In this episode of the Bee Formless™ Flow Driven CEO Podcast, I connected with Oliver Garside, Co-Founder and Director of Rounded, to explore what it really means to build a business on your own terms, and why money is only one part of the equation.

When Oliver joined Rounded more than a decade ago, he thought it might be a six-month project. He went unpaid for the first couple of years and, even five years in, was earning little more than minimum wage.

Oliver noticed that something else happened along the way, “When you’re not getting paid for something, you really understand what you love doing.”

For Oliver, building Rounded created the flexibility to be present while his children were growing up, taught him more than the rest of his career combined and helped him rediscover what he was genuinely good at.

That experience also shaped an interesting observation about the thousands of freelancers and sole traders Rounded has supported. The most successful don’t tend to see themselves as “just” a photographer, freelancer or sole trader.

They see themselves as business owners.

We explored the changing economics of solopreneurship, side hustles and multiple income streams, the responsibility that sits on the other side of freedom, and why building on your own terms starts with being honest about what you actually want from your business.

THE SHAPE SHIFT IN MOTION

At the heart of this conversation was a shift from seeing solopreneurship as something smaller than “real” business to owning the business, freedom and responsibility that come with choosing your own path.

LEARN (LETTING GO)
✨ The belief that being a freelancer or sole trader makes you less of a business owner.
✨ The assumption that financial reward is the only meaningful measure of entrepreneurial success.
✨ The pressure to grow, expand or adopt every new technology simply because everyone else is.

UNLEARN (CREATE, REIMAGINE & RESHAPE)
✨ Create your own definition of success based on what you genuinely want from the business.
✨ Reimagine freedom as both flexibility and responsibility, rather than an escape from work.
✨ Reshape your relationship with money by understanding what you’re willing to trade for time, ownership, learning and autonomy.

RELEARN (TEST & IMPLEMENT)
✨ Treat your freelance or sole trader work with the same intention you would any other business.
✨ Stay focused on the customer and problem you’re uniquely positioned to serve.
✨ Use technology thoughtfully rather than outsourcing decisions you still need to understand yourself.

ACTIVE RECOVERY (REFLECT & RESET)
✨ What do you actually want your business to give you?
✨ Are you measuring success by your own values or somebody else’s?
✨ Where could saying no create more space for the business you really want to build?

Where to find more:
🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivergarside/
🌐 https://rounded.com.au

If you’re ready to reshape your leadership or business from the inside out, start with a Strategic Shape Shift Diagnostic.
🔗 https://calendly.com/beeformless/strategicshapeshiftdiagnostic

#beeformless #flowdrivenceo #rounded #solopreneurship #freelancer #entrepreneurship #founderjourney #smallbusiness #businessgrowth #insideouttransformation