June 3, 2021 • 28 mins
On Episode 18 of the Business 360 Podcast, we talk with Karan Nijhawan, the Founder of JUBE consulting. We discuss solopreneurship...essentially one-person businesses. Karan provides some amazing insights and strategies for any aspiring and established solopreneur.
We discuss:
1. Solopreneur vs. Entrepreneurs
2. First-Time Solopreneur Mistakes
3. Pitfalls to Avoid in Solopreneurship
4. Joining Solopreneur Communities
5. Tips to Avoid Overwhelm
6. Systems to Implement
For more information, visit https://www.thinkbusiness360.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rushab Kamdar (00:03):
Welcome to the Business 360 Podcast where we
will take a 360 degree view ofall things business in under 30
minutes.
I'm Rushab Kamdar and I helpbusinesses, startup founders,
working professionals and masterstudents think business, talk
business, launch their businessand grow their business.
(00:27):
What's going on Business Heroes?
Welcome to episode 18.
And I'm really excited aboutthis episode because it's
actually very relevant to whatmany aspiring and new
entrepreneurs go through.
And that starting a businessalone, a one-person shop.
Those that start as a one personshop are referred to as
(00:49):
solopreneurs.
Our guest today is going toprovide us with strategies that
you can implement as you gothrough your solopreneurship
journey and also pitfalls toavoid so that you don't make
costly mistakes.
So let's get to it.
On today's episode.
My guest is Karan Nijhawan.
(01:12):
He's the founder of Jube, aclient relationship consulting
practice that helps businessesdeepen those relationships with
clients and prospects throughhuman connection dinners.
To date, Jube has hosted over184 dinners around the world
with entrepreneurs andcompanies.
Now, Karan has become known asthe guy who brings people
(01:32):
together in a meaningful andprofound way.
Karan is also the founder of theSolopreneur Success Club, a
membership community that helpsone person business owners get
to their next level.
Karan, I'm so happy that you area guest on the Business 360
Podcast.
Welcome.
Karan Nijhawan (01:48):
So stoked to be here, man.
I, this is, I feel like was a,it was a long time coming and
I'm grateful that ourrelationship has flourished so
much since meeting one another.
That I'm, I'm stoked to be here.
Rushab Kamdar (01:59):
Yeah.
I mean, listen, we, we met onClubhouse.
The Clubhouse room that we usedto do on a daily basis was
called Solopreneurs Creating AnImpact.
And you are a solopreneur whobelieves in creating impact.
You have really taken the mantleof, of spearheading
solopreneurship and, uh, youknow, diving into that specific
(02:21):
terminology.
Uh, so why, why call yourself asolopreneur, uh, versus the
generalized distinction ofentrepreneur?
Like why do you stick with thatand then work only on
solopreneurs?
Karan Nijhawan (02:33):
It's a great question.
It's something I ask myselfevery single day and I ask
myself, is this the right way?
So the term solopreneur to mesimply just means a one person
business owner.
Even if they have a team, it'stypically one person who's the
visionary.
It's the one person who's kindof steering the boat and yeah,
sure you might have a team, youmight have a crew with you, you
(02:56):
might have coaches and assistantcoaches, but you're the one
calling the shots.
So even in my business, I am nota one person business owner.
I am the sole visionary of thecompany.
I get to decide and steer wherethe boat is headed, but I've got
a crew behind me as well.
So to me, the, the termsolopreneur, something about it
feels very empowering to me.
(03:17):
It feels like you get to callthe shots.
It feels like you got to createa life on your own terms.
And for me, that term has justhad, has really stuck with me
and, and the audience that Ihave been able to create and the
community.
Um, I've got nothing against theword entrepreneur like it's one
of my favorite words of inEnglish dictionary, but the term
solopreneur to me, it's justlike, who's this lone wolf who's
(03:40):
used to doing things alone.
Maybe they're type A like me,maybe they have a vision like
me, maybe they execute at thesame speed as me and likes
attract likes, right?
So when I find people whoresonate with that term, they
typically find, find their wayinto one of my programs or one
of my services or they just findtheir way into my community or
my podcast?
And, um, yeah, it's just kind oflike the, the solopreneur term
(04:02):
to me is like the underdog.
And for me, I'm a huge fan ofthe underdog.
Rushab Kamdar (04:06):
So in your world, does solopreneur ever graduate
to an entrepreneur?
Karan Nijhawan (04:11):
I think a solopreneur is an entrepreneur.
It's just it's, I feel like theterm solopreneur to me is more
of a mindset than it is inpracticality.
Practicality, like I would sayin a way Steve Jobs was a
solopreneur.
You know, he built one of thebiggest companies in the world
with thousands and thousands ofemployees all over the world yet
he was the guy with the vision,right?
(04:33):
Elon Musk, he's got a massive,he's got so many companies, so
many successful exits, butnobody thinks like him, his
brain is just on a next level.
In way, I would say Elon Musk isone of the greatest solopreneurs
of all time.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon is howmany employees, but yet he's the
guy with like the vision.
So in a way, Jeff Bezos is thesolopreneur.
So for me, it's, for me, I thinkthe term is more mindset and
(04:55):
visionary focused and lesspracticality and what's on
paper.
Rushab Kamdar (04:59):
Got it.
Yeah.
Not those, those technicalities.
Um, so you know, let's do this,right.
You started a company four yearsago.
That was your first foraythere's.
Karan Nijhawan (05:08):
Well, no, no, no.
I start with a side hustle fouryears ago and the side hustle
became, again, as a by-productof these dinners, people came to
this dinner and I would wake upthe next day to email saying,
when's the next one?
And after doing this for four orfive months, I said, Hey, maybe
I could create a membershipmodel around this.
So people pay a hundred bucks amonth and they got to come to a
(05:29):
dinner once a month that wascovered for them.
Their ticket was included inthat a hundred bucks.
And I just started to build thiscommunity in St.
John's, where I'm from, ofbusiness owners and
entrepreneurs who just wanted todo networking differently.
Rushab Kamdar (05:41):
Fair enough.
Now, so, um, along that lines,there are thousands and
thousands of people every daythat are starting side hustles
or legitimately intentionallytrying to start a business.
Um, you know, they're usuallyone person, right?
And if you want to go to thetechnical terms of solopreneur,
the one-person business, youknow, what is usually the, the
(06:02):
first mistake that most ofthese, uh, aspiring solopreneurs
make when they're going downthis journey?
Karan Nijhawan (06:11):
I think they, they pick out, kitchen's gonna
look like, the faucet that theywant, the fridge that they want
to order, the marble countertopswithout really having a clear
idea of where it is in the worldthey want to live.
So I think that the problem theymake is instead of focusing on
the foundations of the house,aka their business, they focused
(06:34):
on the sexy stuff like thetechnology, the software that
they need, the email serviceprovider, the weekly emails, the
funnel software, the it's likethey, they, they focus on that
because it keeps them busy.
