We are without a doubt living in the age of the solopreneur. But what actually is a solopreneur and how do you start your journey today? Read on…
Imagine waking at around 7am and heading downstairs in your PJ’s to make a coffee.
You casually water your hall plant, set up your yoga mat for a nice morning stretch, call a couple of family members, make a nutritious breakfast and finally settle on the sofa in your slacks with your laptop and cuppa.
As the morning passes, you’re answering emails, making calls, creating images, writing posts, coding apps, tutoring students online, or doing whatever your online business requires.
You stop at 1pm to meet a friend for lunch, and your afternoon is full with a class you want to attend, your child’s school play, a favor for a family member, etc.
Your life is your own, your time is your own, and your days are filled with doing what you want to do, from where you want to do it.
This is just one scenario.
Imagine instead (my life); you’re traveling the world (post covid) and your office for the day is the beach!
The 21st century has witnessed the rise of the solopreneur.
People are making full use of new technologies to grow companies from anywhere in the world, living fantastic lifestyles and enjoying true financial freedom. (Yours truly included!)
But what exactly is a solopreneur?
And better still, how do you become one?
In this article, we’ll explore the answers to these questions, plus all the tips I’ve picked up from my own 10-year journey as a solopreneur.
First up;
It mainly comes down to the word “solo.” A solopreneur is someone who starts & runs a business on their own.
I think, however, the word is a fantastic replacement for the scarier term of entrepreneur, which conjures up images of silicon valley startups, big teams, offices, and overheads.
In my definition, a solopreneur is anyone who starts a small business or side hustle to fund their lifestyle, allowing them to turn passions into profit and to live and work from anywhere.
A solopreneur starts what I like to call a ‘lifestyle business.’
A lifestyle business is an opportunity to turn your passions into profits!
An entrepreneur is someone who starts and runs a business and takes on the financial risk of doing so.
A solopreneur is the same, but in my definition, the critical difference is in how you view and manage the business.
Just because the word ‘solo’ is in the title doesn’t mean you have to run every aspect of the business yourself.
The most successful solopreneurs outsource many of the tasks they don’t have the time or skillset to do themselves. Mainly to contractors and remote self-employed freelancers.
However, they continue to do the tasks they enjoy, are passionate about, or bring the money in. And on the whole, they love what they do, they started the business out of a passion, and they’re running the business both as a route to increase income and to do something they enjoy.
On the flip side, the word entrepreneur lends itself to someone who might invest in multiple ventures, build companies with venture capital funding and exit strategies in mind, and work with large ‘in-house’ teams.
Great examples are serial entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Mark Cuban. They start companies and, within a few months or years, isolate themselves as much as possible from the day-to-day running of the business, handing off everything to a CEO and management team.
I am, of course, generalizing, and the terms can mean whatever they want to you personally. What’s in a label, right?
The reason I call myself a solopreneur, however, is because my business is my own. I don’t have a board of shareholders, a partner, an office full of people, or any of the other business trappings commonly associated with larger more entrepreneurial businesses.
I also spend much of my time working alone due to being on the road. But I do have a team of freelancers, all based in different countries around the world.
Depending on your personality and goals, being a solopreneur can be much more fulfilling and exciting than being an entrepreneur. It means that YOU are the business, and you have complete control and flexibility over what you and your brand do each and every day.
To summarise, here are the key attributes you will find in a solopreneur:
Generally works alone
Location independent
Focused on one enterprise
Runs a lifestyle business
Bottom line: all solopreneurs are entrepreneurs, but not all entrepreneurs are solopreneurs.
Solopreneur Business Examples/Ideas
Here are some examples of the kinds of businesses a solopreneur would typically start.
To make it more simple, let’s break it down into three core categories:
