Solo 1099 is only the beginning
I was listening to an episode of How I Built This featuring the founders of Solo Stove, who recently sold their company for hundreds of millions of dollars.
How I Built This: Solo Stove: Spencer and Jeff Jan
Were they always passionate about building a smokeless fire pit?
Nope.
Their first few businesses were actually online side hustles intended to bring in some extra money. They read the 4 Hour Work Week and just wanted that sweet sweet passive income.
So they did things like sell memory foam mattresses to expats living in China and drop shipped white labeled camping gear and accessories.
They eventually landed on the idea for the first smokeless camp stove, which did very well and turned into the now public company Solo Stove.
The funny thing is even though it made them rich, they just wanted to have time freedom and the financial resources to enjoy it. As the company grew though, they lost the time and gained a lot more money.
Their business endeavors started off as small time schemes, and eventually grew into something that neither one of them could have predicted.
Similarly, going 1099 may just be the first step on a long adventure that leads you down interesting and unpredictable roads.
Perhaps by reducing your work hours you discover a new fulfilling hobby. Or you discover you actually like building a business and hire employees.
Who knows? But there's definitely a pattern of folks who take an entrepreneurial risk and end up somewhere totally different than they anticipated, often for the better.
Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.