And any time an entrepreneur isbusy, think they're being
productive.
Now busy and productive are twovery different things.
I know a lot of solopreneurs andentrepreneurs that are busy as
(06:57):
hell, but they're not productivewhatsoever, right?
And they're just doing the samething over and over again
expecting a different result.
So I think the mistake that Ioften see a lot of first time
entrepreneurs or solopreneursmake is that they would rather
focus on the sexy side of thebusiness in terms of like
outfitting their business versusreally spending time on the
business, asking two simplequestions, who's this for and
(07:21):
what can I provide them?
So for me, it's like anysolopreneur who's, you know, has
started a side hustle.
I always say to them like, howcan you get your, your first one
to three clients in the next 72hours?
Go, make that your mission.
You're going to learn so much inthat process and you don't need
any tech for it.
You just need it to be able totext message your friends,
message a couple of people onLinkedIn, who you think might be
(07:43):
good fits and like, let that beyour validation.
You'll learn so much more by 72,72 hours of just grinding to try
to get your first client thanany book or course or tech will
ever teach you.
Rushab Kamdar (07:54):
Uh, now let's say some of these solopreneurs who
are already into their journey,right?
Um, there are still pitfallsthat we've seen that, that, that
they make.
What are some of the top threeor five that you feel would
benefit a solopreneur to avoid?
Karan Nijhawan (08:08):
Yeah, that's a fantastic question.
The first one and I'll list fourthat I have struggled with that
I find myself even today,sometimes struggling with.
The first is delegating way toolate in their business and just
wearing all the hats.
So naturally when you'restarting off, like your only
thought process is how do I getthe most without putting the
(08:29):
least amount of money in,without the least amount of time
in, without the least amount ofeffort in, how can I get the
most value or ROI?
Naturally as a way to savemoney, you want to do
everything.
You want to produce your ownpodcasts.
You want to send out your ownemail marketing campaign.
You want to run your ownFacebook group.
You want to post on Instagram.
You want to, you want to beyou're in sales, you're in
(08:51):
accounting, you're in, you're ineverything, right?
You're the one incorporatingyour documents like you're doing
everything.
So I think the first thing thata lot of people struggle with is
that they fail to value theirown time therefore they hold on
to all the pieces of theirbusiness.
Um, cause they're they're, they,they see delegation as a cost
and they don't really see it asbuying back your time.
(09:11):
And when you make thatdistinction of what is an hour
worth to you, if it's worth 20bucks an hour or 2000 bucks an
hour, then if you can delegate atask that costs less than that,
you're probably better off doingit.
If you're doing a task that costmore than that.
You're probably better offkeeping it yourself.
So like, I think establish anhourly rate for your, for
yourself.
When you're first starting out,you can make it up a hundred
(09:33):
bucks, 200 bucks, 500 bucks,whatever you want, but establish
an hourly rate and anythingbelow that definitely delegate.
I think another mistake, a lotof solopreneurs make when they
first start out, even if they'rea year or two in, is that they
still work really hard and notoverly smart.
And what I mean by that is they,they again want to refer back to
(09:53):
that productive thing, right?
They stay busy, they stay busy,they stay busy.
They've got this massive to dolist of, to do items, none of
which are like incrediblyrevenue generating.
So if you have this massive, Ithink in the book, the one thing
they talk about the to-do listand then the must-do list.
So I think where solopreneursneed to make that distinction is
sure you could have a, to dolist, but what are the two or
(10:14):
three must do, maybe revenuegenerating activities that you
should be doing to validateyourself financially.
I like, you know, I like thisconcept of what's your one big
focus for the day.
In Brian Tracy's book, he callsit, eat the big frog, right?
Like eat that, that the mostdifficult thing first thing in
the morning.
There's two more mistakes that Isee over and over again.
(10:34):
The third is they under pricethemselves because they're
pricing based on their ownworth, right?
Who's going to buy from me.
I don't have the credentials.
I don't have the history.
I've never done this before.
So you know what, how's 20 bucksfor this.
I'm like 20 bucks.
It's gonna take you 10 hours.
Uh, okay.
How is 25 bucks?
(10:55):
Right?
It's like entrepreneurs don'tknow how to price themselves.
So typically we price ourselvesbased on our own self-worth not
really the value that we'regenerating for your client.
Probably one of the easiest waysto raise your rates is just by
asking yourself that question.
Am I pricing based on my worthor the value to the client?
And then the fourth mistake, Ithink a lot of people make, and
I, I still struggle with thisfrom time to time is that their
(11:18):
measurement of success is justfinancial.
So they validate theirworthiness, they validate their
success based on what's in thebank account or what's coming in
every month.
And they fail to realize all thebeautiful progress that they're
making on themselves, on themindset, all the relationships
that they're building, all theseeds, they're planting all the
new ways that they've stretchedthemselves in the last 30 or 40
(11:39):
days and not letting the bankaccount be the sole determining
factor of your success.
And that's something I struggledwith as well.
Rushab Kamdar (11:48):
Yeah, exactly.
Choosing the wrong metric forsuccess and usually, you know,
and we know this, you and I bothknow this money is not a
motivator, right?
So don't use money as amotivator.
Well, on the flip side, uh, whatare the top three or five things
a solopreneur should do toensure success?
What should they implement?
And an easy cop-out is to saythe opposite of what you said
are pitfalls.
(12:09):
So I'm going to, I'm going toput it on you that let's talk
about some, some strategies thatthey can implement for success.
Karan Nijhawan (12:16):
Absolutely.
So one strategy is, is thinkabout what you feel your
competitors are doing and do theopposite.
So let me, let me tie that backto Jube.
One of the biggest keys of mysuccess in my entire business
was hosting these humanconnection dinners.
Nobody was really doing them.
(12:37):
It was a foreign concept.
It sounded a bit weird andunique.
Some people thought it wasspammy.
They were like, what do you meanI'm going to pay to come to this
dinner?
Who's this Karan guy I've neverheard of.
People would literally send me ahundred dollars on Eventbrite
and have never had met me beforecause I was like, Hey, we're
going to do this dinner.
So I started doing things thatcreated a conversation.
So in your business, think aboutyour version of a dinner.
(13:00):
Maybe it's a dinner, maybe it'ssomething else, but how can you
shake the boat a little bit anddo something that's conversation
worthy.
That's the reason why I've beenable to do 184 dinners is
because people leave thesedinners and they tag their
friends in the videos.
They tell their employees, theytell their friends, they tell
their entrepreneur buddiessaying, Hey, you got to do one
of these dinners.
So I always have this likeRolodex of people who want to
(13:20):
come to a dinner.
The second thing I would say iswhere can you add more human
elements to your business?
I'm a huge fan of audio andvideo messaging.
I have instilled audio and videomessaging and so much of my
sales in the way I prospect, inthe way I deliver customer
(13:40):
experience and customer success,in the way I run my Facebook
group.
