The Rise of One-Person Empires: Navigating the Solopreneurship Revolution

The workplace revolution is here, and solopreneurship stands at its center. Forty percent of workers now choose flexibility over traditional employment, representing a shift I've seen building for years—even as corporations began paying lip service to "work-life balance" a decade ago.

Solopreneurship isn't just about working alone; it's about mastering the art of running an entire business through systems, automation, and technology. Unlike traditional entrepreneurs who build teams, solopreneurs create lean, self-sustaining operations where they maintain complete control. From freelancers and consultants to content creators and e-commerce store owners, these independent business operators are redefining success on their own terms.

The advantages are compelling: lower costs, higher profit margins, total decision-making authority, and the freedom to work from anywhere on your own schedule. Yet the challenges are equally real—potential burnout from handling every aspect of your business, slower growth without a team, and the stark reality that when you don't work, you don't earn. Success in this realm demands strategic use of artificial intelligence, automation tools, e-commerce platforms, and careful boundary-setting to prevent exhaustion.

Before diving into solopreneurship, honest self-assessment is crucial. Are you self-motivated and disciplined? Do you prefer independence over collaboration? Can you handle multiple business functions? Are you patient enough for gradual growth? Even committed solopreneurs can eventually incorporate contract workers to maintain freedom while expanding capacity. The path begins with identifying your natural strengths, focusing on solving specific problems, and sharing your journey to connect with like-minded individuals.

This isn't about becoming a multi-millionaire mogul—it's about providing value, generating sustainable income, and building a life that works for you. As we move through 2025 and beyond, solopreneurship won't just be an alternative path—it may become the primary way people create livelihoods and meaning in their work. What could you build on your own?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello world, welcome back to Not Just Candle Talk.
Today's episode is going to beabout solopreneurship.
What is it, why is it differentfrom traditional
entrepreneurship, and also howto thrive as a one person

(00:20):
business person business.
More than ever right now,people are starting one person
businesses using things likeautomation, online platforms,
digital tools.
Okay, by this year alone, 40%of the will choose flexibility

(00:45):
over a traditional job.
That's interesting and I seeI've seen it coming for a long
time.
I was talking about this, oh,maybe five, 10 years ago, when
they you know a lot of companies, corporations were talking

(01:06):
about work-life balance whenthey started throwing that one
around.
You know it was a change coming, because that is not the case
in most corporate jobs.
Okay, so, anyway, let's getback to the topic at hand.
By definition, solopreneurshipis a business owner who runs
everything alone no employees,just systems okay, systems and

(01:31):
technology to support them, andhow it differs from
entrepreneurship entrepreneursthey build teams, right, whereas
the solopreneur focuses on lean, self-sustaining businesses.
Okay, and some examples ofthose is freelancing, of course,

(01:57):
things like graphic designwriters, one-person business,
consultants can be a one personbusiness.
We see it every day withcontent creators.
Most of them are one personbusinesses.
They're bloggers, youtubers,and then you have your people

(02:20):
who create online courses, writeeBooks, writers who write
eBooks, or just someone whowrites eBooks, creative person,
and then you got your e-commerceowners right, that can be ran
solo and through automation aswell.

(02:44):
Let's get into some of the prosand cons.
Okay, so, a pro uh, for a solobusiness uh, it's low cost,
right, there's no need foroffice space or um, or employees
for that matter.
Um, you got total control, um,without outside influences.

(03:05):
I mean, you don't have to.
So that means you have to, youhave to live by your, your
standards, right?
Um, and then, and that's okay,so you know, if you're going to
do that, live by your, your,your standards.
We're not living by yourstandards, but run your business
by your standards.
Uh, standards, well, not liveby your standards, but run your

(03:26):
business by your standards.
All decisions, you have to befinal, right, so, and that's not
a bad thing, right?
I mean, that's what you want,because you're, that's what you
want, trust me, that's what youwant.
Flexibility, you can work fromanywhere, you can set your own

(03:47):
schedule.
And no, there's no payroll torun and no overhead costs, right
, when you're solo, you don'thave, you don't have to incur
those fees with running apayroll.
Quick story I just got rid ofmy payroll system.

(04:30):
It was just too costly.
Once I went back and reviewedthings papers and stuff I'm like
this is just too much, too muchmoney, that just is not
necessary.
So, um, and that caught that.
That's that that's helpful fora higher profit margin, right?
Um, some of the cons uh, if youdon't want to work, you don't
earn, so it's all on you again,right, you don't work, you don't
earn and you have no one toblame but yourself.
That's a con.
Um, growth is slower, you know,without a team, of course,
right.
So you have to go into it withthat mindset.

(04:51):
Burnout, you can get someburnout.
Handling everything, right, thesales, your finances, the
operation, day-to-day offer,operations that can be
overwhelming.
Um, so you can't you?
You, uh, it's a higher risk forburnout, of course that's a con

(05:12):
.
Um, there is no delegation to ateam, so everything is on your
shoulder, of course, all right.
So let's, let's break away fromthat for a minute.
Let's get into some how tosucceed as a solo business owner
, solopreneur, you can haveeverything automated, right,

(05:44):
automated right.
With the help of AI, you canrun your website or a lot of
your platform informationthrough AI and, just you know,
have your virtual assistant.
And not only that, but you canincorporate different avenues of
income.
When you have everything onautomation and you can combine,

(06:04):
you know, like digital products,services and even affiliated
marketing, you can incorporatethat stuff into your website or
your platform if you're usingone for your business.
Some leverages, again AI.

(06:26):
Ai is probably the best friendof a person that runs their own
business right now.
That's definitely something tolook into.
And then you have youre-commerce platforms that could
help as well.
I won't name a few of them.

