Would you describe yourself as a lonewolf? An independent thinker that prefers to choose your own path rather than depend on anyone else? You may just be the perfect candidate for solopreneurship!
It’s like being an entrepreneur, but without any employees — ever!
That’s right, as a solopreneur you’re building a business on your own, without ever having the intention to scale up and hire other team members.
You’re your own boss and you don’t have to worry about the challenges of employee relations. As sweet as that may sound, it’s also a lot of hard work. So how do you know if you have what it takes?
Let’s take a closer look.
What Makes A Good Solopreneur?
There are a number of characteristics and traits that all successful solopreneurs share. Knowing what they are is a great place to start.
Some of these are either part of your nature or they’re not. Others you can teach yourself.
Personal confession, I wish I knew some of these things at the beginning of my journey! It would have been so much easier.
Bonus for you, by reading this article you get to avoid some of the pitfalls many solopreneurs like me have experienced along the way.
Let’s dive in.
Motivation and Drive
Before you start, you have to ask yourself what’s your motivation and do you have the drive to succeed building a business from scratch, on your own?
Don’t kid yourself. There will be lots of long hours at first with very little reward.
A full time blogger for example, can build their site for years before experiencing any real traffic growth and won’t make a dime for months — sometimes years.
That’s why a lot of solopreneurs hang on to their day jobs when they’re starting out.
Be prepared to work 8 to 10 hours at your 9 to 5 and then come home and work 3 to 4 hours a night on building a solo business. If that sounds impossible, you may want to reconsider whether it’s truly for you.
Keep in mind, 20.8% of private business ventures fail in their first year. If you’re not motivated and driven, a solo business isn’t a good idea.
If you are that’s great, but that’s just a starting point
Identify You Passion
It’s one thing to be motivated, but you still need to be able to direct your energy.
Can you think of something you’re passionate about? Something you can see yourself building a business around? Here are a few of the most common solopreneur business models that have the most success:
- Freelance writing
- Solo app developer
- Business Coach
- Website development
- Social media marketing
There are tons of other options out there. The key is to find one that fits your skill set and that you can picture yourself doing for years if not decades.
Still with me so far?
Vision and Leadership
So you have the motivation, the drive and the passion, but what about vision? Remember, you’re the solo captain of this ship. There’s no partner to bounce ideas off and no one else to provide the leadership to move your business forward.
It’s all on you.
You have to be able to picture what your home-based business will look like in one year, in five years and so on.
If you have a clear plan for where your solopreneur path will take you and you can envision the steps that get you there, then you’re on the right road.
Persistence in The Face of Failure
Remember earlier when I mentioned that more than 20% of businesses fail in the first year? In many cases that’s because they give up at the first sign of trouble.
You are going to have failures on your path to success. The difference between those that make it and those that fall flat is persistence.
You may even find you need to pivot away from the original business model you envisioned.
That’s okay.
Very few successful backyard business ventures look the same at year five as they did on day one.
Treat every failure as a learning experience and you will achieve your goals.
Willing to Accept Risks
Every startup business has some element of risk — even solo efforts like the one you’re starting.
Investing in that website for example, and paying for an ecommerce platform comes with some level of risk. You’re making an investment out of your pocket without having any guarantees you’ll survive long enough to turn a profit.
If you’re not willing to take any kind of financial risk at all, you probably won’t have much luck as a solopreneur.
I toiled for years as a freelance writer using only a basic free WordPress.com website. It was fine to build a simple online presence and score a few freelance gigs, but it never went much further than that.
It wasn’t until I spent money on a domain and a host for my WordPress based website that traffic started to flow and my Backyardpreneur journey truly started to happen.
That brings me to my next point.
As A Solopreneur You Have to Leave Your Comfort Zone
Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone.
As a one man or woman show you’re going to have to wear a lot of hats.
Before I bought my domain I had very limited SEO knowledge, I didn’t know a lot of design and I’d never built a truly professional looking website — just a basic one that wasn’t about to win any awards for design!
