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Ever felt like you're spreading yourself too thin?
Last week, I caught myself doing something stupid.
I was trying to learn SEO and launch some new speculative websites... all while working on my SaaS products.
I was breaking one of the most powerful rules in business.
It's called the Circle of Competence, and it's the reason why some founders seem to move so much faster than others.
The solopreneur fallacy
I love being a solopreneur. What’s not to love?
But that doesn’t mean I’m good at it.
When you hear the term solopreneur you assume this is a person who can do everything - build, sell, market, ops, finance, customer support.
And yes, there are some people who can do all those things.
But if I’m honest, I’m not one of them.
The things I enjoy:
- Building SaaS products with no-code (especially Bubble)
- Automating business processes
- Playing around with AI
- Coaching others to build SaaS products
The things I don’t enjoy:
- Marketing
- Finances
- Admin
Of those three, marketing is the big one. It’s the difference between a product that makes money and one that doesn’t.
And I’d been kidding myself to think I could do it effectively on my own.
The problem was I’d forgotten about my Circle of Competence.
Your circle of competence is the domain where your expertise is strongest, your judgments are reliable, and your decisions are sound.
Its size matters less than knowing its boundaries. A wise person confidently recognises what’s within their circle—and what isn’t.
Your Circle of Competence is your superpower
Here's the thing about building successful products: you don't need to know everything.
You just need to know YOUR thing really well.
Past me tried to build:
- A paid community
- A social network
- A dev agency
- A no-code training academy
I tried to wear all hats for all of them. All failed. I calculated this cost me more than £100k in lost time and opportunities.
Look at what I'm building now:
- Bullet Launch: Bubble boilerplate (turns my core technical strength into a sellable asset)
- Typoro.com: AI-powered LinkedIn posts (built on Bullet Launch)
- Autoklips.ai: AI video generation (built on Bullet Launch)
The really important thing - on both Typoro and Autoklips I’ve teamed up with people who know how to do marketing.
This means I can stay within my Circle of Competence and build better products.
How to find (and stick to) your circle
- List your genuine expertise (be brutally honest)
- Look for patterns in your successful projects
- Identify where you consistently get compliments
- Notice which tasks feel "natural" to you
The size of your circle doesn't matter. What matters is knowing its boundaries.
The smart way to grow
Should you never venture outside your circle? Of course not.
But there's a smart way to do it:
- Start with your core strength
- Expand gradually and intentionally
- Use tools and partnerships for everything else
For example, I know I’m rubbish at design. It takes me ages on every project.
So I spent a long time building Bullet Launch with a clear design system so I never have to worry about design again.
Monday Morning Action Steps
- Draw your Circle of Competence (literally - grab a paper!)
- Inner circle: What you're truly expert at
- Middle circle: What you're competent at
- Outer circle: What you should delegate/avoid
- Review your current projects
- Are they in your circle?
- If not, how can you pivot them closer to your expertise?
- Make a "Not Doing" list
- Write down what you'll stop trying to learn/do
- Plan how to delegate or eliminate these tasks
Remember: The most successful founders aren't the ones who can do everything.
They're the ones who know exactly what they're good at - and stick to it.
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