And I'm a very human basedbusiness.
So if you have a business whereyou care about relationships and
you want to go deep with clientsand with prospects, ask
yourself, Hey, when the, whenthe prospect gets an order
confirmation email, what if Isent them a video email instead.
What if there wasn't just areceipt?
(14:02):
What if it was a two minute GIFof you going and just waving?
Like how can you stand out?
How can you make your emailsforward worthy?
And I like to think about mybusiness, like where in my
business can I introduce littleaspects of magic that are
forward worthy?
And for me, my video emails doget forwarded among a company.
(14:24):
I think I've shared with youthat I sent this one email to a
director of sales who getspitched 50 times a day.
And he sent my video email to 20other leaders across Canada
saying, this is the type ofprospecting we need, which is
what got me a pretty sweetcontract back then.
Um, so I just, I just like to dothings a little bit differently
(14:45):
and it's free, right?
Adding more customer experiencevia video it's virtually free.
Creating something conversationworthy in your business is
virtually free.
You just need to be able to likestep off that beaten path and do
something a little bitdifferently.
Rushab Kamdar (14:59):
And so I think that that's a good segue to what
you are creating now, which is acommunity of like-minded
solopreneurs, um, it's called aSolopreneur Success Club.
Um, it's a form of a mastermind.
So why don't you explain, whatare your goals for this club and
(15:19):
what are you trying to buildhere?
Karan Nijhawan (15:22):
Yeah.
Great question man and it'sfunny cause like my goals are
really centered around thepainful conversations that I
hear my prospects or my idealclients have every single day.
So when I hear a solopreneur oran entrepreneur say, I feel
lonely.
I'm like great, but what doesthat really mean?
(15:42):
Well, really what that means isthat they're not really sure how
to make decisions in theirbusiness.
What that really means is thattheir progress feels stuck.
What that really means is thatthey lack confidence in their
selling ability.
When I hear a client say, I lackclarity in my business, really
what they mean is that they'renot really sure if they're
working on the right tasks orthe right projects or their
(16:03):
product language doesn't speakto their ideal client, or they
really have an unclear pictureabout the future of their
business.
And the last thing, when I hearmy clients say, I need help,
which we've all heard reallywhat that means if you go layers
deeper is that they don't have aplan and they're just winging
it.
The financials in their businessare really foggy and confusing
and maybe they feel pressurefrom social media and friends to
(16:25):
have shit figured out.
So I've created a community,like an environment where
conversations like that, theones that we're having that
nobody sees are the norm.
So the conversations that youhave at a typical networking
event is not what we have in thesolopreneur club.
We have the exact opposite.
A good way to describe it, justbecause we talked about the
iceberg, is like the solopreneurclub.
(16:46):
We focus on that bottom 89% ofthe conversations about what's
the stuff that's really keepingus up at night.
What are the thorns, as youknow, the headaches, the
problems, the fears, theobjections that we run into as
business owners and then puttingmultiple brains on the same
problem.
So if you're having a thought,if you have an idea about how to
grow your business, if you'rerunning into headaches and
(17:08):
hurdles, I've created anenvironment where other people
who have gone through thatproblem can just give you their
feedback and their advice.
And they've got nothing to gainexcept watching you win, right?
They're not going to get apercentage of the upside.
They're not going to get apercentage of the downside.
They just want to see you win.
Because then they're hoping thatmaybe if you figure out
(17:29):
something in your business, youcan share it with them.
And maybe that's an idea thatthey could test out in their
business.
So it's just, this, it's a peerlearning environment where
solopreneurs don't have to feelsolo.
And they can just make quickerdecisions and ultimately create
a more profitable business.
Rushab Kamdar (17:47):
Well, you know, that's a great way to, to, to
highlight what is a difficultyfor a lot of solopreneurs,
right?
Because the solo you're alone,you're lonely, even if you have
a team, right, and a communitygives you that support gives you
that accountability and propsyou up.
Um, and so I think what'shappening in this club, this
membership is, is amazing.
And, and, you know, the valueyou're providing is, is
(18:09):
top-notch.
Karan Nijhawan (18:10):
Uh, and I mean, it, it, typical conversation I
hear from group members beforethey join is I've got no one to
talk to besides my spouse athome or like my friends don't
get me cause they're not reallyentrepreneurs.
And there's only so many times Ican go to YouTube and Google for
my answers.
And I get that, like, I getthat, like, what else do you do
(18:32):
when you don't know what to do,right?
You rely on your partner at homeor your spouse, or maybe you
talk to your kids or you talk toyour friends.
But I grew up like four yearsago when I had a side hustle,
none of my close friends hadside hustles, right?
They were all, they all hadcorporate jobs or they were all
doctors.
Like, you know, like that'skinda how it was.
So I'm like, who do I bounceideas off of?
(18:52):
And I found that again withthese dinners that I was
hosting, it gave me the platformto find other like-minded human
beings that I could bounce ideasoff of.
And same thing happens, youknow, when you're talking to,
when I do a team dinner for aclient and their employees,
they're using it asbrainstorming.
When I do this for clients andtheir prospects, it's kind of
like brainstorming.
What I'm doing with theSolopreneur Success Club, you
(19:14):
guys are brainstorming.
So like there's a, there's areal commonality among every
part of my business where itreally does centered it centers
around conversation.
Rushab Kamdar (19:24):
Another common headache for a lot of
solopreneurs is the feeling ofbeing overwhelmed with the tasks
that they have.
And I know you, you spoke alittle bit about identifying
that one big task to accomplishin a given week.
Uh, but outside of that, arethere any other tips you have
for solopreneurs to avoid thatfeeling of overwhelm?
Karan Nijhawan (19:43):
Yeah.
One of the most helpful thingsthat I do every month is I brain
dump everything on paper.
Like I think about what are thethings that are stressing me out
right now.
Okay.
This kind of revenue, this kindof membership, the bills, do I
hire, how's my Instagram thesedays, should I get back on
clubhouse?
Like I have all of these, like Ihave like a thousand thoughts a
minute.
(20:04):
And I feel like you probably doas well and sometimes it just
keeps us stuck or it makes usfeel overwhelmed.
And one of the things I do is Ibrain dump everything on paper
and I circle, okay, which one ofthese activities brings me joy.
And then I X out which one ofthese brings me headaches and
pain.
And if I can delegate orterminate the headaches and
(20:25):
pains category and just focus onthe ones that I circle, it gives
me a really good, almost like a,it allows me to restart every
month with a new plan of attackfor that month.
The goals don't change.
What changes is how I approachthose goals and the activities
that I choose to help me get tothose goals.
So I think brain dumping onpaper is one of those exercises.
It sounds so elementary.
And like, so old school, likewhat do you mean paper?
(20:47):
You mean like on my iPad?
No, no, no.
Like write this down pen topaper and really get clear on
what's keeping you up at nightand it, and address it.
