221. Is Your Solo Business Actually Feasbile? Find Out!

So, you’ve got a business idea you’re excited about. But here’s the big question: does it actually work on paper, or will it drain your bank account before it takes off?

In this episode of The Aspiring Solopreneur, Carly and Joe break down how to test the feasibility of your business idea, spot potential deal-breaking showstoppers, and price your services with confidence (without letting imposter syndrome drag you down). 

If you’re ready to stress-test your solo venture before you dive in headfirst, this one’s for you.

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Episode Transcript

Carly Ries (00:00):
Think your business idea will work just because

(00:01):
you're passionate about it?Well, you may need to think
again. In this episode of theAspiring Solopreneur, Joe and I
dive into the crucial step oftesting your idea's feasibility
before you sink your time,money, and sanity into it. From
spotting deal breakingshowstoppers early to setting
prices that reflect your valueout falling into the low cost
trap, we'll walk you through howto make sure your solo venture

(00:22):
works on paper and in the realworld. This is the episode to
listen to if you want to avoidcostly mistakes, get confident
about your pricing, and ensureyour business is actually set up
for success.
You're listening to the AspiringSolopreneur, the podcast for
anyone on the solo businessjourney, whether you're just
toying with the idea, takingyour first bold step, or have

(00:43):
been running your own show foryears and want to keep growing,
refining, and thriving. I'mCarly Ries, and along with my
cohost, Joe Rando, we're yourguides through the crazy but
awesome world of being a companyof one. As part of LifeStarr, a
digital hub dedicated to allthings solopreneurship, we help
people design businesses thatalign with their life's

(01:03):
ambitions so they can work tolive, not live to work. If
you're looking for a get richquick scheme, this is not the
place for you. But if you wantreal world insights from
industry experts, lessons fromthe successes and stumbles of
fellow solopreneurs, andpractical strategies for
building and sustaining abusiness you love, you're in the
right spot.
Because flying solo in businessdoesn't mean you're alone. No

(01:24):
matter where you are in yourjourney, we've got your back.
Alright, listeners. We are backwith another episode covering

(02:14):
the solopreneur success cycle.In the past few episodes, we've
been talking about the theplanning phase of the
solopreneur success cycle. inlast week's episode, we covered
your competition or not lastweek's, but in our last episode,
we covered competition. Wecovered defining your customers
and personas. And today we kindawanna get into the nitty gritty.

(02:35):
I think some of this can be kindof intimidating for some people,
so I'm glad we're addressing it,addressing these topics. When we
talk about feasibility, testingyour ideas, and all that jazz,
Joe, you are great at this.you're a seasoned entrepreneur.
I wanna hear your take on someof these things.

Joe Rando (02:51):
I mean, the whole idea of feasibility is obviously
important. If you don't have afeasible business, you don't
have a business. So, really, tostart with, there's a lot of
people that will say, well, ifyou're passionate, you'll make
it work. And that may be true,but you also might run out of

(03:12):
money first.
So it depends on yourcircumstance. If you're doing a
side hustle, yeah, you canprobably try anything and see
how it goes, and that's great.But if you're either laid off
and deciding to take this pathinstead of finding a job or
decide to just, you know, cutthe cord and get started, you
wanna test the feasibility ofyour idea. So, first thing is
you gotta make it work on paper.You need to do what they call a

(03:36):
pro form a, profit and lossstatement, you know, going in
and looking at the expectedrevenues, what you think you're
gonna spend. Are you eventuallymaking money? It usually starts
out losing because, hey, that'show businesses work, but there
should be a clear, andbelievable path to getting to
enough profit for you to wannado this. So that's an important

(03:57):
part of this process, forplanning.
Because if you can't get it towork on paper, it's probably not
gonna work in the real world. Infact, it can work on paper and
not work in the real world.Rarely, does it go the other
way? So, really, when you dothese reviews, you also wanna
look for something that I callshowstoppers.
And showstoppers are thingsabout getting the business set

(04:19):
up that are outside of yourtotal control. So if it's, you
know, build a website, you cando that. You can build a
website. You know, anybody cango on and do a nice website
on one of the tools that are outthere.
No problem. That's not ashowstopper. But a showstopper
is I need certain permits tostart my business or run my

(04:42):
business out of my house, or Ineed, to get a certification. I
need to become a certifiedfinancial planner or something.
And if you have to pass a test.So there are all these potential
things that are outside of yourcontrol. Some of them could be
expensive. So you need to make alist of all those things. We'll
make a list of all the thingsyou need to do to start the
business and look for thoseshowstoppers.

