My Story

How I Came to be a Solopreneur

I've been a fully independent, zero employee, zero boss solopreneur since 2013. This is the story of how and why that came to be.

TLDR: Wasn’t cut out for corporate life. Was tired of being a “Wantrapreneur”. Decided to leverage my existing skill set as a mechanical engineer and open a solo service business. Put my MBA to use by developing a model and strategic plan for how I wanted the business to operate. Replaced my mid-level engineering salary (and then some) while working less than 40 hours per week. Now I help others model and design similar businesses in order to achieve the same thing. Want the long version? Keep reading...

Let's start this tale by rewinding all the way back to the mid 1990's when I'm in middle school - either 8th or 9th grade. There was an elective we could take called "Business" (or maybe "Business Skills" - I don't remember). I thought this was exciting. I was wrong. This class wasn't some deep dive into business strategy or something - it was basically typing class. And maybe a little spreadsheet work. Definitely used Word Perfect though.

But a friend of mine was in the class and we got inspired to go a step bigger. Through a family member, he had stumbled onto a multi-level marketing gimmick selling long distance phone service. This sounded great to us and "Fusion Communications" was born (don’t Google it – someone else has taken the name since then). We were definitely a real business though because we had – you know - made business cards and stuff. I don't think we signed anyone up except for maybe our parents. But these these were the first inklings I can remember of being drawn to entrepreneurship.

Fast forward now to college. I get a B.S. in Mechanical engineering in 2003 and dove right into corporate life at Lockheed Martin. That was a ton of fun - especially early on when everything is new and you're absorbing information. You see how incredibly complex products are developed from a white space idea into a multi-million dollar system. But I had a problem - I just wasn't bought in. I worked with great people, but I could never move past the sense that we were all just cogs in a billion-dollar machine. No disrespect to people who are fulfilled or find purpose in those situations, but it was clear I never would.  

After about seven years I made a career jump over to FLIR systems, which was a much smaller company and a very small operation locally. It was a fantastic experience. It's hard to imagine being passionate about mechanical engineering and not loving that job. I worked under two fantastic engineers who genuinely cared about personal and professional growth. But after a few years, it became painfully clear to me - working for someone else was never going to keep me driven. I was the problem.

Overlapping that job transition, my wife and I made the decision to go to grad school and get MBAs. We both had jobs that would reimburse us for the expenses, and she was highly motivated to check that box before we started a family. So we spent 2.5 years going to class two nights a week and graduated with Master's degrees in Business Administration in 2010 from UCF. 

I consider a big chunk of this time my "Wantrepreneur" phase. I had a few like-minded friends and there were many hours spent brainstorming over business and product ideas. I loved the strategic aspect of gaming out approaches a business might take. I was less interested in what the product or service was, and more interested in how you might make it work.

A good friend of mine from Lockheed had left a few years into his career because he knew it wasn't for him (graduating with a degree in aerospace engineering just to be put in charge of updating component mass properties in a huge spreadsheet will do that to you). He started a local construction company building decks and docks after a massive hurricane season swept through Central Florida. He was sort of my partner-in-crime when it came to brainstorming business ideas, so he offered me an escape hatch from the corporate world. I would try to put some of that MBA juice into his local small business. At nearly the same time, we were recruited by a local inventor and businessman to assist with his effort to launch a new crowdfunded 3D printer. This was in 2013 when both crowdfunding and 3D printing were ramping in popularity. 

Working on the dock business and the 3D printer project simultaneously made me realize I still wasn't doing my own thing - I was riding on the coattails of other people who had. I needed to do my own thing and I became determined to figure out what that might be. 

My wife and I went from DINKS (dual income, no kids) to a growing family dependent on only my income. Leaving the security of the corporate world for these small business / entrepreneurial efforts had decreased our income and left us without cushy corporate benefits. My wife was incredibly supportive, but I knew I only had one chance. Not only did my thing need to work, but it had to work fast.

I wasn't looking for a high-risk / high-reward startup type business. I needed something that didn't require a large capital investment and could begin generating real revenue quickly. It didn't need to be a raging success on day one, but it had to show a clear path to success quickly. Nothing creates a sense of urgency quite like having a family fully dependent on you to generate income.

It became clear that offering professional services as a business had the best risk/reward profile of anything I could do. I'd spent nearly 10 years working in industry as a mechanical engineer doing 3D development. Surely there were inventors and small business types that could use that kind of service. Going that route created a huge advantage for me - I didn't need to learn any new skills as they related to my core service. Instead, I could focus 100% of my energy on the "business" side of things. 

"I called this my “Nightmare Scenario.” I imagined a world where I was working 60+ hour weeks, earning less money than my old corporate job, while being stuck working for horrible clients"

I spent a bunch of time designing my business model and strategy. I launched my business knowing exactly how it would work, how my time was allocated, who I was marketing too, and how I would be positioned. I also made sure the business was designed how I wanted it to work. My biggest concern wasn’t failing. I knew I could go back and get a “real” job again if I had to. I was worried about succeeding in the wrong way. 

I called this my “Nightmare Scenario.” I imagined a world where I was working 60+ hour weeks, earning less money than my old corporate job, while being stuck working for horrible clients. From the outside it might look like I was succeeding - but in reality, I’d be burning out and on my way to a hard crash.  

So I made a decision - the business would either work on my terms or I’d chalk it up to a good effort and get a real job again. So that’s what I did. I designed and structured a business model that was consistent with my near term financial and lifestyle goals, while also firmly grounded in reality.

So in July of 2013 - the same month my second child was born - I launched Zalaco. In my first 12 months It became the sole source of income for my family for years. I went from absolute zero to generating nearly $80k in my first 12 months. By my third calendar year I was close to $150k. I was able to do that while rarely working more than 40 hours per week, from my home office, and being present for my family every day.

Over the years, I had a few chances to help or consult with other people looking to do something like I did. I love trying to simplify complex topics and teaching others. So now this all comes full circle and I can share my knowledge and experience with aspiring solopreneurs via CubeBreakers!

Thanks for taking the time to read the long version!

-Zack