If you’ve been a faithful solopreneur reader here at The Solopreneur’s Guide (thank you!), you know that I’ve done interviews with other successful solopreneurs in the past as a way to give you some insight to what they went through to create and grow their businesses to give you inspiration for your journey. And in some cases, I chose people to interview because they had valuable information, products or services that can benefit you.


If you’ve missed them, here’s just a couple of the past interviews:


Joseph Lizio, CEO – Business Money Today (interview Part 1 & Part 2)

Greg Digneo, Founder – Cloud Marketing Labs (interview)

Diane Griffin, President / CEO & author – Security First & Assoc. (interview)


Since I’ve received positive feedback that these interviews have been helpful, I will have a series of additional solopreneur stories in February. I’ve lined up some great solopreneurs and know that you will get some great insight from this latest group.


You asked, and I want to give you what you want.


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide

This is a big question that both the unemployed and those feeling locked in the cubicle prison are asking themselves.


There can be a difference between having your own business and being an entrepreneur. You can have your own business without being entrepreneur, and that’s OK depending on what you want and what works best for your skill set.


For example, you could buy into one of the many work-from-home programs, MLM and franchise opportunities, or even purchase an existing business. These types of businesses will give you structure and a formula to follow allowing you to have your own business. However, an entrepreneur, on the other hand, would find these scenarios restrictive.


In case you haven’t seen my previous mentions of my partnership with Maria Smith-Alvira at Small Biz Break, we coach people to help them decide which scenario works best for them and then consult them through the steps to success.


If you are ready to be your own boss and prefer a structured work-from-home, MLM or franchise program, we can help you determine a program that will fit well with who you are and where you want to go.


If you are ready to flex your entrepreneur muscles, we will coach you through defining and launching a business that is an extension of YOU (your strengths, your experience, your passion, your financial needs and wants, and your personal goals), ultimately giving you your optimal balance between your personal and professional fulfillment and financial success.


By following this process, we lead you to your “Simple, Spontaneous, Success”. By starting your ideal business (instead of just any business that makes money), the process becomes simpler because you will replace fear and frustration with enthusiasm and determination. As you think of ways to improve and grow your business, your ideas will be more spontaneous because the business is an extension of you, ultimately leading to greater success.


How can we help?


1. Register for access to the Solutions Center.
Click here to go to the Small Biz Break Solutions Center. Inside you will find a number of business templates and forms to help you focus your activity for creating and launching your small business. Registration and downloads are free.


2. Download your free copy of “My Idea, My Business”.
Currently, we are giving away our new ebook, “My Idea, My Business” in the Solutions Center. “My Idea, My Business” helps you define the business of you. This ebook walks you through creating a business that is an extension of who you are so you can achieve your “Simple, Spontaneous, Success”.


3. Get started with one of our package solutions.
If you want answers to starting your own small business, get started quickly with by choosing the package that best meets your needs. From a professional review of your business idea, to creating an idea and launching it, to increasing your brand recognition and revenues with your own book or ebook, simply go to our Services page and select the package that is right for you.


4. Contact us for personalized, professional coaching.
Not all help fits within a package. Sometimes the right package for your needs is the one that we create from scratch. Contact us for a free consultation to design your personalized coaching and consulting program.


5. Brand the business of you with your own book / ebook.
As we mentioned above, creating your own book or ebook is one of the most effective ways for building a warm prospect list of future customers, establishing a rapport with them, keeping them loyal, generating more sales and gaining recognition and credibility as a leader in your industry. Contact us to discuss our writing services of coaching, editing and ghostwriting.


Don’t let a struggling economy stop you from pursuing your passion of starting and growing your own small business.


Contact us to get your start today.


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide
Small Biz Break

With today being Memorial Day, it got me thinking about the gift of gratitude. Not just for those whom have given their lives in the service of our nation, but thanks in general.


Before I move on with the point of this post, I do want to say thank you to our armed forces and those whom have given their lives. Without you, we wouldn’t be as strong of a nation as we are today with the opportunity to do as much good as we do. So, please accept my humble appreciation.


Gratitude is an excellent gift because it gives to everyone involved – the person that is grateful and the person or persons that they are thanking.


Being grateful is a powerful state of mind. It alters your thoughts and your actions in a multitude of positive ways.


Hopefully, you’ll take a moment and think about the other people in your personal and professional lives whom have given you their support, their insight, and their giving, resulting in all of the positive attributes in your life today.


Is there a family member or friend that has helped you along the way? When was the last time you sent a simple, spontaneous note to acknowledge and thank them?


Are you in business with a partner or do you have employees? Would your business be as successful as it is today if they weren’t helping you with your vision? When was the last time you showed your appreciation?


What about your customers? When was the last time you thanked them for trusting you with their business? What about your vendors? Have any given you service greater than simply filling an order? They deserve a thank you, too.


For those that are truly grateful and express it genuinely with spontaneity, you will experience greater support, greater insight and greater giving from those around you. You will experience greater fulfillment and a sense of joy in who you are and what you do.


