233. A Smarter Way to Implement Changes in Your Solo Business

Making changes in your business doesn’t have to feel messy or overwhelming. In this episode of The Aspiring Solopreneur, Carly and Joe introduce the SMOOTH method, a step-by-step framework to help you sequence changes, manage your energy, communicate with transparency, and lock in the lessons you learn.

If you’ve ever struggled to implement improvements without burning out or losing momentum, this method will give you the clarity and structure you need to move forward with confidence.

Q&As From The Episode

How do I know which changes to make first in my business?

Start by sequencing smartly. Not every change needs to happen at once, and some are dependent on others. Look at the order of operations: what’s foundational and what relies on that foundation. Begin with the changes that unlock or support others, so you don’t waste time redoing work.

I’m worried about overwhelming myself while making improvements. How do I avoid burnout?

The Smooth Method emphasizes managing your load and energy. Take on one change at a time, and give yourself breaks between projects. Running a business while trying to improve it is demanding, and protecting your time and sanity ensures you don’t stall out before seeing results.

How do I make sure changes actually stick and pay off?

First, track your success with clear metrics. Define what “done” and “successful” look like before you start. Then, after implementation, harvest the lessons by reflecting and documenting what worked and what didn’t. This way, every improvement becomes a repeatable process rather than a one-off experiment.

Okay, this might be the craziest offer we’ve ever made. We’re giving away a solopreneur platform that normally costs five hundred dollars a year…For twenty-five bucks. And not for a month, not for a year… forever.

All you have to do is pre-order our new book: Solopreneur Business for Dummies.

When we first went solo, we thought we could just Google our way through it. But the advice out there?

It was built for startups with teams and money, not someone trying to do it all themselves. We kept thinking: “There’s gotta be a better way.”

So we made one. LifeStarr Premier is the system we wish we had back then: the tools, the strategy, the community, all in one place.

Go to book.lifestarr.com to lock it in.

This deal goes away when the book drops, October 6, 2025, and it’s not coming back.

Pre-order the book. Upload your receipt. You’re in. For good.

Episode Transcript

Carly Ries (00:00):
Making changes in your business doesn't have to

(00:02):
feel overwhelming or chaotic. Inthis episode of the Aspiring
Solopreneur, we introduce thesmooth method, a step by step
way to roll out improvementswithout burning out, blindsiding
your customers, or losing sightof your goals. From sequencing
changes in the right order tokeeping communication open,
owning risk to tracking successand harvesting lessons, you'll

(00:22):
walk away with a practicalframework for implementing
change with clarity andconfidence. So if you've ever
felt stuck between knowing whatto change and figuring out how
to make it happen, this episodeis your guide to moving forward
smoothly. You're listening tothe Aspiring Solopreneur, the
podcast for anyone on the solobusiness journey, whether you're

(00:43):
just toying with the idea,taking your first bold step, or
have been running your own showfor years and want to keep
growing, refining, and thriving.
I'm Carly Ries, and along withmy cohost, Joe Rando, we're your
guides through the crazy butawesome world of being a company
of one. As part of LifeStarr, adigital hub dedicated to all
things solopreneurship, we helppeople design businesses that

(01:05):
align with their life'sambitions so they can work to
live, not live to work. Ifyou're looking for a get rich
quick scheme, this is not theplace for you. But if you want
real world insights fromindustry experts, lessons from
the successes and stumbles offellow solopreneurs, and
practical strategies forbuilding and sustaining a
business you love, you're in theright spot. Because flying so

(01:26):
long business doesn't meanyou're alone.
No matter where you are in yourjourney, we've got your back.

(02:34):
Joe, we are still in theimproving phase of the
solopreneur success cycle. Andyou left us with an awesome
acronym in the last episode, thepriority acronym that you came
up with alongside your trustycompanion, Chat GPT. But if
listeners thought we were donewith acronyms, we're not. We
have one more for you today, andI really want you to dive into
this.
And this is just how you canmake the changes to your

(02:55):
business. So, Joe, tell us aboutthe smooth method.

Joe Rando (02:59):
Smooth method. Yes. It's about making changes in a
way that makes sense. And someof this I alluded to last time.
But, as you go into making thesechanges, you really want to
think through how you're gonnado this.
And so we went back to ChatGPTand said, here's what we think
you should do to change. Make usan acronym, and it's great. So

(03:22):
the smooth method stands for s,Start by sequencing smartly. As
I alluded to in the lastepisode, there might be a
certain order that makes themost sense to do first because
some things are tied together.
M is manager load and energy.you want to be careful as you go
through this phase. Sometimesyou might take a break. Don't

(03:43):
try to do everything at once.Take on one thing at a time.
You know, take a break inbetween. Making changes while
you're running a business isvery, very stressful, and it's
the kind of thing you don'twanna burn out on because it's
important to make changes andmake improvements. you want to
protect your time, protect yoursanity. So then we have the
first o, which is open lines ofcommunication. And this is