When I made the decision to go all-in on my solopreneur journey I had to wear a lot of hats and spent hour after hour watching videos and reading articles.
I was learning things about building an online business that I’d never done before. I was using tools such as Canva for design and learning what plug-ins to use to build a better site.
If you’re willing to put in the time you don’t have to outsource your web design, you can teach yourself. I used the video below as a great guide:
Just keep in mind, designing your own website will take you away from building the core of your business. If you don’t mind the investment, you might be better off outsourcing to a pro.
Know Your Audience and Market
Imagine putting in the time to build a business only to find there’s no market or audience for what you’re selling.
It’s a nightmare scenario and it happens all the time.
If you don’t research your market first, how can you be sure there is one?
Don’t just go off your gut either. You might think you have a brilliant idea, but that doesn’t mean the world agrees with you.
Start doing some basic research.
Do a Google search to start. Check out places like Quora and Reddit. Are there a lot of people searching or asking questions related to your business idea? If the answer’s yes, then there’s a good chance you can have some success.
Confirming there’s a market is just one small step though.
Ability to Balance Business and Life
If you’re anything like me, you’re leaning towards the solopreneur model because you want to achieve better work-life balance.
You don’t want employees depending on you and you don’t want to be tied down. In a nutshell, you want greater freedom in your life. Freedom from a 9 to 5 and the freedom to set your own schedule.
As a solopreneur you can have all of these things, but it’s up to you to create a healthy balance between work life and home life. You have to set your hours and decide when it’s time for a break.
Yes, you’ll have to invest a ton of time at the beginning, but eventually you should be able to back off and enjoy greater balance than you’ve ever had before.
If you don’t embrace that, you may find yourself dealing with burnout and that can knock your home business off the tracks quickly.
Here’s what a healthy day in the life of a solopreneur might look like:
- Rise at 7AM, have your morning coffee and breakfast
- 7:30 go for a morning walk, run or hit the gym
- 8:30 read and reply to emails
- 9AM work on your latest project (5 minute breaks every half hour to stretch your legs)
- 11:30 break for lunch for an hour
- 12:30 scheduled virtual meetings with clients
- 1:30 Back to working on that latest project
- 3:30 15 minute walk to stretch your legs
- 3:45 An hour to tie up any loose ends
- 4:45 respond to emails from the work day
- 5:00 end of the work day and time to spend time with family
Of course this is just one possible scenario. As a solopreneur you can set up your schedule whatever way works best for you.
That makes sense right?
Actively Seek A Strong Peer Group Through Networking
Another important thing to keep in mind is that you can’t do everything on your own. At least not all the time.
It’s important to actively seek and build a strong peer group. Maybe you’re a great writer, but you wouldn’t mind having a sounding board sometimes to bounce ideas off.
Look for individuals in complimentary fields where you can trade ideas and help each other out. Working solo can be lonely, this is a great way to keep in touch, build your business stronger, avoid depression and maybe even have a little fun during your work day.
Don’t be afraid to outsource some parts of your business as well. You might not want employees, but hiring a designer to create custom images for your website might be the boost your online presence needs.
You can’t be a master of all trades. Sometimes it’s better to spend on outside help so you can concentrate on your core business.
There’s more!
Willingness to Use Technology for Automation
Great solopreneurs are good at using technology to their advantage. If there’s tasks you can automate with software, why wouldn’t you?
It might be as simple as using ChatGPT for article outlines or an automated ecommerce platform like Shopify to sell your products.
There’s an automation platform for pretty much every aspect of business. Don’t be afraid to use them.
There’s one more thing.
Above All, Be Patient
Business success doesn’t happen over night. Be prepared for the long haul.
You might get lucky and start making money in the first few months, but that’s not typical. Most solopreneurs grind it out for a year or more before they taste success.
If you don’t have the patience and determination to ride it out through the inevitable lean times it’s going to be tough.
Building your own solo business is an amazing experience, you just have to want it. Chances are if you’re still reading, you’ve got what it takes. Time to get started!
