The Reluctant Capitalist: Build your business without selling soul

A manifesto for making money without doing harm. If you’re a solopreneur, coach, consultant, practitioner or creative who cares deeply about people, and the planet, but also want your work to sustain you emotionally and financially, this is for you. Much of the traditional advice on building a business comes from industrial, corporate blueprints never designed for solopreneurs. It’s hardly surprising it doesn’t work in the new world of work, or that it leaves thoughtful entrepreneurs feeling not just frustrated but compromised and complicit. There is another way. By reframing how we think about growth, produc-tivity and success, we can embrace an alternative model of business that is relational, regenerative and liberatory. We can build thriving businesses on our own terms, businesses that advance social justice while still putting food on our tables, that transform extractive systems into forces of regeneration and hope. This is the future of business for good. If you’re a solopreneur, coach, consultant, practitioner or creative who cares deeply about people, and the planet, but also want your work to sustain you emotionally and financially, this is for you. Much of the traditional advice on building a business comes from industrial, corporate blueprints never designed for solopreneurs. It’s hardly surprising it doesn’t work in the new world of work, or that it leaves thoughtful entrepreneurs feeling not just frustrated but compromised and complicit. There is another way. By reframing how we think about growth, productivity and success, we can embrace an alternative model of business that is relational, regenerative and liberatory. We can build thriving businesses on our own terms, businesses that advance social justice while still putting food on our tables, that transform extractive systems into forces of regeneration and hope. This is the future of business for good. Marisa Guthrie is a business coach, entrepreneur and teacher with 30 years’ experience helping solopreneurs design ethical, sustainable businesses. The former CEO of a health charity and the managing director of a cross-party think tank advocating social policy, she has consulted on policy for the Green Party and an All-Party Parliamentary Group on micro-business.