Episode 258 | Watch on YouTube | Listen on Buzzsprout
One question, no theory attached: if your employer disappeared tomorrow, could you make money from what you already know?
Most professionals can’t answer that. And if you’re honest, you probably can’t either.
The Question Nobody Wants to Answer
I know how that sounds. We’ve all been trained to believe the job is the safe part — stay loyal, work hard, and the company takes care of you. I’m not here to tell you that’s wrong, or that you should quit and become an entrepreneur. Most people don’t want that, and I don’t want that for you either.
But there’s a difference between having a job and having only one customer for your skills. And most of us have never noticed the difference, because we’ve never had to.
Meet Mark
Mark is 52. He’s an engineer turned technical manager, making $160,000 a year, with twenty-five years of experience. He leads people. He solves problems most people can’t even understand, let alone fix. His company values him — on paper, Mark has done everything right.
So I asked him a simple question: could he make $1,000 next month, without his employer? Not from investments. Not by selling something he owns. Not some random gig.
Could somebody pay Mark $1,000, specifically because of what Mark knows how to do?
He didn’t know.
The One-Customer Problem
That’s not a knock on Mark. He’s spent twenty-five years proving his value — to one customer. His employer.
And that’s the real issue here. The problem isn’t having a job. A job is fine, a job is good. The problem is having only one customer.
Your employer might be a great customer — maybe the best one you’ll ever have. They buy a huge amount of your time every year. But what happens when they stop buying? Layoff. Reorganization. New boss. Acquisition. AI. New management.
Suddenly the person making $160,000 finds out something uncomfortable: they know how to earn a salary. They don’t know if they know how to earn money. Those are two different skills, and most of us have only ever practiced one.
The $1,000 Test
Here’s what I’m not suggesting: quit your job, or start a business tomorrow.
Instead, try this test. Can you generate $1,000 in the next ninety days, from what you already know, completely separate from your employer? Not selling old furniture. Not driving for Uber on the weekend. Something built on your actual expertise — consulting, training, advising, designing, troubleshooting, writing, speaking, teaching. One project, for one person, who pays you because of what’s in your head.
The $1,000 isn’t really about the money. It’s evidence. It proves somebody besides your employer values what you know enough to pay for it.
Where This Actually Leads
I’m not telling you to build five income streams or turn into a hustle-culture case study. The first goal is smaller than that: go from one customer to two. That’s it.
Something shifts once you have two customers. You start seeing yourself differently. You stop being completely dependent on one organization’s internal marketplace. You start knowing — not guessing — that the market wants what you’ve got.
Try This
Pick one skill you use at work every week, and find one person outside your employer who will pay you for it within the next ninety days.
If you’re sitting there thinking, “I don’t even know what I’d sell” — that’s fair, and it’s the next thing worth figuring out. Listen to the full episode of Company of One for the whole conversation.
Next Step
📍 If you want a place to start, and you’re just at a loss, go below to the link for Moving Past Obstacles assignment. It walks you through the first step..
Listen to the episode above or find it on your favorite podcast app.
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— focused on clarity, ownership, and taking control of your direction without hype.
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