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An IT Project Manager Who Became a 7 Figure Solopreneur
9 lessons to create a thriving microbusiness
Howie Chan
September 08, 2024
Welcome to Legend Letters - A rebellion against the ordinary, where you redefine success and live your version of legendary.
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HEARTSET
“She got me inspired to do something I love.”
When Laszlo Nadler was trying to teach his then 3 year old daughter about the importance of doing what you love, it struck him that he wasn’t practicing what he was preaching.
Laszlo was an IT project manager for the Bank of America, and although it was a good job, it wasn’t necessarily his passion.
So he began researching for a product he would love selling.
As a project manager, he was a natural at planning and being able to stay organized helped him avoid a full blown breakdown in college.
“It started off my freshman year in college. I remember I had a semi nervous breakdown, realizing I actually had to get work done. My roommate luckily sat down and said, ‘Take a deep breath. Grab a piece of paper. Start writing your list.’ ”
And Tools4Wisdom was born - planners for people who wanted some inspirational wisdom and a way to stay organized.
In the first year, there was a lot of trial and error. He had 12-14 laser printers in his home buzzing away, trying to do all the manufacturing himself. It was when he found a local printer the next year that business began to take off.
All Laszlo had at that time was an Amazon professional selling account and a mindset of persistence.
It wasn’t until he hit six figures in his side hustle, did he decide to quit his IT project manager job. It took him around 2 years to get there and then very quickly blowing past 7 figures a year later.
Image Credit - Forbes (Laszlo Nadler and family 2016)
What I love about this story is that Laszlo prioritized his family, had a full-time job and went about it in the most conservative way and still managed to hit 7 figures. All while selling a product, if I’m being honest, is really quite ugly! I’m not gonna judge if you think otherwise 😅 (See the Amazon Store HERE.)
I am clearly not his target customer, but it goes to show that with the wide reach of the internet, you can find your customers for whatever niche you’re in, as long as you can stand out.
MINDSET
The number of $1 million solo entrepreneurs are increasing. In fact, they have skyrocketed after the pandemic.
From 2020 to 2021, there was an increase of 23%, from 47,000 businesses to 58,000 according to the US Census Bureau.
It’s absolutely not IMPOSSIBLE.
But here is what it takes and it’s beautifully summed up by Laszlo 👇🏽
“Pick the right product that you’re passionate about, then work on improving the business itself each day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”
Start with heart, compound over time.
SKILLSET
In my research, I’ve come across Elaine Pofeldt, who is a journalist that has a Forbes column. Her latest book is called Tiny Business, Big Money - Strategies for creating a high revenue microbusiness, where she interviewed over 60 business owners making 7 figures with little or no help at all.
Along with other resources I’ve found, here are the 9 lessons that stood out:
1/ Don’t quit your job just yet
Most families don’t have the luxury where you can just quit your day job and start self-employment. It’s also safe to say the first months or even years is just trying to find a fit between what you are selling and the people who are buying.
“I want to note a few patterns here…Those who succeed rarely throw caution to the wind and quit their job without income in place. They typically do it after moonlighting say evenings and weekends to prove that their new business works. In some cases they will wait for one or more years even after their flywheel is spinning just to double and triple confirm.”
2/ Work on the business not just in it
When people start businesses, they are usually the person who is good at the work. A plumber starts a plumbing business, a writer starts a writing business. But know that when you are just doing the work, working IN the business, you’ve just created a job for yourself, not building a business.
What you need to do is to work ON the business.
“The mistake most people make is that they treat that new business as just a place to go to work. They work in the business all day long. They just never work on the business. That leads to failure.”
3/ Focus on high-value clients
Prioritize clients that align with your goals to avoid burnout. The 80/20 rule tells us that approximately 80% of your income will come from 20% of the clients - focus on the 20%.
An example from Elaine’s book showcases a designer who turned away low-paying clients to focus on bigger projects that aligned with her vision.
4/ Leverage relationships
Building strong, long-term connections can drive opportunities. In the end, business is all about people. I love this quote from Simon.
