Company of One

Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business

By: Paul Jarvis

Narrated by: Sam Woolf

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Company of One by Paul Jarvis, read by Sam Woolf.

What if the real key to a richer and more fulfilling career was not to create and scale up a new business, but rather, to be able to work for yourself, determine your own hours and become a (highly profitable) and sustainable company of one? Suppose the better-and smarter-solution is simply to remain small?

Company of One is a refreshing new approach centered on staying small and avoiding growth, for any size of business. Not as a freelancer who only gets paid on a per piece basis, and not as an entrepreneurial start-up that wants to scale up as soon as possible, but as a small business that is deliberately committed to staying that way. By staying small, you can have freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life, and avoid the headaches that result from dealing with employees, long meetings, or worrying about expansion. Company of One introduces this unique business strategy and explains how to make it work for you, including how to generate cash flow on an ongoing basis.

Paul Jarvis left the corporate world when he realized that working in a high-pressure, high-profile world was not his idea of success. Instead, he now works for himself out of his home, and lives a much more rewarding and productive life. He no longer has to contend with an environment that constantly demands more productivity, more output and more growth.

In Company of One, Jarvis explains how you can do the same, including planning to set up, determining desired revenues and keeping clients happy, and of course, doing all this on your own.

©2019 Paul Jarvis (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

You are not alone with Company of One. If, like so many others, you're setting out to take on the world by yourself, then welcome to the best company there is, your own (Sam Conniff Allende)

A bright, useful entry in the small-is-beautiful genre (Kirkus Reviews)

Company of One is the next frontier for less is more (Richard Koch)

In Company of One, entrepreneur Paul Jarvis attacks the rapid growth model of Silicon Valley and promotes a different, gentler route to business success, calling for a slow growth movement (Tom Hodgkinson)

Some pretty good ideas, but no financial freedom

I enjoyed this book a lot. Some ideas (from stories) was actually awesome as well as the concept of helping the customers one by one and don't focus on super growth and new customers only. My only problem was that the author din't show how to apply these strategies to achieve a financial freedom. Some of the advices actually contradict the idea of financial freedom, but I am sure that there is a way to combine these in real life.

The right stuff for every free and skilled spirit

A roadmap on how to put your skills to work for you and the things you enjoy in your life and not the big or any other boss.

Good use of my listening time

Really good job illustrating the need to map our personal and company values to business size and growth