
Just because you’re a one-person company doesn’t mean you can’t look big. It’s all in your attitude.
I went to a play last weekend at the Arvada Center in metro Denver. The play, Toil and Trouble, was performed by kids aged 9 to 13. It was based on 2 Shakespeare plays, Pericles and MacBeth, and was set in in a Judge Judy-like court. (It kind of reminded me of the Christmas play in A Charlie Brown Christmas. The audience had a ball.)
One scene had the king and his men taken prisoner by a usurper to the throne. The guards appeared, played by a very tall 13 year-old girl and a very tiny (and serious) 3 year-old girl. (I learned later the 3 year-old was the director’s daughter.) The scene was pretty funny- four husky boys submitted meekly to being handcuffed and led away by a tiny little girl.
The scene worked because the little actress played the scene seriously. She believed she was a guard and made us believe it too. That’s the attitude we need as solopreneurs.
We can present our one-person company as “Look, at me, how cute! I’ve started a little business!” or as a professional entity that kicks butt and does great work. It all depends on how we view ourselves and our work.
Think of that tiny 3 year-old guard leading the big boys off to jail. Feel bigger now?