As a multifaceted, creative one person business with many big dreamz, you've probably felt the weight of “should” when it comes to growth. It’s a thread that runs through almost every conversation I have with people doing their own thing. Shoulds run deeeeeep.
From the goals we “should” be working towards (more money, more clients, more work year on year), the ways we “should” structure our offers and the ways we “should” grow them.
It’s not really surprising. Most of the solo business owners I know have spent years within agencies and bigger businesses where every goal always boils down to: increase shareholder value at all costs. Creative growth, intellectual growth, time with family, giving back to your community, lifelong learning, etc. don’t come into it.
If you’ve made the move to leave the big job title behind to build something of your own, defaulting to growth playbooks downloaded from businessmangrowsabusiness.com in 2007 won’t fulfil you or take you to where you want to go.
These playbooks assume that scale is the ultimate goal on all fronts. More followers on social media, more revenue, more products or services. Spend more money on ads to reach more people. Work more hours to achieve more of your goals. It’s the capitalist devil whispering in your ear telling you that you are not doing enough. You are not enough. The answer is always more!
But when you’ve broken from this traditional business environment, the blueprint is yours to create. In fact, you kind of have to create it because your goals, skills, experiences and superpowers are yours alone.
Getting clear on what’s actually important to you, and what success looks like now that you have the freedom to prioritise other things alongside making cash money is the starting point. The definition of successful growth is unique to every one of us and is as multifaceted as we are.
Growing a one person business is an inherently creative act. You are creating everything from nothing; your goals, your offerings, and how you get them out into the world connecting with people. For anyone who needs a reminder, consider this your permission slip to design all of these areas in ways that light you up. In the most YOU way possible.
No more “I know I should post more on TikTok” “I know I should be making £10k per month” “I know I should go to more stale networking events”.
Should you? Is that really what you want? Or have you inherited these ideas from the ghosts of business men sat in suits smoking cigars checking their share prices via the Instagram girlbosses of the 2010s?
An alternative idea: set goals that mean something to you. See your business as a fertile garden in which you can plant and water different ideas, projects, products, services in different seasons.
Consider your garden at the centre of an ecosystem in which you can connect with people in ways that come naturally and joyfully to you. Over time you’ll discover what works, what makes you happy, what drives the $, and what’s got to go.
Your business ecosystem is yours to design, create, and evolve at every level. I find that pretty exciting.
Last week we wrapped up the final week of my first group program Creative Growth Strategy Sprint. Eight amazing solo business owners created the creative growth strategies that will enable them to grow towards what’s actually important to them this year, in ways that feel like extensions of their superpowers.
At the very start of the sprint, we visualise our the areas of our businesses we want to grow as Growth Donuts — borrowing from the ideology of donut economics — which encourages us to think holistically about inner and outer limits of growth. The Growth Donut gives you a clear overview of what's important to you and how you want to split your time and energy. Once that's clear, your more granular goals for each area start to come to light.
To create your own Donut, list out all the areas you want to nurture and grow within your business this year. Revenue is usually the biggest slice, but you might also want to consider growing your creative practice, your professional network, lifelong learning in new areas, depth of impact, skills and expertise, your sense of play, or your contribution to your community, fill in the blank for yourself.
Assign each area a percentage depending on how much you want to focus on this area this year. Use this as the foundation for building your own one person business growth goals and plan, knowing you’re building towards something you actually want to create <3
The feedback for the group program has been so good (!!! more to come), and I'm already looking forward to working with ten more solopreneurs/ freelancers/ creative solo business owners inside sprint #2 in the spring. If you want to be the first to hear when I open up spots, you can sign up here. We’ll kick off April 1st :)
📨 Broken Growth is an almost weekly newsletter exploring how to grow creative businesses today, written by strategist Matilda Lucy. If you enjoyed reading, I’d love for you to share with a friend who might also find it useful 😎.
Ways to work with Matilda
🧠 1-1 strategy call for freelancers and solo business owners who want clarity on their next phase of growth
🌀 Join the waitlist for the spring Broken Growth Strategy Sprint
🧢 Limited availability in March and April for workshops, audits, and strategy for larger brands. Plz email me hey@matildalucy.com
I’m so happy I reached your corner of the internet <3
donut ?!1 i'm curious