The Rise of Solopreneurship and How You May Maximise Your Gains!

Key takeaways:

• 5 opportunities:
  • Find a complementary partner to expand the scope of your business
  • Get yourself a business mentor
  • Joint venture for a specific project
  • Barter for success
  • Hang out with fellow entrepreneurs at a co-working space

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. You do not have colleagues to turn to for work advice or peers who understand what you’re going through and offer a different perspective.

The very idea of being able to make snappy decisions because you’re the sole decision-maker can be very appealing, but it can also turn out to be the one thing that could get you down.

However, this doesn’t mean that you have to go out there right now to shop for a partner. There are countless opportunities for you to work with other people of the same wavelength without actually getting them involved in your business. Here are some of the ways:

1. Find a complementary partner to expand the scope of your business. If you run an F&B outlet, find a fellow entrepreneur with a delivery service. Think about it – you can get people beyond your immediate vicinity to try out your food even without having to set up an outlet elsewhere! Your partner will also benefit from the increase in calls for delivery – it’s a win-win situation. Find a list of potential partners you could be working with at BizSmart® Solution, a B2B networking portal by Alliance Bank, to identify relevant partners based on your needs,

   • Make Your Business Sustainable
   • Reach More Customers
   • Digitise Your Business
   • Financing And Advisory
   • Save Operation Costs
   • Train Your Employees

    

2. Get yourself a business mentor. Many a time, working alone for long periods of time may make it harder to see things from different perspectives. It isn’t surprising, because you’ve only ever had your own to look at! A good business mentor can help you stay grounded, spot gaps and problems you may have missed, and offer sound advice. He/She can even help you to make the right connections to further your business. Or if you’re interested in starting a successful halal business, programmes such as Halal-in-One will be able to offer valuable insights and advisory for getting Halal certified, funded and correctly established!

3. Joint venture for a specific project. Found a project that requires a team with different experience and skills? When powers combine, much can be achieved for mutual success. So, why not join forces with another solopreneur or entrepreneur or even SME supportive platforms such as SupportLokal and reap the profits together? It isn’t always about hiring full-time staff to get the job done or rejecting projects because you’re not equipped to execute just one or two portions.

4. Barter for success. Not everything worthwhile requires ringgit-and-sen investment. Would your café benefit from some advertising but you simply don’t have the funds to do this at the moment? Why not strike a deal with a fellow start-up, boutique agency and offer free catering for their client’s event? This will help put your work out there for a broader set of audience to see, and potentially increase interest in your business.
   
   This is where a non-financial solution like the Alliance Bank’s SupportLokal works best as well! The platform offers services and opportunities to tap into a wider pool of audience, potential on-ground activations, social shout-outs and more – at no cost!

5. Hang out with fellow entrepreneurs at a co-working space. Use the relaxed collegiate-like hub to trade ideas. Who knows what profitable sparks can ignite from these casual exchanges? It’s also important to network and get your name out there so more people know what you’re doing, and you’ll be at the top of their mind should they require the services that you offer.

There are always ways to work with other people without having too many strings attached. For temporary joint ventures and barter, do consider going into some specifics with your potential partner such as your respective scope of work, a sunset clause, and profit sharing terms in order to manage expectations and your budding relationship. There’s nothing harder to manage than ruined relationships if things do not go as expected!

Done right, this is also a great approach and gives you a chance to experience how partnerships can work before exploring an actual and more permanent one for your business in the future. If you still prefer to go it alone, having avenues to bounce ideas off others, seek advice, get inspiration, or simply just for moral support would still be beneficial to prevent the dreaded entrepreneurial burnout.

For more resources, head to www.alliancebank.com.my.