Stop, like stop shoving yourbusiness headaches underneath
the bed, thinking that, Hey, ifI just hide them, I won't see
them.
You're still going to feel alumpy ass bed, right?
Still like, just get rid of theproblems altogether.
(21:07):
Don't just hide them.
Rushab Kamdar (21:10):
Yeah.
You're you're big on systems andimplementing systems.
Exactly.
Is there a, is there a one ortwo that you think are
instrumental?
Karan Nijhawan (21:18):
Well, when I had a podcast or I still have a
podcast, not really, uh, take aguest right now.
The part that I love to do themost was the actual interview.
Everything else the uploading,the YouTube, the creating the
graphic on Canva, publishing onSpotify and iTunes, I created a
step-by-step Google document.
Step one, log on Canva, steptwo, use this username and
(21:40):
password.
And I also created a videodocumentation of me doing the
task myself, and I just startedto create these SOPs are
standing standard operatingprocedures for every task that I
did in my business, that costsme time and that others could do
just as good.
So now I've got this list of,you know, the, my, my Facebook
group.
All of those posts are scheduledevery Sunday.
(22:01):
And now that I don't even touchthem, I'm completely hands-off.
I get one message a week from mymarketing person saying approved
or not approved.
I go approve.
They send, they craft my weeklyemail.
I look at it, approved.
I create one video a week.
And it gets turned into IGTVstuff and an article and a blog
(22:24):
and an email.
All I do is go approve.
So I do the thing that I want todo interview, Beyond Zoom,
motivate people, create groupconversations, facilitate group
dynamics, but everything else Ihave found a way to go
completely hands-off.
So really, man, it's like I'mliterally growing a business
where I want to be 99%hands-off.
Rushab Kamdar (22:47):
Yeah.
And, and, uh, you know, I thinkthis entire concept of systems
is so difficult for a lot of newsolopreneurs.
Um, and it's so important for, Ithink that's one of the most
important things to, to reallyeducate people on and, and the,
and how easy it is and that it'snot overnight, but it will take
(23:07):
time, but you'll get there, youknow, and I think that's also
another important thing.
You mentioned during thisinterview a couple of books,
you're an avid reader of books.
Um, I've been always an avidreader of news articles and you
know, that world.
It was only after I met you thatI started getting into business
books.
(23:27):
Uh, and so real quickly, topthree business books any
aspiring entrepreneursolopreneur should know of.
Karan Nijhawan (23:36):
Great question.
So these are, these are allgonna be business and mindset
style of books cause I don'tthink you can have a solid
business if your mindset is notin place.
I just don't think the two, one,one cannot exist without the
other.
So I've, re-read the book, theGo-Giver about three or four
times.
It's got timeless principles ofabout how to give more in value
(23:57):
than you take in cash value.
The rule of always beingauthentic, the rule of
compensation, just really goodtimeless value pieces that you
can take into every negotiationyou can take into every business
conversation.
So the Go-Giver is definitely inthe top.
There's another book called theThe Science of Getting Rich by
Wallace Wattles.
I'm a big fan of books that werecreated, like in like the
(24:18):
thirties and the forties.
Cause I think that's, that'swhere personal development
really originated was like inthe twenties and thirties and
forties back in like theNapoleon Hill, uh, Andrew
Carnegie days.
I think everything producedtoday on motivation is really
it's really taken inspirationfrom that generation.
So The Science of Getting Richis amazing.
Um, and there's this really goodbook that not a lot of people
(24:42):
talk about, but it's called TheRoad Less Stupid and it's by a
guy named Keith Cunningham.
And he talks about how do youavoid paying the dumb tax in
life?
Like how do you avoid paying thetax that you don't know you're
going to have to pay one day?
So he says, he's got his oneline in the book is like, you
can, you can make a decisiontoday.
(25:02):
But based on that decision, youcan't predict the future
repercussions of that decision.
It's just, it just really makesyou think.
But the idea in the book is thatevery week or every couple of
weeks, give yourself this windowof what he calls thinking time.
Spend 45 to 60 minutes go intothat session with just your pen
(25:23):
or a pencil and your notebook.
Go into the session, askingyourself three to four questions
because every answer that weever need in life is not really
in the books.
It's not really in the courses.
It really is within us.
So for me like this thinkingtime practice, I need to get
back into it.
I've done it a couple of timeswhere I've just blocked out 60
(25:44):
minutes of my calendar, just tothink.
And you'd be surprised, man,this 60 minutes feels like hours
and you walk away every timewith pages, full of notes on
inspiration, on motivation.
So those would be three booksthat come top of mind to me
right now.
Rushab Kamdar (25:59):
I've never read that book, but I'm an avid
practice practicer of gettingmy, my thinking time.
Yeah, I do it.
I do, I do once a month.
Yeah.
I mean, at least once a month.
So
Karan Nijhawan (26:10):
Man, there's, there's so many other books like
I'm, I'm reading right now, ThePsychology of Money, amazing
book.
There's a book called Who NotHow by Dan Sullivan, which is
all about who can do the thingcause you, you shouldn't be
doing all of it.
Um, there's a book called TheHappiness Equation that I read a
long time ago that's again, justtimeless principles about life.
(26:31):
Um, Yeah, man.
I'm a, I'm a huge book guy.
Rushab Kamdar (26:35):
Yeah, no, listen that's uh, that's why I asked
that question.
Cause I think a lot of peoplewill get value from knowing
which ones would help them intheir journey.
Uh, so I'm going to leave youwith this, what parting advice
will you give to any aspiringsolopreneur out there or even an
experienced solopreneur outthere?
Karan Nijhawan (26:56):
Double down on what your inside is telling you,
like double down on yourintuition, double tap, double
down on your own thinking,doubled down on your own vision
that you have, because it's veryeasy to just make progress on a
vision and then be like, Ooh,look, shiny object, new project,
new contract, new something.
(27:17):
I think about the last two yearsthat I've been in business, had
I known what I know now aboutwhat I'm building and sure, you
know, sometimes we need to gothrough life and the experience
to figure out what is that, thatyou're truly building.
But now that I'm so clear on,like, this is my, my niche, this
is my family, this is what I'mbuilding, I've, I've never had
more motivation and more energyand more passion.
(27:37):
I've never had such clarity onthe direction of my business
than I do now.
And really it comes down to thisidea of what are you building
and who's it for.
Rushab Kamdar (27:46):
Beautiful, beautifully said.
Uh, Karan, I really, reallyappreciate you being here, uh,
imparting your wisdom on all ofus with, uh, uh, everything that
results with solopreneurship andcreating impact.
So thank you for being a gueston the Business 360 Podcast.
Karan Nijhawan (28:02):
Yeah.
Thanks for having me, man.
And thanks for creating thespace for people to learn about
not just, you know, what we readin books, but practical
takeaways as well.
So thank you.
Rushab Kamdar (28:15):
Thank you for joining us on the Business 360
Podcast.
