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  • Company of One

  • Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business
  • Written by: Paul Jarvis
  • Narrated by: Paul Jarvis
  • Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (144 ratings)

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Company of One cover art

Company of One

Written by: Paul Jarvis
Narrated by: Paul Jarvis
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Publisher's Summary

What if the real key to a richer and more fulfilling career was not to create and scale a new start-up, 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? This book explains how to do just that.

Company of One is a refreshingly new approach centered on staying small and avoiding growth, for any size 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 as soon as possible, but as a small business that is deliberately committed to staying that way. By staying small, one 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 on a small, lush island off of Vancouver, 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 find the right pathway to do the same, including planning how to set up your shop, determining your desired revenues, dealing with unexpected crises, keeping your key clients happy, and of course, doing all of this on your own.

©2019 Paul Jarvis (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Company of One

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Start small, then choose your path

Good, but not world shattering. This is likely biased since I just finished the $100 startup.

Treat your customers right and give value whenever you can. Values and how to make a solid business of your choosing are the central tenants of the book. Don't expect a perfect playbook or series of steps. Instead have an open mind and be ready to think.

This book traces Paul's influences and path through business. I enjoyed his story and suggestions from his own experience. I liked the specific recommendations for Canadians. Included are many other stories reinforcing the points throughout the book to great effect.

He espouses having your small company embody your excentricity and unique values. His values and humility come through clearly. This isn't a book proclaiming how smart the author is but an invitation to forge your own path.

Although I was not blown away on my first listening, I do think I will listen again. The values shared go much deeper and are worth repeating.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

sustainability vs nonstop growth argument.

Some people talking smack about this book saying it was too repetitive etc. It reads like a chill blog post which is comfortable and nice. I'm also a Canadian who graduated from UofT so the author resonated with me. He brings up a lot of good points that helped me feel better about the stigma of running a small business. Uses examples like 90% of businesses that have survived past 100 years are in Japan and have less than 300 employees. Lots of real world examples, the average company on the SP500 only survives 15 years etc. It's pretty much a sustainability vs nonstop growth argument. If you're a freelancer or self employed person who feels crumby about being a company of one, he shows you how for a lot of us it's the most rational healthy option, and the rest is just hyped up media talk designed to brainwash you or please investors after an IPO. It's almost like the slow fashion theory of running your own business. This dude pretty much convinced me to keep my team as small as possible and only scale if I'm really reaping benefits and just chill and enjoy my life and business stability. I've been in larger businesses before that scaled too fast and guess what happened to them. Thanks Paul it was honestly a slick read.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

I’m a small business owner and struggle with the whether I should expand my staff to grow or look for ways to maintain my size but grow my revenue more slowly.

I’m glad to hear someone else say the measure of success isn’t size of your company/revenue but the happiness of yourself and staff.

4 stars for performance only because it felt a little stammering at times. I’m guessing it was the first time narrating.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent perspective that is too rarely shared

Questioning growth is one of the great skills of successful business people. Paul does an excellent job of inviting us to think about this perspective from many different angles, providing benefits for people in many different situations, including at larger and established companies.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • C.B
  • 2022-01-03

Content great, narrator not so much

Content was really good.. but I couldn’t get on with the narrator. Narrator has a very annoying quality to his voice and I found myself zoning out. Ended up buying the physical book instead. Wish I could have got my credit back after buying the physical book!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • MT
  • 2021-09-15

Perfect for freelancers and consultants

This book has given me the enlightenment and alignment I needed to get unstuck in my business. Stories are well-told and very relatable.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Exactly what I needed!

The topic is perfect as I struggle with believing I should be becoming an agency when I really in my heart just want to be a company of one this book outlined lot of theoretical perspective that I found extremely beneficial.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A book for self-employed people

The content is somewhat tactical so unless you’re already conducting some business activity on your own, you would not feel related to the book for the majority of it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mandatory Reading for all Businesspeople

This should be a mandatory read in any serious business course. Seriously. It perfectly defines the way the free market is evolving, and must evolve, into the mid-21st century.

I have just two gripes.
1) This is a work of market socialist economic theory, and the author undermines his own authority by repeatedly denying this. I think that comes from the poisoned well of anti-communism that Paul, himself, has stopped drinking from. He repeatedly makes the comment that "this isn't just for altruistic/anticapitalist hippies", which is wrong. Its more accurate to say that altruistic anticapitalism isn't *just* for hippies. It seems that Paul is subconsciously dodging a fear of redbaiting that comes from a VC background. We are coming to a quiet consensus that market socialism, mutualism, or the circular economy (whatever anticommunist euphemism you prefer) are the model that the free market want to pursue.

2) its pettier, but the term "company of one" is not brilliant enough to use it as much as the author does in the book. We understand his philosophy by the first few chapters. Pronouns will suffice by that point in the book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Aim to be remarkable and resilient for long term.

This was a great little book on the philosophy of and approach to taking an idea and turning into to a small business. I’ve shared with my team as it very much reflects our business model, and helps to communicate the how and why of remaining small can result in being remarkable and resilient in the long term.

There is a bit of repetition with focusing on a few companies to showcase this success if this model. It would be great to see and hear from more small business where this approach has worked.

Overall though, really enjoyed and will read it again.

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