From Bankrupting a Seven-Figure Business to Solopreneur Success

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In any given relationship, the one who is willing to walk away holds the most power.

This holds true for every kind of relationship—romantic, business, or otherwise. The person who can walk away doesn't have a need or an attachment, and this gives them control.

Solopreneurship is the ultimate power move—walking away, owning your freedom.

What Young Men Can Learn from My Experience Building a Seven-Figure Business and Declaring Bankruptcy after 12 years

Approximately 30% of businesses make it through their tenth year of operation.

According to Fundera, 33% of small businesses that started in March 2007 were successful by March 2017.

This article is intended to be a summary or lessons I experienced firsthand while running my own nanotech company in Mexico from 2008 to 2021, until it crashed and burned.

Take it with a grain of salt; I may still have reached some wrong conclusions.

However, it is important to consider the depth of each point. Many roads lead to Rome, but most do not.

1) Building a team is by far your greatest challenge. 80% of problems arise from within.

I could probably write a full article about this. But if I had to pick one big mistake out of the many, it would most likely be the stupid habit of hiring quickly and firing slowly.

The importance of finding and selecting the right people cannot be overstated, as resolving problems later is so much more expensive.

As a solopreneur, you can bypass this headache entirely. Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork give you the ability to outsource everything.

If someone doesn't perform or a problem arises, you can simply cut ties and move on—no strings attached.

When I ran my company, Nanodepot, hiring was a massive pain. Once someone was on the team, they were there, and if you hadn’t done your homework thoroughly during the hiring process, you were stuck.

As a solopreneur, that burden is gone—it's streamlined, efficient, and puts you back in control.

2) A fish rots from its head down.

Yes, that would be you! Learn to embrace failures. I know it sounds like a platitude but most people really suck at this big time.

I'm 47 years old, and after a wild ride of 12 years, I was left with nothing to my name but a piece of luggage.

Wrong! I was left with valuable lessons from the journey, including pain and loss, as well as highs and lows. Invaluable assets in retrospect. It is all about reframing; there is always something good to be found.

I love Tony Robbins’ take on this: “Things don’t happen to you; they happen for you.”

My experiences and life journey became assets, provided I used them wisely. Leadership failures start at the top, and as a solopreneur, that top is always you.

Extreme ownership isn’t just a buzzword; it's the mindset that turns mistakes into stepping stones for growth. Failure is inevitable, but unless you take full responsibility, you'll never make the adjustments needed to push forward.

It's human nature to blame external factors—circumstances, other people—but when my company went under, it wasn't due to the pandemic or my totally corrupt manager.

It was because I failed to plan ahead and anticipate the problems before they spiraled out of control.

As a solopreneur, you’re in full command, which means it’s your job to foresee these challenges and steer the ship in the right direction and you can’t blame anyone else because there is no one else to blame!

The business model itself isn't the issue; it's merely the vehicle to success. In 95% of cases, the fault lies with the driver—and that driver is you.

3) Your Surroundings Define You—Protect Them

Environment is one of the most underestimated factors in success. Your surroundings, the people you interact with, and even the space you work in profoundly influence your mindset, energy, and focus.

Many overlook the importance of shaping their environment to fuel productivity and creativity, but it’s often the subtle, unseen factor that can make or break your momentum.

Your environment, both physical and social, shapes you more than you realize. The people around you and the places you immerse yourself in either lift you higher or drag you down.

Be cautious of where you are and who you allow into your space—your success depends on it.

Again, as a solopreneur, you have way more control, fewer unnecessary meetings, and fewer energy-draining and life-sucking, always complaining coworkers.

Sounds harsh, but there are always people like that; usually they are the ones infected with the woke mind virus, a real and destructive force infecting the minds of companies, communities, and entire societies.

It fosters victimhood, stifles innovation, and divides people, resulting in a toxic culture where fear and conformity take the place of free thought and merit. This ideological cancer cripples businesses from within, eroding focus and productivity.

Out of their hatred, resentment, and envy, feminists and far-left ideologues often endorse it.

Avoid it like the plague. It's toxic.

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4) Time is everything.

Time is your most valuable resource, and we all have the same amount. Eliminating distractions and streamlining your processes is key. I failed at this too many times.

Mistakes are valuable lessons, but repeating them quickly becomes idiotic.

Building a team centered on purpose and meaning will save time, too.

I often wondered how some companies built teams that stayed late and worked harder. Mine, however, would check out the moment the clock struck 6 p.m. because I had not learned the lesson of how to inspire and commit people effectively.

No amount of virtue and values can compensate for a lack of communication skills.

It always starts with "why." Communicate with purpose—repeatedly and consistently. Becoming an inspirational communicator isn’t optional; it’s essential.

If you're not confident, fake it till you make it. Master communication, and time will be on your side.

5) Focus, focus, focus.

What works? What doesn't? Cut to the chase and focus only on what generates revenue. Why? Because making money is a consequence of your ability to problem solve and alleviate pain.

I failed at this by getting caught up in too many side projects and distractions.

Even after paying $8,000 USD for a three-hour strategy session with the focus marketing guru, Mr. Al Ries (RIP), I still lost my way.

I remember as if it were yesterday when we sat in his consulting room together with his daughter Laura in Atlanta and he helped us craft a new strategy for a product that was literally the antithesis of focus. He did manage to come up with new ideas and terms but in hindsight, I now know it was too late.

Stay locked in on what truly matters. Too many distractions dilute productivity and drain valuable resources.

Here is his most well-known book on the subject. Focus: The future of your company depends on it

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6) With success come haters and copycats.

Regardless of how effective your leadership is, there will always be those who do not wish you well.

In my previous company, this was a major headache, and there wasn't much I could do about it. I had people on the inside selling my ideas to competitors. I'm not pointing fingers—only at myself—but it happens.

Copycats are simply a sign that you're doing something right, but insiders can be extremely harmful. There will be those who attempt to take advantage of their knowledge.

You must protect your information and implement a system to detect saboteurs.

While you can lessen the threat, it can never be entirely eliminated. Yet, as a solopreneur with a loyal audience, you're safeguarded because people often buy from you because it's you they're drawn to and this risk is greatly mitigated to almost zero.

You are irreplaceable and inimitable—no one can be a better you than you."

7) Change your strategy as needed but beware of the consequences.

An ever-changing business environment necessitates adaptation and change.

As your company grows, this becomes more difficult; this is why being a solopreneur leveraging the digital economy is so much superior.

When introducing change, there is always a cost. When I tried to save my company from bankruptcy, we had to close an entire business unit in order to start another. This alone created so much disruption that I was constantly distracted by attending small fires that needed to be extinguished.

As a solopreneur? You just drop what doesn’t work and move on.

No questions asked.

8) An amazing product with tons of benefits does not necessarily sell.

I was so convinced of nanocoatings' potential that I invested in the entire business and dedicated my life to it.

My reasoning was that because it was so much better than older technology, it would be simple, and I went all in.

Many of our distributors also did this. But no matter what we tried (and we tried a lot), we had a hard time selling. Years later, I read a book about how preventive products never sell well. People want instant solutions—the quick fix, not prevention.

Before investing in a product, test the market.

Don't believe your gut. Read this one more time.

Thanks for reading; see you next week!

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