To learn more about our guests,go to thinkbusiness360.com.
In life, I follow two thingsthat keep me grounded.
Number one, if you only listento someone's successes and not
their failures, you've onlyheard half the story and number
two, compete with yourself andhelp everyone else.
You stay classy, BusinessHeroes.
Welcome to the Business 360 Podcast where we
will take a 360 degree view ofall things business in under 30
minutes.
I'm Rushab Kamdar and I helpbusinesses, startup founders,
working professionals and masterstudents think business, talk
business, launch their businessand grow their business.
(00:27):
What's going on Business Heroes?
Welcome to episode 18.
And I'm really excited aboutthis episode because it's
actually very relevant to whatmany aspiring and new
entrepreneurs go through.
And that starting a businessalone, a one-person shop.
Those that start as a one personshop are referred to as
(00:49):
solopreneurs.
Our guest today is going toprovide us with strategies that
you can implement as you gothrough your solopreneurship
journey and also pitfalls toavoid so that you don't make
costly mistakes.
So let's get to it.
On today's episode.
My guest is Karan Nijhawan.
(01:12):
He's the founder of Jube, aclient relationship consulting
practice that helps businessesdeepen those relationships with
clients and prospects throughhuman connection dinners.
To date, Jube has hosted over184 dinners around the world
with entrepreneurs andcompanies.
Now, Karan has become known asthe guy who brings people
(01:32):
together in a meaningful andprofound way.
Karan is also the founder of theSolopreneur Success Club, a
membership community that helpsone person business owners get
to their next level.
Karan, I'm so happy that you area guest on the Business 360
Podcast.
Welcome.
Karan Nijhawan (01:48):
So stoked to be here, man.
I, this is, I feel like was a,it was a long time coming and
I'm grateful that ourrelationship has flourished so
much since meeting one another.
That I'm, I'm stoked to be here.
Rushab Kamdar (01:59):
Yeah.
I mean, listen, we, we met onClubhouse.
The Clubhouse room that we usedto do on a daily basis was
called Solopreneurs Creating AnImpact.
And you are a solopreneur whobelieves in creating impact.
You have really taken the mantleof, of spearheading
solopreneurship and, uh, youknow, diving into that specific
(02:21):
terminology.
Uh, so why, why call yourself asolopreneur, uh, versus the
generalized distinction ofentrepreneur?
Like why do you stick with thatand then work only on
solopreneurs?
Karan Nijhawan (02:33):
It's a great question.
It's something I ask myselfevery single day and I ask
myself, is this the right way?
So the term solopreneur to mesimply just means a one person
business owner.
Even if they have a team, it'stypically one person who's the
visionary.
It's the one person who's kindof steering the boat and yeah,
sure you might have a team, youmight have a crew with you, you
(02:56):
might have coaches and assistantcoaches, but you're the one
calling the shots.
So even in my business, I am nota one person business owner.
I am the sole visionary of thecompany.
I get to decide and steer wherethe boat is headed, but I've got
a crew behind me as well.
So to me, the, the termsolopreneur, something about it
feels very empowering to me.
(03:17):
It feels like you get to callthe shots.
It feels like you got to createa life on your own terms.
And for me, that term has justhad, has really stuck with me
and, and the audience that Ihave been able to create and the
community.
Um, I've got nothing against theword entrepreneur like it's one
of my favorite words of inEnglish dictionary, but the term
solopreneur to me, it's justlike, who's this lone wolf who's
(03:40):
used to doing things alone.
Maybe they're type A like me,maybe they have a vision like
me, maybe they execute at thesame speed as me and likes
attract likes, right?
So when I find people whoresonate with that term, they
typically find, find their wayinto one of my programs or one
of my services or they just findtheir way into my community or
my podcast?
And, um, yeah, it's just kind oflike the, the solopreneur term
(04:02):
to me is like the underdog.
And for me, I'm a huge fan ofthe underdog.
Rushab Kamdar (04:06):
So in your world, does solopreneur ever graduate
to an entrepreneur?
Karan Nijhawan (04:11):
I think a solopreneur is an entrepreneur.
It's just it's, I feel like theterm solopreneur to me is more
of a mindset than it is inpracticality.
Practicality, like I would sayin a way Steve Jobs was a
solopreneur.
You know, he built one of thebiggest companies in the world
with thousands and thousands ofemployees all over the world yet
he was the guy with the vision,right?
(04:33):
Elon Musk, he's got a massive,he's got so many companies, so
many successful exits, butnobody thinks like him, his
brain is just on a next level.
In way, I would say Elon Musk isone of the greatest solopreneurs
of all time.
Jeff Bezos and Amazon is howmany employees, but yet he's the
guy with like the vision.
So in a way, Jeff Bezos is thesolopreneur.
So for me, it's, for me, I thinkthe term is more mindset and
(04:55):
visionary focused and lesspracticality and what's on
paper.
Rushab Kamdar (04:59):
Got it.
Yeah.
Not those, those technicalities.
Um, so you know, let's do this,right.
You started a company four yearsago.
That was your first foraythere's.
Karan Nijhawan (05:08):
Well, no, no, no.
I start with a side hustle fouryears ago and the side hustle
became, again, as a by-productof these dinners, people came to
this dinner and I would wake upthe next day to email saying,
when's the next one?
And after doing this for four orfive months, I said, Hey, maybe
I could create a membershipmodel around this.
So people pay a hundred bucks amonth and they got to come to a
(05:29):
dinner once a month that wascovered for them.
Their ticket was included inthat a hundred bucks.
And I just started to build thiscommunity in St.
John's, where I'm from, ofbusiness owners and
entrepreneurs who just wanted todo networking differently.
Rushab Kamdar (05:41):
Fair enough.
Now, so, um, along that lines,there are thousands and
thousands of people every daythat are starting side hustles
or legitimately intentionallytrying to start a business.
Um, you know, they're usuallyone person, right?
And if you want to go to thetechnical terms of solopreneur,
the one-person business, youknow, what is usually the, the
(06:02):
first mistake that most ofthese, uh, aspiring solopreneurs
make when they're going downthis journey?
Karan Nijhawan (06:11):
I think they, they pick out, kitchen's gonna
look like, the faucet that theywant, the fridge that they want
to order, the marble countertopswithout really having a clear
idea of where it is in the worldthey want to live.
So I think that the problem theymake is instead of focusing on
the foundations of the house,aka their business, they focused
(06:34):
on the sexy stuff like thetechnology, the software that
they need, the email serviceprovider, the weekly emails, the
funnel software, the it's likethey, they, they focus on that
because it keeps them busy.
And any time an entrepreneur isbusy, think they're being
productive.
Now busy and productive are twovery different things.
I know a lot of solopreneurs andentrepreneurs that are busy as
(06:57):
hell, but they're not productivewhatsoever, right?
And they're just doing the samething over and over again
expecting a different result.