(04:05):
something that honestly, this isone that's good for me because
sometimes I put my head down,start working, and, you know,
the world be damned.
I'm just doing my thing. Andit's like, your customers, any
partners, contractors,community, keep them in the loop
of what's happening. Ifsomething's gonna change, you
don't want them waking up going,what happened? And literally,
Microsoft, in my last startup,we woke up one day, and

(04:28):
Microsoft had made this majorchange to their big mapping
system, and our app didn't workanymore. We had, hundreds and
hundreds of customers, and itdidn't work.
And they never told us they weremaking the change, so then
we're, like, scrambling. Sodon't be Microsoft. Just, let
your customers know what'shappening. Keep them in the
loop.

Carly Ries (04:45):
it's okay to be transparent. And I guess just
use your humor. Use yourpersonality. Use your human side
to communicate that. I thinkpeople are afraid to be
transparent, but just be you.

Joe Rando (04:59):
Yeah. That's so true. that's a great point because if
you're straight with people,they trust you. And if you can
tell them, hey. this is gonnahappen. It might be a little
dicey for a couple of days.Whatever it is, you know,
they'll go with you.
The fact that you let them knowin advance makes a world of

(05:20):
difference. Okay. So going back,the second o is own the risks
before they own you. that meanstest things.
Don't just go, this will work,and then wake up and go, yeah,
it didn't. You wanna go in andtry testing soft launch, see
what might go wrong, and try to,check for it before you go out
there and launch it to theworld. You know? Sending out an

(05:43):
email. We always send a testemail.
Have people look at it. Becauseworst thing in the world is that
email goes out with some reallybad typo. I should make a list
of the terrible typo emails I'vegotten over the years. It's
pretty funny.
Then you've got t, and that istrack your success with clear
metrics. Know what success lookslike, before you start. So you

(06:04):
want to basically say, this iswhat's gonna happen when we're
done. I know I'm gonna besuccessful when this is this. I
mean, I know that soundsobvious. But you kinda wanna
know when you're finishedbecause it's pretty easy to get
in there. And, again, this isanother one I'm great at. I was
like, oh, I could do this too.But if you do that, you're gonna
wind up not making all thechanges you planned on and

(06:26):
probably leave out somethingthat's important. So kind of
have that goal line in place,track it, and when you get
there, it's time to move on.Remind me of that, Carly, next
time. Okay? And lastly, h isharvest lessons and lock them
in. You know, document. Reflecton what happened, how did it go,
What went well? What should I dodifferently next time? You know,

(06:50):
you are seeing me talk about thethings that are wrong about the
way I approach things. I cantalk about them because I have
learned those things aboutmyself over time. And by
documenting these things, youlearn that lesson faster, maybe
the first time instead of thethird. so this is a good process
for kinda getting better atchanging. does that make sense

(07:14):
to you, Carly?

Carly Ries (07:16):
Yeah. Oh, of course. I mean, even when you ran the
idea by me originally, I waslike, this is genius. maybe I
have bias.

Joe Rando (07:25):
Wow. Cool.

Carly Ries (07:26):
part genius.

Joe Rando (07:29):
anyway, so that is the smooth method, I think it's
really cool. I really like it,and I strongly suggest that you
adopt it. And it's coveredextensively in Solopreneur
Business for Dummies. So, youknow, shameless book plug, but
you'll have the whole thing laidout there for you. There are

(07:50):
downloads for worksheets and allthat kind of stuff as well.

Carly Ries (07:54):
Awesome. Love it. Listeners, hopefully, you think
Joe is as much of a genius as Ithink he is.

Joe Rando (08:01):
Been called other things.

Carly Ries (08:03):
We'll stick with genius. And in previous
episodes, we said that we'regonna start giving shout outs to
people who have given reviews onApple Podcasts. We started in
the last episode. We haveanother one today, and that is
from the Biz Guide for GenExperts.
And this listener said, as aformer professor of
entrepreneurship and a serialsolopreneur, I have to say that

(08:25):
Joe and Carly are doing a greatjob diving into topics that are
useful and actionable. This showis a wealth of knowledge and
super practical.

Joe Rando (08:35):
Professor? Wow

Carly Ries (08:36):
Yes. Wow. Cool. Thank you so much. We so
appreciate it.
If you want us to give you ashout out in an upcoming
episode, don't forget to leavethat five star review. And as
always, share this episode witha friend and subscribe on your
favorite podcast platform. Andwe'll see you next time on The
Aspiring Solopreneur. You may begoing solo in business, but that

(08:56):
doesn't mean you're alone. Infact, millions of people are in
your shoes, running a one personbusiness and figuring it out as
they go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.