Contrarian Business Mindset: Scaling-Down, Not Scaling-Up
Building your business and schedule around your lifestyle -- not your lifestyle and schedule around your work; "Company of One" by Paul Jarvis an insightful read
Part 1 of 3 — Questioning Conventional Business Truths
I don’t intend to write ad infinitum about business and consulting.
But D.C. is so centered around work and getting ahead that discussing the who, what, when, why, and how of achieving one’s own definition of “success” requires more than a cursory, top-line examination.
While kicking around broad thematic concepts about how I’ve modified my small business model over the years I fortuitously stumbled on Paul Jarvis and his book, Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business.
Published in 2019, the book details a mindset I began to consider and implement in 2000 while thinking through a transition from a successful (but progressively psychotic and physically unhealthy) politics-only professional life to… something different.
What? I wasn’t sure — I only knew campaigns and Capitol Hill work.
All I knew was that I couldn’t continue living my life around candidates’ schedules and lives while living a horrendous lifestyle centered around my trusted triumvirate of nicotine, caffeine and junk food. With Marlboro Reds and fresh pots of coffee always at the ready I could work 18 hour days — indefinitely.
Was that good for business? Hell yeah… it was.
It was crystal clear that long hours over a long time span — even with the poor health regimen — had helped me achieve my professional objective: earning a great living doing what I loved.
But I knew it was “Time for a Change” as the generic campaign slogan goes.
As Jarvis does in Company of One, I began questioning traditional notions of “annual growth” as a default metric for business “success”; how shaping a business around fewer (or no) employees and fewer clients might result not just in optimal quality control, but a higher quality of life and improved health.
The Company of One summary text spells out where Jarvis is coming from:
WHAT IF THE KEY TO A RICHER AND MORE FULFILLING CAREER IS NOT TO THINK BIGGER, BUT SMALLER?
Company of One is a refreshingly new approach to success centered on staying small and questioning growth in any size business. Not as a freelancer who only gets paid on a per-project basis, and not as an entrepreneurial start-up who wants to scale as soon as possible, but as a small business that is deliberately committed to better instead of bigger.
Paul Jarvis shows how remaining small can provide the freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life, plus help avoid the headaches that routinely arise in the day-to-day grind of a traditional growth-oriented business. He left the traditional world of business when he realized devoting his days to a high-pressure, high-profile corporation was not his idea of success. Instead, he now works independently in a much more rewarding and productive environment — deliberately cutting out the outdated corporate hierarchy that demands more productivity, more output, and more annual growth.
In Company of One, Jarvis explains how you can find your pathway to do the same, including how to set up your shop, determine your desired revenues, deal with unexpected crises, keep your customers happy, and, of course, accomplish all of this on your terms.
From my perspective “scaling down” was never about figuring how to work less.
In truth, I’ve actually had to work more over the long haul to remain an independent communications consultant amid a business buyout and consolidation trend. Similar to what’s happening in the realm of health policy, an increasing number of independent doctors are employed directly by the U.S. hospital sector.
I’ll get into the buyout/consolidation discussion in a subsequent post.
But besides questioning annual growth, more employees, more clients and a growing infrastructure to support it all, “scaling down” to me also means building (or rebuilding) a business and schedule around your desired lifestyle — not your lifestyle and schedule around your work.
For those whose lives and schedules revolve around work — and you know who you are — your basic health and fitness frequently become secondary.
This became a significant personal matter.
Running — A simple, personal example:
In 2000 my communications consulting shop began phasing out political campaign work as I shifted my business model from a 4 person entity to solopreneur status.
In the process, I finally beat a 25 year cigarette habit that had reached 2 packs per day. I’d failed quitting dozens of times in the past but tried something different: nicotine gum, a new first generation smoking cessation medication (Zyban), and a new addition — incorporating a daily run.
Running was the key.
On the first day — after just 50 yards — I was instantly reminded how F’d-up I’d become from years of heavy smoking, a poor diet, incessant stress and cumulative lack of sleep. I was fortunate to remain thin and not gain weight — but that was mostly driven by nicotine and caffeine.
Moreover, I became convinced in my own mind this “lifestyle” was “campaign work” reality — and all part of my competitive advantage. And it was — for me.
I began my effort to quit by running just one city block a day. It was as painful as it was embarrassing. I just kept at it. Once I’d hit about 5 miles per week it became easier. After just 3 or 4 months I felt like a different person. I hadn’t felt that good in decades. In a strange way, my body’s addiction to nicotine was being replaced over time by an addiction to running.
By 2012 — 12 years later — I’d ramped-up my running to 40 miles a week, sometimes 50. No shit.
How did this all manifest itself in my business and consulting life?
Logging miles became my non-negotiable top daily priority. I discovered that running up and down both sides of the Potomac between Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria was great for accumulating miles. It was also great for developing client and writing ideas while zoning out to loud tunes.
11am to 1:30pm became dedicated exclusively for running, showering and eating lunch at my desk. No meetings. No business lunches. Just exercise.
In the final analysis, it was no coincidence that defeating smoking and my self-destructive “don’t have time” for exercise psychology happened only after modifying my business model — from frequent on-the-ground, out of town campaign work to remaining based in my DC office.
The first year or so I was earning less per month. I hadn’t figured out how to navigate corporate consulting, and how to modify my offerings of content and services. But that’s all part of the Company of One mindset: yes, total income is a key metric — but it’s not the defining metric.
But regardless, within two years of jettisoning politics — and employees — I was bringing in almost double monthly with an 80/20 mix of writing and conference call counsel, respectively.
Significantly less out of town travel offered more time in-office to create and consult; vastly improved health and fitness brought about a positive change in how I viewed myself and my professional mission.
In Parts 2 and 3, I’ll detail:
How to plot out monthly and annual income by “scaling-down” to a solopreneur S-Corp entity working for 2, 3 or 4 corporate clients (max);
How the consolidation/buyout trend in the Washington, D.C. government relations/lobbying/public affairs space over the past 5 years works both for and against solopreneurism and niche specialization.