So I think the mistake that Ioften see a lot of first time
entrepreneurs or solopreneursmake is that they would rather
focus on the sexy side of thebusiness in terms of like
outfitting their business versusreally spending time on the
business, asking two simplequestions, who's this for and
(07:21):
what can I provide them?
So for me, it's like anysolopreneur who's, you know, has
started a side hustle.
I always say to them like, howcan you get your, your first one
to three clients in the next 72hours?
Go, make that your mission.
You're going to learn so much inthat process and you don't need
any tech for it.
You just need it to be able totext message your friends,
message a couple of people onLinkedIn, who you think might be
(07:43):
good fits and like, let that beyour validation.
You'll learn so much more by 72,72 hours of just grinding to try
to get your first client thanany book or course or tech will
ever teach you.
Rushab Kamdar (07:54):
Uh, now let's say some of these solopreneurs who
are already into their journey,right?
Um, there are still pitfallsthat we've seen that, that, that
they make.
What are some of the top threeor five that you feel would
benefit a solopreneur to avoid?
Karan Nijhawan (08:08):
Yeah, that's a fantastic question.
The first one and I'll list fourthat I have struggled with that
I find myself even today,sometimes struggling with.
The first is delegating way toolate in their business and just
wearing all the hats.
So naturally when you'restarting off, like your only
thought process is how do I getthe most without putting the
(08:29):
least amount of money in,without the least amount of time
in, without the least amount ofeffort in, how can I get the
most value or ROI?
Naturally as a way to savemoney, you want to do
everything.
You want to produce your ownpodcasts.
You want to send out your ownemail marketing campaign.
You want to run your ownFacebook group.
You want to post on Instagram.
You want to, you want to beyou're in sales, you're in
(08:51):
accounting, you're in, you're ineverything, right?
You're the one incorporatingyour documents like you're doing
everything.
So I think the first thing thata lot of people struggle with is
that they fail to value theirown time therefore they hold on
to all the pieces of theirbusiness.
Um, cause they're they're, they,they see delegation as a cost
and they don't really see it asbuying back your time.
(09:11):
And when you make thatdistinction of what is an hour
worth to you, if it's worth 20bucks an hour or 2000 bucks an
hour, then if you can delegate atask that costs less than that,
you're probably better off doingit.
If you're doing a task that costmore than that.
You're probably better offkeeping it yourself.
So like, I think establish anhourly rate for your, for
yourself.
When you're first starting out,you can make it up a hundred
(09:33):
bucks, 200 bucks, 500 bucks,whatever you want, but establish
an hourly rate and anythingbelow that definitely delegate.
I think another mistake, a lotof solopreneurs make when they
first start out, even if they'rea year or two in, is that they
still work really hard and notoverly smart.
And what I mean by that is they,they again want to refer back to
(09:53):
that productive thing, right?
They stay busy, they stay busy,they stay busy.
They've got this massive to dolist of, to do items, none of
which are like incrediblyrevenue generating.
So if you have this massive, Ithink in the book, the one thing
they talk about the to-do listand then the must-do list.
So I think where solopreneursneed to make that distinction is
sure you could have a, to dolist, but what are the two or
(10:14):
three must do, maybe revenuegenerating activities that you
should be doing to validateyourself financially.
I like, you know, I like thisconcept of what's your one big
focus for the day.
In Brian Tracy's book, he callsit, eat the big frog, right?
Like eat that, that the mostdifficult thing first thing in
the morning.
There's two more mistakes that Isee over and over again.
(10:34):
The third is they under pricethemselves because they're
pricing based on their ownworth, right?
Who's going to buy from me.
I don't have the credentials.
I don't have the history.
I've never done this before.
So you know what, how's 20 bucksfor this.
I'm like 20 bucks.
It's gonna take you 10 hours.
Uh, okay.
How is 25 bucks?
(10:55):
Right?
It's like entrepreneurs don'tknow how to price themselves.
So typically we price ourselvesbased on our own self-worth not
really the value that we'regenerating for your client.
Probably one of the easiest waysto raise your rates is just by
asking yourself that question.
Am I pricing based on my worthor the value to the client?
And then the fourth mistake, Ithink a lot of people make, and
I, I still struggle with thisfrom time to time is that their
(11:18):
measurement of success is justfinancial.
So they validate theirworthiness, they validate their
success based on what's in thebank account or what's coming in
every month.
And they fail to realize all thebeautiful progress that they're
making on themselves, on themindset, all the relationships
that they're building, all theseeds, they're planting all the
new ways that they've stretchedthemselves in the last 30 or 40
(11:39):
days and not letting the bankaccount be the sole determining
factor of your success.
And that's something I struggledwith as well.
Rushab Kamdar (11:48):
Yeah, exactly.
Choosing the wrong metric forsuccess and usually, you know,
and we know this, you and I bothknow this money is not a
motivator, right?
So don't use money as amotivator.
Well, on the flip side, uh, whatare the top three or five things
a solopreneur should do toensure success?
What should they implement?
And an easy cop-out is to saythe opposite of what you said
are pitfalls.
(12:09):
So I'm going to, I'm going toput it on you that let's talk
about some, some strategies thatthey can implement for success.
Karan Nijhawan (12:16):
Absolutely.
So one strategy is, is thinkabout what you feel your
competitors are doing and do theopposite.
So let me, let me tie that backto Jube.
One of the biggest keys of mysuccess in my entire business
was hosting these humanconnection dinners.
Nobody was really doing them.
(12:37):
It was a foreign concept.
It sounded a bit weird andunique.
Some people thought it wasspammy.
They were like, what do you meanI'm going to pay to come to this
dinner?
Who's this Karan guy I've neverheard of.
People would literally send me ahundred dollars on Eventbrite
and have never had met me beforecause I was like, Hey, we're
going to do this dinner.
So I started doing things thatcreated a conversation.
So in your business, think aboutyour version of a dinner.
(13:00):
Maybe it's a dinner, maybe it'ssomething else, but how can you
shake the boat a little bit anddo something that's conversation
worthy.
That's the reason why I've beenable to do 184 dinners is
because people leave thesedinners and they tag their
friends in the videos.
They tell their employees, theytell their friends, they tell
their entrepreneur buddiessaying, Hey, you got to do one
of these dinners.
So I always have this likeRolodex of people who want to
(13:20):
come to a dinner.
The second thing I would say iswhere can you add more human
elements to your business?
I'm a huge fan of audio andvideo messaging.
I have instilled audio and videomessaging and so much of my
sales in the way I prospect, inthe way I deliver customer
(13:40):
experience and customer success,in the way I run my Facebook
group.
And I'm a very human basedbusiness.
So if you have a business whereyou care about relationships and
you want to go deep with clientsand with prospects, ask
yourself, Hey, when the, whenthe prospect gets an order
confirmation email, what if Isent them a video email instead.
What if there wasn't just areceipt?
