Ever feel like you're just winging it in your business?

Like you're missing the roadmap that everyone else seems to have?

When you’re drowning in tasks with no clear priority - wondering if there's a better way to do this. And oftentimes, this confusion can spiral and lead to missed opportunities and stagnant growth.

But look, you’re not alone. Running a solopreneur business is HARD! A lot of people face what you’re facing today.

There’s a way to cut through the noise and gain clarity, direction, and the confidence to grow your one-person business.

That’s why in today’s newsletter, we’ll be going through 3 Business Frameworks you can use today to build your one-person business. ✅

These frameworks are super applicable and I’m sure you’ll benefit from either of the three!

Let’s dive in. 🚀

1. Doblin’s Ten Types of Innovation

Doblin’s Ten Types of Innovation is a versatile toolkit for thinking beyond traditional product innovation. It encompasses ten distinct areas: 

1) Profit Model

2) Network

3) Structure

4) Process

5) Product performance

6) Product system

7) Service

8) Channel

9) Brand

10) Customer Engagement

Areas 1 to 4 = Configuration Frameworks
Areas 5 to 6 = Offering Frameworks
Areas 7 to 10 = Experience Frameworks

Leveraging this framework means not just tweaking your offerings but completely paving the way for how you operate, engage, and deliver value. It pushes you to consider every corner of your business as an opportunity for better growth!

Here’s an example of how you can apply this framework. 🔽

Let’s say you’re a digital marketing consultant who wants to expand beyond just SEO and PPC ads. 

You can innovate by developing an analytics dashboard that provides clients with real-time insights into their marketing performance (Product System). 

You can launch an online learning platform offering courses and webinars on modern marketing strategies (Profit Model/Customer Engagement), and form an affiliate marketing strategy with other similar companies or creators to distribute all this stuff. (Channel).

The possibilities are endless - just make sure you take it one step at a time!

2. Porter’s Five Forces

Porter’s Five Forces is a framework to analyze an industry’s structure, competition, and profitability. 

It assesses five key forces: 

1. Competitive rivalry

This looks at the number and capability of your competitors. High rivalry means competitors are constantly trying to outdo each other, which can drive prices down and impact profitability.

2. The threat of new entrants

This force considers how easy or difficult it is for new companies to start competing in the industry. Low barriers to entry mean more competition, which can reduce market share for existing businesses.

3. Bargaining power of suppliers

When there are few suppliers or unique services/products, suppliers can demand higher prices, affecting your costs and profitability.

4. Bargaining power of customers

This assesses how much power customers have to drive prices down. If customers can easily switch to a competitor, they have more power, which can reduce profits.

5. The threat of substitute products or services.

This looks at the likelihood of your customers finding a different way of doing what you do. The high threat of substitutes can force you to lower prices or offer more to retain customers.

Here’s a real-world example:

Imagine a solopreneur, Elena, who wants to start an online fitness coaching service. Because the market is pretty saturated, she’s facing tough competition (Competitive Rivalry) and there are easily substituted offers that exist (Threat of Substitute Products or Services). 

But through this, she can pivot to a specific niche: post-rehabilitation strength training, which is a less crowded space and requires specialized knowledge (Threat of New Entrants). Not only does this reduce competition but also lowers the threat from substitutes and allows for a better pricing strategy (Bargaining Power of Customers). 

That said, she then partners with physiotherapy clinics, secures a steady referral base and effectively manages her pipeline of clients (Bargaining Power of Suppliers). 

This way she cuts through the initial competition, leading to higher profitability and customer loyalty!

Pretty cool, right?

Try it sometime, it’s useful – especially if you already have a business idea that you want to validate!

3. The Three-Wheel Framework of Customer-Centricity

This is a simple model that aligns your business around 3 core components: 

1. Know Your Customer

2. Take Key Actions

3. Build Key Insights

Let’s go down each wheel, one by one.

Wheel #1: Know Your Customer

First off, get super cosy with who your customers actually are. This means diving into:

• Customer Segmentation: 

Chop up your customer base into groups sharing common traits. Whether you’re knee-deep in data or just starting, pinpointing these segments helps tailor your approach. It’s like knowing exactly who’s coming to your party and what music they like to dance to.

• Persona: 

Make up a character sketch for each customer type. Think of it as creating characters for your business story that covers everything from basic demographics to their deepest fears and desires. This helps you get their vibe just right.

• Customer Experience Map: 

Think of this like mapping out a treasure hunt for your customer’s journey with your product or service. It’s about tracking their steps, thoughts, and feelings, ensuring the adventure is one they want to take again.

Once that’s done, you move to Wheel #2

Wheel #2: Build Key Insights

Once you have all the key info you need for your customers, it’s time to brainstorm solutions!

• Value Proposition Canvas: 

This is your blueprint for matching what you offer to what your customers crave, solving their problems, and making their day brighter.

• Learning Card: 

It's like a notebook to jot down hunches (hypotheses), what you’ve spotted (observations), and those “aha!” moments (learnings) to steer your next move.

• Dependency Analysis: 

This is getting into the nitty-gritty of how everything in your business connects. It’s making sure the dots between what your customers need and how you operate truly align. 

Wheel #3: Take Key Actions

With insights in hand, you’re all set to take the driver's seat and hit the gas:

• Action Test Card: 

Before you invest in rolling out the big guns, test your moves on a smaller scale. This card is your mini-lab report to help keep track of what you tried, what rocked, and what flopped.

• Progress Board:

Picture a mission control dashboard for your business actions. It’s where you keep tabs on what’s soaring and what needs a bit more love before it’s ready to fly.

And there you have it—knowing your customers inside and out, building insights that actually matter, and taking actions that move the needle! 

Start small, make a difference today, and just keep rolling. 

Who knew being customer-centric could be this straightforward (and kinda fun)?

Your Action Step Today

If you’re looking to start a one-person business soon, you need to understand how businesses work. 

So here’s your action step of the day: Take 5-10 minutes to study these frameworks and see which one applies most suitably to your desired solopreneur business idea. Pick any ONE framework and draft out a plan based on that. 

That’s all for today, see you next week! 👋

 📆 How I can help

That’s all for today!

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:

1. Work with me 1:1 - Book a coaching session for your next career transition.

2. Work with my marketing team - Get personalized guidance from a 7+ yr global full-stack marketing professional.

3. Sponsor this newsletter - Get in front of over 3,000 professionals and business owners in Asia and Europe

For daily insights, join me on Linkedin, Instagram and Tune into our podcast 🎙️