The structure in which I teach solopreneurs how to create multiple streams of income is based around what I call The Stadium Model. Between my love of sports as a kid and my two-decade career as a sports photographer, it became obvious to me how the sports industry was able to take a game and turn it into a powerful and recurring business model that attracted repeat customers, raving fans and constant media attention. But so many small business owners and solopreneurs don’t follow a proven structure on how to get their business off the ground or how to thrive once it’s up and running. As much as we want to blaze our own way, it is so helpful to walk on a path that has already been cleared of some debris. I am as guilty of this as anyone. I generally shy away from the ‘proven formulas and seven steps to success’ mantras that litter the online world. I shy away simply because they are often unoriginal, anecdotal and not proven over a long enough period of time. Plus, I like to do my own thing. But it wasn’t until we built our business around the stadium model that it all started to come together. My ADHD brain, that would shift from one thing to another, finally remained focused. My overwhelming laundry list of things to get done finally had a structure and purpose. And the projects that were constantly started but rarely completed began to have momentum, a plan and a roadmap to completion. And I realized that if my stubborn, rebellious mind, who never found a structure that he liked, could work within a system that was not only fun, but also worked- I needed to teach it to others. Yet many resist. Why? Let’s look at the construction of a stadium compared to the construction of a solopreneur business. If you start a service-based business today, you could possibly get clients immediately. What structure do you really need? The skills to do the work, the time to do the work and the ability to take payments. So too many solopreneurs undervalue the structure it takes to put together a true business. And they don’t realize it until one of two things happen- they either get tired of doing the service-based work and want to create income in different ways to get more freedom and flexibility, or their way isn’t bringing in enough clients and they know they need to change something. In the stadium model, that’s like putting together a team on the fly and trying to turn it into a champion immediately. Sure, the players chosen might have natural skills and desire, but what happens next? That little field that they play on can only hold so many fans. The players will eventually want to get paid, and without proper income coming in, the team will dissolve even faster than it came together. But what does a legitimate team striving for long-term success do? They build a stadium. In my studies and research on this, I also looked into how long it takes a professional franchise to build a stadium to house their team for the next few decades. And the answer was remarkably close to what I suspected. It generally takes three years. Times obviously vary, but in general, that’s the general time frame. And guess what? That’s the exact time frame that I have learned to go by when building a solopreneur stadium. I say it all of the time because repetition is the way that people learn. In general, when creating a business, the first year brings pain, the second year brings balance and the third year brings freedom. With that freedom comes options. And when you have options, multiple income streams become abundant. But most solopreneurs try to skip this part. They want massive success now. They don’t want to go through the construction to build it right. And although they get short-term success, like the new team playing on the small field, they eventually realize that they should have started to build their stadium on a solid foundation from the very beginning. And they go through the pain that essentially becomes inevitable without a real plan. They don’t know how to manage their time. They take on the wrong clients. They never focus on creating raving fans. They stretch themselves so far and wide that they don’t have time to breathe, let alone think. They become so desperate that they will work with just about anyone who pays, as opposed to building out a niched message that attracts the right type of people to the right type of place. A solopreneur building their stadium understands that if you build it correctly, there is eventually a price point for every type of client. But that doesn’t happen when you first start. But it does happen when the stadium is built correctly. And whether you are a small business owner running your own niched business or a billion dollar sports franchise, the plan is remarkably similar. Build a product that creates raving fans and play your game only for them. The New York Mets aren’t worried about catering to everyone and neither should you. And the advantage that you have over a sports franchise is this- you don’t have the costs, salaries and egos to deal with. And you don’t need anywhere close to the number of fans that they need to make your dream come true. Have an AMAZING week! Vincent | 
