The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business

By: Elaine Pofeldt

Narrated by: Elaine Pofeldt

Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

The indispensable guide to earning a six-figure take-home income on your own terms, from Forbes.com contributing writer Elaine Pofeldt. 

The rise of one-million-dollar, one-person businesses in the past five years is the biggest trend in employment today, offering the widest range of people the most ways to earn a living while having the lifestyles they want. In The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, Elaine Pofeldt outlines the pathways to joining this entrepreneurial movement, synthesizing advice from hundreds of business owners who've done it. She explains how to identify, launch, grow, and reinvent the business, showing how a single individual can generate $1 million in revenue - something only larger small companies have done in the past. Both inspirational and practical, this book will appeal to all who seek a great worklife and a great lifestyle. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2018 Elaine Pofeldt (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"Free agents have unprecedented opportunities to earn a great living and create the lifestyle they really want. The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business unlocks strategies that will help solo entrepreneurs achieve more than they ever thought possible." (Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer.com)

"Traditional, hierarchical careers are no longer the best path for many. Breaking free is incredibly empowering and can exponentially increase earnings for savvy professionals. This book is an excellent source of guidance for people carving new paths to help them through the many choices they face." (Stephane Kasriel, CEO of Upwork)

"Elaine Pofeldt helped me have the courage to create the life I wanted, with practical, funny, and wise advice. With clear examples and compelling research, she shows what’s possible if you decide to go into business for yourself, and helps you figure out how to get there." (Elizabeth MacBride, international business journalist, freelance contributor to CNBC and Forbes, and single mom)

don't buy in audio form

The author should have hired someone to read. She drones on, I found her voice leaving me tired and depressed. She puts zero energy into the performance and it has a sarcastic, "see I'm right" undertone to it.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Boring!

This is truly in my top 5 of most boring books. Her voice is so monotone!

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Narration Is Just Fine

A great, brief read. Full of fantastic case studies.

Concerns over narration are overblown.

Listen, and then do.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Lacks Concrete Direction

I consume a vast number of business books, how to's and others related to business. I am a small business owner and entrepreneur looking to grow. Employees are not on the agenda, been there, done that. Elaine Pofeldt's book held such promise as to offer insight and direction. No such luck. Nearly every case study has employees or contract workers. Many have had to borrow money to grow and out source their tasks. Over all this is a mildly positive book that might inspire you to move forward on your dream project but don't look to it for the stepping stones towards growth or ideas. Her reading voice was fine.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Bunch of anecdotes

This book as a bunch of anecdotes. These sound to me like several articles about successful enterpreneurs that were put together into one book. No material compared to 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Helpful, relevant, and timely

Would you listen to The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business again? Why?

Yes, I actually have already done so three times! Pofeldt does a great job drawing out the relevancy of different businesses and letting the owners speak for themselves.

What about Elaine Pofeldt’s performance did you like?

Elaine reads well and has a good voice.

Any additional comments?

One of the more useful books if you are looking to (or have) start a business.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Better Than The 4 Hour Workweek

the reading voice is painful to listen to. and the writing style doesnt translate well. however, for the entrepreneur there are multiple business models you can implement into any business, and the story-based way of describing the business principles makes this a text book for every entrepreneur.

this should be what you listen to INSTEAD of the 4 hour work week. way more practical. way less fluff.

Misleading title, little actual info

The title would have you believe this is all about how you can run a business completely on your own as one person. While certainly there would be some software to use, most of this book doesn't tell you what that is, mainly just describes some "success" stories, and then tells you to subcontract a bunch of people, which to me isn't a "one person business." Sure, you maybe using another company, but you effectively do have a ton of employees when you do that. Again misleading title, but beyond that, not much practical info at all.

It wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be.

I was hoping to have found much more strategy and advice and concrete principles in this book. It wasn't terrible; just not what I was expecting. It was more a collection of case studies than anything.

Great book, narrator not so much

This book is packed with valuable tools, although as with some audiobooks the narrator can seriously impair comprehension. The only reason I give this book 3 and not 5 stars is because the narration is so monotone and god forbid you loose track for one second -as is the case when in traffic, it’s easy to miss out on good key points. The narrator speaks AT you not to you which is extremely annoying and a mood killer, almost as reading off a scoreboard or drug infomercial. Other than that, it’s a must read, full of invaluable info should you want to run your own business.

Thoroughly disappointing book

I read a few poor reviews of this book but decided to buy it anyway on Ryan Holiday’s recommendation. Unfortunately this were a few hours of my life I will never get back.
The book is full of insanely vague advice (think ‘promote your business on social media’) and it is a case study in an author blinded by survivorship bias; the author is pretty much recommending starting a dropshipping business and sell your product on a "giant online marketplace".
Oh, and a few if the businesses that she talks about in the book started as 'one man bands' but now employ people, and I fail to understand how they are still considered one-person businesses.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Worthy of the Title

Got me going again... Full of practical advice and loads of examples.
Would've benefited from more examples outside of America though.