Just a few years ago, if you owned a solo business and contracted your time and expertise out on an hourly basis, you probably called yourself a freelancer.

Maybe you were good at writing, or typing, or graphics design, or doing research.

Whatever the skill you possessed, you found you were able to hire your time out to others on an hourly or "per job" basis. It seemed pretty nice at the time.

Hopefully, you enjoyed whatever it was that you did because you were being paid to perform that function only as you were able to produce. Typically, the more hours you spent in someone's service, the more you got paid.

Most of the professional solo businesses that I am aware of have followed a very traditional model in how the business is set up and operated.

Most attorneys, doctors, counselors, and accountants design their practices around the way their predecessors did business before them.

They may decide to locate in a single office or they might opt for a group setting where several others of their practice get together to take advantage of a single building with a common reception area, staff of office assistants, and shared billing system, parking lot, and rest rooms.

Each professional is in business for himself, but his business only thrives as he is able to apply his trade.

He bills at an hourly rate, sees whom he chooses, and sets his own schedule, although his assistants really handle the appointments and flow of work throughout the day.

One of the ways solo business was conducted for many years in this country (U.S.) was by what I call "the one man band" business model.

An entrepreneur would create or find a product and proceed to sell that product to as many buyers as he could find. Sometimes the owner would develop a full line of products offering the consumer many styles, sizes and other choices.

The one man band was many business employees rolled into one. He did the research and development on the product, the manufacturing and/or purchasing, he was the salesman, the secretary, the customer service representative and the business owner all at the same time.

For many years, solo businessmen worked among the ranks of the self-employed as "organizers" or facilitators of groups of like-minded people.

They held titles such as "consultants," "coaches," "mentors," and "instructors." Sometimes they operated strictly as solo entrepreneurs being the only source of expertise in their company.

Others banded together to form a "team" or group that offered the same type of service but included the perspective and experience of multiple experts that often worked together on one project to provide the service.

These workers would organize their own curriculum, design their own delivery approach, and earn their fee by teaching or coaching their clients either in a one-on-one setting or small group atmosphere.

Since the beginning of time, solo business persons have opened and maintained retail stores that sold products to walk-in customers.

Sometimes the stores featured only specialty items, like a bike shop or bakery. Others carried a range of goods (like a mercantile) but remained small enough that one person could man the shop by himself and perform all the daily functions necessary.

There would be goods to order from manufacturers or wholesalers, shelves to stock, customers to wait on, books to be balanced, and cleaning at the end of the day.

If you are serious about starting a small solo business, there is no greater lesson to learn than how to apply the principle of maximum leverage to everything you do in your business operation.

Your survival, and ultimately your success, will hinge on how well you grasp the concept and make it your slave.

It's a difficult lesson for many, partly because most of us rarely practice applying leverage in our own personal lives. We tend to get complacent and accept low output and/or maintaining the status quo as our daily M.O.

When you get right down to brass tacks, most successful businesses are pretty boring. Really!

How many boring hamburgers does your local McDonalds crank out in a year? How many boring oil changes does Jiffy Lube perform for their customers every day? How often do Amazon employees wrap up a boring package of books to be shipped worldwide?

Many of today's most successful companies are at the top of their niche because they have mastered the execution of very boring business subjects and activities. They understand how to execute their boring routine over and over and over again; usually better and cheaper than anyone else.

Profitable companies develop systems of execution based on testing, modifying, and refining. Once they determine what works best, they simply repeat that formula or system over and over again.

Remember how difficult it was to be 13?

Everybody was always on your case trying to get you to do things you really didn't want to do.

Taking out the trash was a simple and easy enough chore that I was assigned. But oh, how I loved to "forget" to do it.

I wasn't much for raking leaves, pulling weeds, or my least favorite job - cleaning up after the pets.

I was constantly on the lookout for ways to avoid the daily tasks that needed to be done around the house.