(14:02):
What if it was a two minute GIFof you going and just waving?
Like how can you stand out?
How can you make your emailsforward worthy?
And I like to think about mybusiness, like where in my
business can I introduce littleaspects of magic that are
forward worthy?
And for me, my video emails doget forwarded among a company.
(14:24):
I think I've shared with youthat I sent this one email to a
director of sales who getspitched 50 times a day.
And he sent my video email to 20other leaders across Canada
saying, this is the type ofprospecting we need, which is
what got me a pretty sweetcontract back then.
Um, so I just, I just like to dothings a little bit differently
(14:45):
and it's free, right?
Adding more customer experiencevia video it's virtually free.
Creating something conversationworthy in your business is
virtually free.
You just need to be able to likestep off that beaten path and do
something a little bitdifferently.
Rushab Kamdar (14:59):
And so I think that that's a good segue to what
you are creating now, which is acommunity of like-minded
solopreneurs, um, it's called aSolopreneur Success Club.
Um, it's a form of a mastermind.
So why don't you explain, whatare your goals for this club and
(15:19):
what are you trying to buildhere?
Karan Nijhawan (15:22):
Yeah.
Great question man and it'sfunny cause like my goals are
really centered around thepainful conversations that I
hear my prospects or my idealclients have every single day.
So when I hear a solopreneur oran entrepreneur say, I feel
lonely.
I'm like great, but what doesthat really mean?
(15:42):
Well, really what that means isthat they're not really sure how
to make decisions in theirbusiness.
What that really means is thattheir progress feels stuck.
What that really means is thatthey lack confidence in their
selling ability.
When I hear a client say, I lackclarity in my business, really
what they mean is that they'renot really sure if they're
working on the right tasks orthe right projects or their
(16:03):
product language doesn't speakto their ideal client, or they
really have an unclear pictureabout the future of their
business.
And the last thing, when I hearmy clients say, I need help,
which we've all heard reallywhat that means if you go layers
deeper is that they don't have aplan and they're just winging
it.
The financials in their businessare really foggy and confusing
and maybe they feel pressurefrom social media and friends to
(16:25):
have shit figured out.
So I've created a community,like an environment where
conversations like that, theones that we're having that
nobody sees are the norm.
So the conversations that youhave at a typical networking
event is not what we have in thesolopreneur club.
We have the exact opposite.
A good way to describe it, justbecause we talked about the
iceberg, is like the solopreneurclub.
(16:46):
We focus on that bottom 89% ofthe conversations about what's
the stuff that's really keepingus up at night.
What are the thorns, as youknow, the headaches, the
problems, the fears, theobjections that we run into as
business owners and then puttingmultiple brains on the same
problem.
So if you're having a thought,if you have an idea about how to
grow your business, if you'rerunning into headaches and
(17:08):
hurdles, I've created anenvironment where other people
who have gone through thatproblem can just give you their
feedback and their advice.
And they've got nothing to gainexcept watching you win, right?
They're not going to get apercentage of the upside.
They're not going to get apercentage of the downside.
They just want to see you win.
Because then they're hoping thatmaybe if you figure out
(17:29):
something in your business, youcan share it with them.
And maybe that's an idea thatthey could test out in their
business.
So it's just, this, it's a peerlearning environment where
solopreneurs don't have to feelsolo.
And they can just make quickerdecisions and ultimately create
a more profitable business.
Rushab Kamdar (17:47):
Well, you know, that's a great way to, to, to
highlight what is a difficultyfor a lot of solopreneurs,
right?
Because the solo you're alone,you're lonely, even if you have
a team, right, and a communitygives you that support gives you
that accountability and propsyou up.
Um, and so I think what'shappening in this club, this
membership is, is amazing.
And, and, you know, the valueyou're providing is, is
(18:09):
top-notch.
Karan Nijhawan (18:10):
Uh, and I mean, it, it, typical conversation I
hear from group members beforethey join is I've got no one to
talk to besides my spouse athome or like my friends don't
get me cause they're not reallyentrepreneurs.
And there's only so many times Ican go to YouTube and Google for
my answers.
And I get that, like, I getthat, like, what else do you do
(18:32):
when you don't know what to do,right?
You rely on your partner at homeor your spouse, or maybe you
talk to your kids or you talk toyour friends.
But I grew up like four yearsago when I had a side hustle,
none of my close friends hadside hustles, right?
They were all, they all hadcorporate jobs or they were all
doctors.
Like, you know, like that'skinda how it was.
So I'm like, who do I bounceideas off of?
(18:52):
And I found that again withthese dinners that I was
hosting, it gave me the platformto find other like-minded human
beings that I could bounce ideasoff of.
And same thing happens, youknow, when you're talking to,
when I do a team dinner for aclient and their employees,
they're using it asbrainstorming.
When I do this for clients andtheir prospects, it's kind of
like brainstorming.
What I'm doing with theSolopreneur Success Club, you
(19:14):
guys are brainstorming.
So like there's a, there's areal commonality among every
part of my business where itreally does centered it centers
around conversation.
Rushab Kamdar (19:24):
Another common headache for a lot of
solopreneurs is the feeling ofbeing overwhelmed with the tasks
that they have.
And I know you, you spoke alittle bit about identifying
that one big task to accomplishin a given week.
Uh, but outside of that, arethere any other tips you have
for solopreneurs to avoid thatfeeling of overwhelm?
Karan Nijhawan (19:43):
Yeah.
One of the most helpful thingsthat I do every month is I brain
dump everything on paper.
Like I think about what are thethings that are stressing me out
right now.
Okay.
This kind of revenue, this kindof membership, the bills, do I
hire, how's my Instagram thesedays, should I get back on
clubhouse?
Like I have all of these, like Ihave like a thousand thoughts a
minute.
(20:04):
And I feel like you probably doas well and sometimes it just
keeps us stuck or it makes usfeel overwhelmed.
And one of the things I do is Ibrain dump everything on paper
and I circle, okay, which one ofthese activities brings me joy.
And then I X out which one ofthese brings me headaches and
pain.
And if I can delegate orterminate the headaches and
(20:25):
pains category and just focus onthe ones that I circle, it gives
me a really good, almost like a,it allows me to restart every
month with a new plan of attackfor that month.
The goals don't change.
What changes is how I approachthose goals and the activities
that I choose to help me get tothose goals.
So I think brain dumping onpaper is one of those exercises.
It sounds so elementary.
And like, so old school, likewhat do you mean paper?
(20:47):
You mean like on my iPad?
No, no, no.
Like write this down pen topaper and really get clear on
what's keeping you up at nightand it, and address it.
Stop, like stop shoving yourbusiness headaches underneath
the bed, thinking that, Hey, ifI just hide them, I won't see
them.
You're still going to feel alumpy ass bed, right?
Still like, just get rid of theproblems altogether.
(21:07):
Don't just hide them.
Rushab Kamdar (21:10):
Yeah.