So in between the hamburgers, hot dogs, deals at the mall, war movie marathons or whatever else you are doing to enjoy this day (and I hope you are enjoying it), take a moment and think of the people that help to make your life what it is. Send them a note, give them a call, reach out and give them thanks … they deserve it. And in return, I bet you will have a happier day.


Before I go, I want to thank you for continuing to support The Solopreneur’s Guide. I appreciate you signing in your email, reading my posts, leaving your comments and checking out my new site, Small Biz Break. Happy Memorial Day.

All the Best,

Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide
Small Biz Break

Two days ago, Yahoo Finance posted an interesting article provided by The Wall Street Journal titled, “More Workers Start to Quit”. According to the article, with the job market showing signs of loosening up, a growing number of employees are looking to make a move from their current job to greener pastures.


One interesting quote from the article states, “In February, the number of employees voluntarily quitting surpassed the number being fired or discharged for the first time since October 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.” This is after a 15-month streak of just the opposite. With a less than healthy job market, why are employees now considering quitting?


Two reasons: feeling trapped and lack of fulfillment.


Does this sound like your scenario? If so, have you considered starting your own small business? Most people I’ve approached with this question say, “No”, for two reasons:


“I don’t think now is a good time to start a small business.”


“I don’t know what’s a good business for me to start.”


Before you potentially continue the cycle of feeling trapped and unfulfilled, let me challenge you on these two issues.


First, take a quick read of another blog post I wrote titled, “Should I Start a Business in a Struggling Economy?” on my other site, Small Biz Break.


Yahoo Finance, who posted the above-mentioned WSJ piece, also published a slightly modified version of this post I wrote previously, as did Entrepreneur.com, FoxBusiness.com, MSN Money and The Washington Post. Apparently, they thought there was some wisdom in my words. Something for you to consider, too.


Second, after you finish reading the post at Small Biz Break, take a moment to register for access to the Small Biz Break Solutions Center. Once you receive your password to access this private page (don’t worry, it’s free), you will see a form you can download titled, “New Business Idea Questionnaire” (also free).


My partner, Maria, and I created this form as a way for inquisitive entrepreneurs to determine a strong small business idea that is an extension of who they are … their strengths, their experience, their passion, their financial needs and their personal goals.


While some of this may smack of shameless self-promotion, understand that Maria and I do have a passion for helping people realize their full entrepreneurial potential. We do not want to see more people shuffling from job to job, especially if they have the talent for creating a business that brings balance and fulfillment to their lives.


Completing the questionnaire doesn’t take long. However, if you are still struggling completing it, contact us at smallbizbreak@gmail.com and we will help you define your ideal business. Isn’t your future fulfillment worth it?


All the Best,

Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide
Small Biz Break

Yesterday I made some modifications to The Solopreneur’s Guide and thought that it would be courteous and helpful if I gave you the heads up about the changes.


As I state on my Review page, I believe it’s necessary for solopreneurs to take regularly scheduled breaks to review their business and see how they can modify it to provide better service for their customers. So I decided to take my own advice because there were some things about this site that were troubling you and me.


Although I’ve received some great feedback from visitors and registered readers, in some cases they felt lost as to what services I could provide them beyond reading the information on this site.


So I changed the structure of the site, added some new pages, and kept all the previous pages people found helpful.


Successful Steps
I added this new page to give you a quick understanding of the basic, sequential steps necessary for a solopreneur to achieve sustainable success. On this page, you will see several links going to some of my previous pages (Introspection, Research, Planning, Action, Review, and Resources), plus info and links to my new pages listed below. Hopefully, this condensed version clears up the clutter and quickly answers, what steps you need to take with your business and how I can help you achieve your goals.


Consulting Services
Often, prospects ask me, “What consulting services do you offer?” Although I had talked about my services in various pages and posts, apparently you had to hunt for the answer. If you have to ask, then it’s obvious that I haven’t done a very good job of making it easy on you. Please accept my apologies.


Writing Services
I added this page about a month ago, but I had it as a sub page under Resources. Now it’s in full view, easy to find and clearly states how my talents as a wordsmith can help you learn more about your market, build your brand awareness, convert prospects into customers, and keep those customers coming back.


Small Biz Break
If you’ve caught my two previous posts, you know that last week I kicked off a new joint venture with Maria Smith-Alvira of Multi Entrepreneur Ideas, a talented multi entrepreneur and business consultant in her own right.


Our mission with Small Biz Break is to replace the fear and frustration of starting and growing a small business with focus. How? Take a quick read through my last post, if you haven’t already.


Are you feeling stuck with your start-up? Don’t delay. Create some positive momentum by asking us for help. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it simple and insightful. Stop by our site or write to us at smallbizbreak@gmail.com.


I created this site to help you achieve solopreneur success. Your feedback gives me the opportunity to better serve your needs. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about The Solopreneur’s Guide, I would love to hear from you. You can leave a quick comment below or email me at thesologuide@gmail.com.


All the Best,


Doug Dolan
The Solopreneur’s Guide
Small Biz Break