“I like the idea of being Myself, Inc. That way I can wear two hats. I can hire myself and fire myself. I can even, as Robin Williams once remarked of writer-producers, blow smoke up my own ass. Making yourself a corporation (or just thinking of yourself in that way) reinforces the idea of professionalism because it separates the artist-doing-the-work from the will-and-consciousness-running-the-show. No matter how much abuse is heaped on the head of the former, the latter takes it in stride and keeps on trucking. Conversely with success: You-the-writer may get a swelled head, but you-the-boss remember how to take yourself down a peg….If we think of ourselves as a corporation, it gives us a healthy distance on ourselves. We’re less subjective. We don’t take blows as personally. We’re more cold-blooded; we can price our wares more realistically.”

-Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

As I reflect on the idea of being my own company, I have been going through a similar exercise that the company I work for has been. In the past, Under Armour had explosive sales and growth that led to a large organization. Once this growth slowed, even a little, it was time to take a look at how the difference can be made up; one strategy is to cut back on operating expenses.

The same concept should be applied to You, Inc. in anticipation of hard times. Once a year I like to track all of my spending for a month and look back on what expenses I can cut back on. All in an effort to lower my own operating expenses, because at the end of the day a dollar saved is worth more than a dollar earned as there are no taxes on a dollar you are saving.

Make your own incorporation flexible and resilient by keeping your operating expenses low

On the other hand, everything we do does affect our personal brand. So we cannot cut costs on everything, but it is important to keep the operating budget low and intentionally spend where it makes sense for your brand.

Resilient by Stephen Borengasser from the Noun Project