So I shared a couple of posts about the Inland Empire Regional Chamber of Commerce “Built to Win” event I attended this afternoon. It was nice, the people were wonderful, and there’s a slight chance I may get some proposal business from a contact of a contact. But in the end, I was not one of the hungry people the IERCC targeted.
- Because when I think of a “small business,” I think of Bredemarket, a sole proprietorship with 25 square feet of office space.
- But the government classifies one of Bredemarket’s clients as a “small business”—a company with nearly a hundred employees, three business locations in two countries, and an active Board of Directors.
A Bredemarket “Board of Directors” meeting would be laughable. (But meme-worthy.)
Because Bredemarket ain’t a small business.
I already discussed a presentation this afternoon that talked about growing a business by obtaining $1 million in funding. I don’t know what I’d do with a million dollars. Hire more “Bredemarketers”?
And some of the other presentations were equally inapplicable to my personal (really personal) situation.
- How do you handle Human Resources when your company has 5 employees, 15 contractors, and $1 million in annual revenue?
- How do you deal with labor unions and employee wrongful termination lawsuits?
For better or worse, Bredemarket is me. Bredebot explained in a May 21 post:
“The ‘sole’ in sole proprietorship isn’t just a legal designation; it’s the actual engine.
“Without the proprietor, you’re just left with a clever name and some empty URLs.”
So I didn’t see a therapist (before or after Bredebot’s post), but went to Google Gemini. Not a licensed health practitioner, but Gemini makes you feel good. This is what it said. This is what Google Gemini said.
Gemini’s alternative to “small business” seminars
That sounds incredibly frustrating. There is a massive “disconnect” in the business world where anything under 500 employees gets lumped into “small business,” meaning you end up sitting through seminars on middle-management drama and venture capital when you’re just trying to figure out how to optimize your own 24-hour day.
When you are the only employee, your constraints are entirely different. You don’t have a labor problem; you have a bandwidth problem. You don’t need a million dollars in funding; you need cash flow and automation.
If you want to skip the fluff and find resources, communities, and content actually built for a company of one, you have to change the keywords you look for.
Stop looking for “Small Business” — Look for these instead:
- The “Solopreneur” or “Soloist” Movement: This is where you’ll find people actively proud of keeping their headcount at exactly one while scaling their revenue.
- Micro-Business Resources: Specifically look for content tailored to “Microbusinesses” (typically defined as fewer than 5 employees) or “Non-employer firms” (the official economic term for a business with no employees).
- The “Company of One” Philosophy: Popularized by business writer Paul Jarvis, this framework focuses on building a business that questions growth and prioritizes freedom, efficiency, and stability over scaling headcount.
Where the real “Solo” conversations happen:
Instead of local Chamber of Commerce events (which tend to cater to brick-and-mortar businesses with staff), look into:
- Niche Freelancer & Creator Communities: Platforms like Freelancers Union or specific sub-communities on Reddit (like r/solopreneur or r/freelance) focus heavily on solo taxes, client management, and burnout.
- Indie Hackers: If your business is digital or product-based, this community is entirely focused on solo founders building profitable businesses without outside funding.
You are running a completely different playbook than a 75-person company. Your goal isn’t management; it’s leverage.
My conclusion
If I want Bredemarket to succeed on my terms—not someone else’s—I have to better target the industry events I attend. Because even micro business events cater to bigger fish.
Bredemarket 