(05:03):
And from there, you start tosay, okay. How can I mitigate
the risks? How do I reorientthese things so that I can have
the the big showstoppers earlyin the process so that I know
what to stop and either rethinkor, go back to square one? So
that's important.

(05:24):
In terms of pricing, you'regonna be setting your pricing.
You wanna do that confidently.Solos tend to charge too little.
That's, our impostor syndromekicking in. And imposture
syndrome's okay, but you don'twanna let it drive your pricing.
I always think that you shouldsit down and look at those pain

(05:45):
points. I mean, we haven'ttalked in detail about pain
points here, but, you're solvingpain points for people. Look at
those pain points and figure outhow to position your business
around solving those particularpain points for your personas
that we talked about in the lastepisode. And now if you can
message that effectively, yourprices go up. You can charge

(06:06):
more money.
You know, if I say, I'm a lifecoach, I'm gonna make your life
better. Well, okay. Great. Butif I say, I'm a life coach
that's gonna get you into that csuite job that you've been
working toward, and I have atrack record of 80% success. Now

(06:27):
I'm getting the checkbook out atthat point, right?
So it's really important to kindof think through those, getting
into those pain points thatyou're solving, speaking to
them, and then, thinking aboutwhat that's worth to the
customer when you start thinkingabout your pricing. So you don't
wanna compete on pricingtypically unless you've got some
magic formula because you mightbe able to compete against large

(06:50):
companies and be cheaper thanthem because you don't have the
overhead. You're working out ofyour spare bedroom, and they've
got offices, blah blah blah. Butif you're going to undercut
other solopreneurs, you betterhave some recipe or you're just
gonna lose money. There's areason these prices are where
they are.
And competing on price onlyworks if you have some way of
delivering the product orservice at a lower price point

(07:11):
or lower cost than yourcompeting solopreneurs do. So
keep that in mind. It's just nota good strategy. It's painful.
You end up with customers thatare, basically, we call them
bottom feeders, but they can bethe most difficult customers
because they want something fornothing or for cheap.
And so, keeping those prices upcan get you better customers. It

(07:34):
gives you the ability to do abetter job and have more
customer satisfaction, and itlets you make a bigger profit.
So there's just a lot of reasonsnot to try to be chintzy on the
pricing. And I've been talking alot. Sorry.
But I'd love your thoughts onthis, Carly. what is your take?

Carly Ries (07:50):
I mean, you've said everything so well. just
pricing, people get so hung upon it. And I think it's also
just okay to, kinda test it alittle bit.

Joe Rando (08:00):
I agree. Just look at the competition too. there's
nothing wrong with matching thepeople that you feel are your
most direct competitors, atleast to start.
But don't undercut them because,like I said, then it's one of
things you learn quickly inbusiness is that if you start at
a high price and lower it, okay.But if you start at a low price
and try to raise it, it'stougher, especially with your

(08:21):
existing customers. So, try toget in somewhere that's,
reasonable.

Carly Ries (08:25):
Yep. I think that's so well said and something that
just a good reminder forsolopreneurs, especially when
that impostor syndrome creeps inbecause it inevitably will.
Well, Joe, anything else youwanna cover for this step?

Joe Rando (08:37):
No. Just we should do an episode on impostor syndrome
sometime.

Carly Ries (08:40):
I suppose. Well, listeners, thank you so much for
tuning in. As always, pleaseshare this episode with a
friend, subscribe on yourfavorite podcast platform, and
leave a five star review. And wewill see you next time where we
cover more on the solopreneursuccess cycle on The Aspiring
Solopreneur. You may be goingsolo in business, but that

(09:02):
doesn't mean you're alone.
In fact, millions of people arein your shoes, running a one
person business and figuring itout as they go. So why not
connect with them and learn fromeach other's successes and
failures? At LifeStarr, we'recreating a one person business
community where you can go tomeet and get advice from other
solopreneurs. Be sure to join inon the conversations at
community.lifestarr.com.