Your Own Tiny Business

Have you been secretly shopping for your tiny home? The one you can thoroughly clean in under an hour,  has no clutter, feels cozy and isn’t a burden to maintain or afford?

Me too.

We live in a culture that glorifies bigger, better, faster, more. The dominant culture is an insatiable beast - often at the expense of the Earth and her inhabitants.

We’ve been culturally indoctrinated into the belief that success can only be measured by production and profitability. But what about quality of life?

How did we get here?

New manufacturing technology, greater access to raw materials and the increasing rail network got people off the land and into factories at the turn of the 19th century. Previously, most people made a living for themselves, bartered with neighbors and sold any surplus crops they may have had at the local market.

The Industrial Revolution turned work into widgets. The more widgets the better. People became the machines that churned out the product and the few owners at the top raked in incredible profits. Corporations followed industry as wealth concentrated at the top. To partake in this wealth model, businesses need to get as big as they could so it’s likely there’s a story in our brains that to start a business, it has to get huge, it has to grow, grow, grow. That can feel overwhelming to the point that you don’t even want to start.

It’s time to tell a new story. It’s time to return to the diversity of l local businesses as the central hub of our economy. Each individual has their own unique offer, their own way of doing business and their own hours. This is a tiny business. Smaller than a small business, it’s a one-person business, also referred to as a micro-business, and the owner is a solopreneur.

While you may hire contractors and other service providers, you’re not looking to hire employees, lease out ever-larger spaces and invest heavily in scaling.

It reminds me of an old country village where each person who lived there had their own sign out front offering the service they were good at and liked to do best. The florist, the baker, the shoemaker. Relationships were the foundation of business interactions and village life was as important as the commerce there.

Having your own tiny business becomes an act of revolution - back to the land and also forward into a more humane way of working. With all the technological advances at our fingertips, it’s never been more accessible.

It’s the perfect fit for an HSP. Starting a business can feel out of reach, like you’re not meant for that kind of hustle and grind. But a tiny business, just like a tiny house, is custom-built for you. It has what you need and doesn’t have more.

Your sensitivity is an incredible asset. It allows you to clearly assess a situation, pick up on the nuances of it and commit to a high quality of work/service to complete it. You can bring this into your own tiny business where you get to set the hours, choose your right-fit clients, and do work that lights you up and contributes to your well-being because it’s what you were meant to do.

Success now equals simplicity, the satisfaction of a job well-done, making a difference in someone’s life, and having energy at the end of your work time for your own personal pursuits. You Wake up inspired to go to work because it’s aligned with your purpose, not someone else’s bottom line.

A tiny business by design prevents burnout and overwhelm. It involves greater focus and less effort. The word “busy” leaves your vocabulary.

If you’ve spent your career in Corporate America, or working for someone else’s bottom line and you’re ready to get out, a tiny business may be for you.

Like moving into a tiny home from a large home that had consumed your life with its care and consumed your income with its costs, a move to a tiny business can be a refreshing change from the status quo of corporate culture.  

Like a tiny house, a tiny business is comfortable and easy to maintain. It frees you up for the rest of your life.