You're you're big on systems andimplementing systems.
Exactly.
Is there a, is there a one ortwo that you think are
instrumental?
Karan Nijhawan (21:18):
Well, when I had a podcast or I still have a
podcast, not really, uh, take aguest right now.
The part that I love to do themost was the actual interview.
Everything else the uploading,the YouTube, the creating the
graphic on Canva, publishing onSpotify and iTunes, I created a
step-by-step Google document.
Step one, log on Canva, steptwo, use this username and
(21:40):
password.
And I also created a videodocumentation of me doing the
task myself, and I just startedto create these SOPs are
standing standard operatingprocedures for every task that I
did in my business, that costsme time and that others could do
just as good.
So now I've got this list of,you know, the, my, my Facebook
group.
All of those posts are scheduledevery Sunday.
(22:01):
And now that I don't even touchthem, I'm completely hands-off.
I get one message a week from mymarketing person saying approved
or not approved.
I go approve.
They send, they craft my weeklyemail.
I look at it, approved.
I create one video a week.
And it gets turned into IGTVstuff and an article and a blog
(22:24):
and an email.
All I do is go approve.
So I do the thing that I want todo interview, Beyond Zoom,
motivate people, create groupconversations, facilitate group
dynamics, but everything else Ihave found a way to go
completely hands-off.
So really, man, it's like I'mliterally growing a business
where I want to be 99%hands-off.
Rushab Kamdar (22:47):
Yeah.
And, and, uh, you know, I thinkthis entire concept of systems
is so difficult for a lot of newsolopreneurs.
Um, and it's so important for, Ithink that's one of the most
important things to, to reallyeducate people on and, and the,
and how easy it is and that it'snot overnight, but it will take
(23:07):
time, but you'll get there, youknow, and I think that's also
another important thing.
You mentioned during thisinterview a couple of books,
you're an avid reader of books.
Um, I've been always an avidreader of news articles and you
know, that world.
It was only after I met you thatI started getting into business
books.
(23:27):
Uh, and so real quickly, topthree business books any
aspiring entrepreneursolopreneur should know of.
Karan Nijhawan (23:36):
Great question.
So these are, these are allgonna be business and mindset
style of books cause I don'tthink you can have a solid
business if your mindset is notin place.
I just don't think the two, one,one cannot exist without the
other.
So I've, re-read the book, theGo-Giver about three or four
times.
It's got timeless principles ofabout how to give more in value
(23:57):
than you take in cash value.
The rule of always beingauthentic, the rule of
compensation, just really goodtimeless value pieces that you
can take into every negotiationyou can take into every business
conversation.
So the Go-Giver is definitely inthe top.
There's another book called theThe Science of Getting Rich by
Wallace Wattles.
I'm a big fan of books that werecreated, like in like the
(24:18):
thirties and the forties.
Cause I think that's, that'swhere personal development
really originated was like inthe twenties and thirties and
forties back in like theNapoleon Hill, uh, Andrew
Carnegie days.
I think everything producedtoday on motivation is really
it's really taken inspirationfrom that generation.
So The Science of Getting Richis amazing.
Um, and there's this really goodbook that not a lot of people
(24:42):
talk about, but it's called TheRoad Less Stupid and it's by a
guy named Keith Cunningham.
And he talks about how do youavoid paying the dumb tax in
life?
Like how do you avoid paying thetax that you don't know you're
going to have to pay one day?
So he says, he's got his oneline in the book is like, you
can, you can make a decisiontoday.
(25:02):
But based on that decision, youcan't predict the future
repercussions of that decision.
It's just, it just really makesyou think.
But the idea in the book is thatevery week or every couple of
weeks, give yourself this windowof what he calls thinking time.
Spend 45 to 60 minutes go intothat session with just your pen
(25:23):
or a pencil and your notebook.
Go into the session, askingyourself three to four questions
because every answer that weever need in life is not really
in the books.
It's not really in the courses.
It really is within us.
So for me like this thinkingtime practice, I need to get
back into it.
I've done it a couple of timeswhere I've just blocked out 60
(25:44):
minutes of my calendar, just tothink.
And you'd be surprised, man,this 60 minutes feels like hours
and you walk away every timewith pages, full of notes on
inspiration, on motivation.
So those would be three booksthat come top of mind to me
right now.
Rushab Kamdar (25:59):
I've never read that book, but I'm an avid
practice practicer of gettingmy, my thinking time.
Yeah, I do it.
I do, I do once a month.
Yeah.
I mean, at least once a month.
So
Karan Nijhawan (26:10):
Man, there's, there's so many other books like
I'm, I'm reading right now, ThePsychology of Money, amazing
book.
There's a book called Who NotHow by Dan Sullivan, which is
all about who can do the thingcause you, you shouldn't be
doing all of it.
Um, there's a book called TheHappiness Equation that I read a
long time ago that's again, justtimeless principles about life.
(26:31):
Um, Yeah, man.
I'm a, I'm a huge book guy.
Rushab Kamdar (26:35):
Yeah, no, listen that's uh, that's why I asked
that question.
Cause I think a lot of peoplewill get value from knowing
which ones would help them intheir journey.
Uh, so I'm going to leave youwith this, what parting advice
will you give to any aspiringsolopreneur out there or even an
experienced solopreneur outthere?
Karan Nijhawan (26:56):
Double down on what your inside is telling you,
like double down on yourintuition, double tap, double
down on your own thinking,doubled down on your own vision
that you have, because it's veryeasy to just make progress on a
vision and then be like, Ooh,look, shiny object, new project,
new contract, new something.
(27:17):
I think about the last two yearsthat I've been in business, had
I known what I know now aboutwhat I'm building and sure, you
know, sometimes we need to gothrough life and the experience
to figure out what is that, thatyou're truly building.
But now that I'm so clear on,like, this is my, my niche, this
is my family, this is what I'mbuilding, I've, I've never had
more motivation and more energyand more passion.
(27:37):
I've never had such clarity onthe direction of my business
than I do now.
And really it comes down to thisidea of what are you building
and who's it for.
Rushab Kamdar (27:46):
Beautiful, beautifully said.
Uh, Karan, I really, reallyappreciate you being here, uh,
imparting your wisdom on all ofus with, uh, uh, everything that
results with solopreneurship andcreating impact.
So thank you for being a gueston the Business 360 Podcast.
Karan Nijhawan (28:02):
Yeah.
Thanks for having me, man.
And thanks for creating thespace for people to learn about
not just, you know, what we readin books, but practical
takeaways as well.
So thank you.
Rushab Kamdar (28:15):
Thank you for joining us on the Business 360
Podcast.
To learn more about our guests,go to thinkbusiness360.com.
In life, I follow two thingsthat keep me grounded.
Number one, if you only listento someone's successes and not
their failures, you've onlyheard half the story and number
two, compete with yourself andhelp everyone else.
You stay classy, BusinessHeroes.
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