“If you don’t know people, you don’t know business”
80% of my clients are from my network. People who already know me, people whom I’ve worked with, worked for in the past. I can guarantee that your first $10,000, your first $100,000 can come from your network alone.
5/ Optimize efficiency
Use tools and strategies to save time and focus on high-priority tasks. I’m actually terrible at this an am actively trying to build systems to tackle everything from content, to marketing, to sales.
Here are some automation tools:
Email Marketing: Tools like Mailchimp, ConvertKit or Beehiiv to automate sending newsletters and follow-up emails.
Social Media Scheduling: Hootsuite or Buffer can schedule posts across platforms.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): HubSpot or Zoho CRM streamline client interactions.
Accounting and Invoicing: QuickBooks and FreshBooks automate billing and expense tracking.
Project Management: Tools like Asana or Trello help automate task assignments and follow-ups.
6/ Balance lifestyle and business
What good is a business if you can’t spend time with the ones you love? If you let your business run your life, it will.
“Family first: I let small bad things happen to make space for the big important things in life. For example, passing on business opportunities or saying no to new commitments [those are the small, bad things…. to make space for the big, important things in life. That’s family. They come first.]”
7/ Do the non-scalable thing
Many people talk about scale all the time, but what I’ve learned is that you don’t get to scale without doing the unscalable things. A lot of people treat their time as gold, but if you do that, you’re never going to get to the gold.
Spend the time to do non-scalable things, especially at the start. Get on phone-calls, help people for free, build relationships, be known as the giver and people will give back to you, it’s never the other way around.
“When you do something that isn’t scalable, you can start making money faster. It isn’t that you should set your sights low. It’s the idea of canvassing the street for your customers. It’s constantly asking yourself, who will pay for this TODAY? What wants it right now?”
8/ Create a lot of noise and hone in on signals
When you start out, you have to create noise. A LOT of it. Let everyone know. Your dad, your uncle, your neighbor. Get out there and talk about it. Especially on social media. Post about it, talk about the problems, talk about the solution, keep talking about it until you’re sick and keep going.
Once you have enough out there, you’re going to notice what is working and what are people resonating around. There you will find the signals to amplify. Whether it’s talking about the problems you solve or the benefits of your offer.
“But, don't mistake any engagement as a signal. Make sure that when you're reading for signals, you're looking for content that resonates with prospective buyers. Not something that was well received because you used a "hack" or shared a "feel-good story".
9/ Treat everything as an experiment
You never know what will work. We can all have assumptions, but the reality is we just don’t know what the markets wants and needs. So approach everything as an experiment. Know your goals, know how you will measure it and then let it fly. Don’t be so concerned about things that fail, try different things and double down on the ones that do work.
“The most success I’ve had is through A/B testing the variables such as cover artwork, titles, images, descriptions etc.”
If you’re excited about the possibilities, but don’t know where to start, follow your instinct. If you look at the number of one-person businesses by sector (see figure below), by far the number one thing is professional services. If you have an expertise in a specialized area - that’s your best bet.
Image credit: Noah Sheidlower/ Business Insider - source US Census Bureau
What’s ONE thing you’ll take action on?
Even if you’re not self-employed or thinking about a side-hustle, you can surely apply a lesson to your work. For me? I’m going to get better at operational efficiency to free up more time to do the things I love (like write this newsletter for all you legends out there!)
Until next Sunday my friends, live your legend 🤘🏽,
Howie Chan
Creator of Legend Letters
Sources:
Pofeldt, Elaine, He Left His Project Management Career To Start A Seven-Figure, One-Person Business, Forbes, August 12, 2016 - LINK
Michael, Sage, How To Start A Business And Become A Millionaire - Advice From A Pro, Wisdom Times - LINK
Ferris, Tim, One-Person Businesses That Make $1M+ Per Year, The Tim Ferris Show on YouTube, 2018 - LINK
Welsh, Justin, 5 Lessons Learned Crossing $1M in Self-Employed Income on LinkedIn, Blog - June 9, 2021 - LINK
Sheidlower, Noah, More and More Solo Entrepreneurs Are Raking in $1 Million. Here Are the Industries Where Business Is Booming, Business Insider, June 28, 2024 - LINK
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