Book Club: Company of One, by Paul Jarvis
“If you want to stay small but be high quality, here’s your permission to do that.”- Gemma Cormack
The Being Freelance book club was back on Monday 30th March, mid pandemic, with Company of One, by Paul Jarvis.
Paul was a guest on the podcast back in January 2019, shortly after the release of this book.
In the episode, Better, not bigger, Paul told us some of his story; from freelancing out of his parents’ basement twenty years ago, to today, where he’s done all of this cool stuff.
The book, subtitled Why Staying Small is The Next Big Thing for Business, was mostly a hit with our BFF book clubbers.
Helen Hill found it very relatable. “It’s exactly the mentality I have for my business. I don’t want to hire people and I don’t want to scale hugely. The book makes you realise there are other people out there who are the same.”
Gemma Cormack agreed. For her, the book was a message that it’s okay to stay small . “Instead of looking at how big I can get, I’m now looking at how good I can get.”
Lyndsey Clark’s favourite takeaway from the book was that freelancing gives us the freedom to get really good at what we do. In employment, Lyndsey says, progression means managing other people instead of doing the work yourself. As a freelancer, you can grow without getting any bigger by continuing to improve what you’re doing.
Kerstin Sheppard added “It was an eye opener for me when Paul said: ‘Passion doesn’t come first, mastery comes first.’ As you master your skill, you develop the passion for it.”
Andy McAnally felt the book might have been written for a corporate audience and others agreed. Paul’s online audience is very much freelancers, so the group wondered whether he’d been asked to make the book appeal to a wider audience.
A couple of our BFFs felt that the book could have been shorter, while others wished for more detail around the examples presented in the book.
Fiona Tapp started the book last year, after hearing Paul on the podcast. She particularly enjoyed Paul’s thoughts around how introversion can be a useful skill when you’re building a company.
Along with Kerstin Sheppard, Laura Smith and others, Fiona plans to revisit the questions at the end of each chapter to answer them in relation to her business. They all said they found the last chpater, where Paul breaks down his own business story and Company of One, to be really practical.
Andrea Boughton started the book last year too and didn’t finish it. She’s glad she’s persevered this time, even if the book is only confirming that what she’s doing is the right thing for her.
Maybe the point of this book, for us as freelancers, Steve commented, is that we’ve got it right. Maybe Paul is telling the rest of the corporate world that what we’re all doing, us freelancers, is the best way. We’re better because we’re smaller.
Laura agrees. “When you’re a company of one with fewer overheads, less risk, less people involved, it’s easier to pull back from a bad point. We’re in a better position as freelancers.”
What do you think? Have you read the book yet? Most of us would recommend it. You can get your copy below.
P.S. Remember the Company of One bookshare Steve started? You can watch him explain the idea here.
Send Steve a tweet if you’ve got one of the books. And if you’ve finished with your copy, pass it on to another freelancer.
Listen to Paul jarvis on the being freelance podcast
Similar books that the BFF Book Clubbers recommend:
The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael E. Gerber
Previously in the book club:
The 12 Week Year, by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington (get the highlights here).
(The links to books on this page are affiliate. If you click one and purchase within 24 hours, some pennies come in to help keep Being Freelance in biscuits.)
Thanks so much to these BFFs for turning up and sharing what they thought of the book:
Charles Commins, Podcast and Audio Producer
Laura Smith, Digital Marketing Consultant and Copywriter
Kerstin Sheppard, Copywriter, Editor and Proofreader
Sara Donaldson, Copy Editor, Writer and Genealogist
Jo Gordon, Data and Analytics Specialist
Andy McAnally, Multi-sport Events Manager
Andrea Boughton, Brand Identity Designer
Barb Davids, Photographer
Fiona Tapp, Writer
Jo Taylor, Film marketing & distribution specialist
Helen Hill, Content, learning & graphic design
Gemma Cormack, Virtual Assistant
Lyndsey Clark, Cultural Sector Consultant
Scott Ellis, English Teacher