEY TAKE-AWAYS:   “I've never wanted to grow a bigger business. I actually really like doing the work, so I don't want to ever stop doing that. ” - Paul Jarvis   “It's always like a personal decision of like, "Is this a skill that I can use? Is this a skill I want to have? Is this a skill that helps anything else in my business?" And if it's not, and I can afford to outsource it.” - Paul Jarvis   “I'm not going to hire somebody for $5 an hour off of Fiverr. I would rather find the best person that can do the job with no management.” - Paul Jarvis   “I believe wholeheartedly in hiring experts, people that can do the work. ” - Katie Hunt   “I believe in hiring people that are smarter than me, that can like improve upon what I already know or teach me things in the process.” - Katie Hunt   “I always try to be the best client. I'll get an invoice, and I'll be like, "I got to pay this in like five minutes or less." Because I know how important that is. I've been on the other side of that.” - Paul Jarvis   “Minimalism for me is figuring out what's needed and cutting out what's not. That makes so much sense in business.” - Paul Jarvis   “Anything that I can make easy or take off my plate is better. So I like to always come up with things that are replicable and simple.” - Paul Jarvis   “I love that the biggest expense in my business is hiring other freelancers. I feel actually really good about that.” - Paul Jarvis   “I think the first time you launch, you're guessing at most things. … But then once you've launched it the first time, then you've got data. Then you can look like did this work?” - Paul Jarvis   “We all want to launch like the next biggest thing, but I think it's faster and easier and better if we launch small at first, iterate, and then grow it slowly based on the market and based on customers instead of just guessing at every single thing right in the beginning.” - Paul Jarvis   “Whether we're providing products or services, we can constantly be improving upon what we're already doing and if we're serving our audience even better, then they're going to want to keep coming back for more from us.” - Katie Hunt CONNECT WITH PAUL JARVIS: Website:  http://ofone.co Twitter:: http://twitter.com/pjrvs   LINKS Company of One on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2RzLv9 Convert Kit: http://mbsy.co/convertkit/26032885   JOIN US FOR PROOF TO PRODUCT’S 100th EPISODE! Call In: http://tradeshowcamp.com/ptp100/   PAPER CAMP   What if you could sit in a room with 30 other product makers who are doing exactly what you’re doing -- building a business they love!  You could share resources, leverage each other’s experiences and learn from those who are where you want to be. Imagine the growth potential!   Join us March 14-15th in Los Angeles for our Paper Camp Conference.   Over 800 brands have attended Paper Camp.  Brands that sell to stores like Target, Paper Source, Container Store, Anthropologie and independent boutiques internationally.   This program is for you if you’re a stationery or gift company interested in selling wholesale, exhibiting at trade shows or looking to expand your outreach to wholesale customers.     We believe in the power of community, collaboration and sharing everything we know.  Get all the details and register at  www.tradeshowcamp.com/papercamp SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list.   SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!