(06:49):
I won't do that, but there's alot out there.
I won't name them because Idon't have a favorite.
I wouldn't recommend nothing.
If I name something, that meansI'm recommended.
I'm not going to do that.
So you can set boundaries andyou can stick to a schedule, of

(07:10):
course, and you could takebreaks right, and get some
self-care going on, step awayand get some rest and cause.
That's important when you're,when you're a solo business
owner.
Rest, self-care is importantand to avoid exhaustion right as

(07:33):
much as possible.
So let's let's discuss is it,is it right for you, is it, is
it the best thing.
So so for people who who wantto be, uh, a solopreneur, um,
ask yourself these questions Um,are you self-motivated and
disciplined?
Do you prefer workingindependently?

(07:54):
Um, do you want to full?
You want full control over thebusiness.
Are you okay with slow, steadygrowth over fast scaling?
Um, and then you know, ask, askthose questions first before
you consider, um, just runningeverything by yourself.

(08:16):
And then there you know thecause there, because there are
signs that you might not beright, and those signs are if
you prefer collaborating withsomebody or you prefer teamwork
and you want the, you want thecompany to build.
I mean, you want to build acompany and run it without you

(08:39):
being there.
Would that be something?
Would that be something youmight like?
You're not comfortable withhandling, like multiple business
tasks or business roles.
It might not be right for youto go into business as a
solopreneur, ok, but even so, Imean some, some solopreneurs.

(09:04):
They eventually hire a smallteam and it's not saying that
you can't.
You know eventually you can anduse contract workers.
You want to scale While keepingyour financial freedom or your
freedom to do what you want.
You can always hire contractworkers, and I think a lot of

(09:27):
people are going into contractwork, more so than ever now as
well, anyway.
So that would definitely be anextension for the solopreneur,
for sure.
You know.
Again, we're going to, you know,do a little recap.
So solopreneurship is aboutfreedom, flexibility, okay,

(09:48):
self-reliance, but it comes withchallenges, right, I just named
a few of the challenges, butit's doable, okay.
So you know, with this type ofthing, could you and would you
would be the main question, andI, I uh, got to have a list of

(10:11):
um, I have a list of how tobecome a solopreneur, okay.
So one of the ways you canbecome one, or think about, is
identify where you're good at.
Okay, if you want to become aone-person business, identify
what you're good at right,without putting too much thought

(10:34):
.
You know immediately whatyou're good at right.
Everybody has something thatthey're like.
It's easy flow for them.
Something that I talked abouthobbies before on our episode, a
previous episode.
It's something that you'reobsessed with, right, and you
wouldn't mind making an incomethrough it.

(10:57):
So embrace that right, embracethat thing that it's like I'm
good at this, it's effortless,you know, I don't have to
overthink it, uh, and thenmaster it right.
Master it and blend it in withuh, with with extra skills like

(11:19):
learning you know, uh, how tooperate your um website or um,
learning that the graphic designstuff, just you know.
Master a little bit more skills.
Add on to what you already knoweffortlessly.
What else?

(11:40):
Share what you learn from itwith the public, you know.
Identify with other people,with, like, like-minded people.
That's always a good, a goodmotive.
Stay motivated.
That's a good way to staymotivated and inspired, right
when you find your people andshare, share what you're doing
with the public, and that willattract your community.

(12:03):
Your people Look for problems tosolve Okay, people Look for
problems to solve okay, a lot ofpeople that run their own
business.
Most of the time, they're goodat solving problems.
More often than not, they havemore solutions than they have
problems, and that's always agood thing.
And have your answers to everysolution I mean, I'm sorry, to

(12:30):
every problem.
Have the answers ready, right.
So if you stick with your nicheI really don't like the niche
thing, but if you stick with thething that you like the most
and you can, and if it's aproblem that arises and you can
and you can solve it, there yougo and you can incorporate how
to make money with it.

(12:50):
Doing it, ah, keys, um, and thenum, sell you know, sell your
knowledge, sell your, if you, ifyou, if you're one of those
people who have knowledge, whohas knowledge or something, and
and, uh, just, you know, this isthe opening to becoming a one
person mogul to sell yourknowledge, right?

(13:14):
Um, and I think I think with alot of people, they say
entrepreneurship, they throw itaround, cause I have it
plastered on everything myselfand I am definitely I'm in

(13:35):
between.
I'm in between both.
There's some days I'm anentrepreneur and some days I'm a
solopreneur.
So I identify with both.
That's what I wanted to bringthis, this episode on, because I
think this is where we're at.
This is it?
This is it from here on out,from 2025, beyond this, we're

(13:58):
going to see more and more, butwe have been seeing it.
We just never put a name on it,or maybe we have, I'm not sure,
but I believe this is thegateway to um, the gateway to
how income is going to be made,on, on, on all levels.
You know um, again, I, and Iknow people.

(14:21):
I it's crazy, cause I knowpeople who run solo businesses.
You know, we don't sometimes,we, we see things and we don't
put names to it, we just see itand that's and that's how it is
Right.
But I actually know a fewpeople and and they make you
know it's not even about makinga, becoming this mogul

(14:41):
multi-millionaire, it's not that.
But if you can provide and andprovide for yourself and make a
good income, why not Right?
At the end of the day, why notUm?
So yeah, I'm going to end thisum right now.
I would love for um, of course,always and forever, to do a

(15:03):
part two of this as moreinformation about uh,
solopreneurship comes in Again.
If I learn some more thingsabout it, I will definitely come
on and share.
I am pro solopreneurship, forsure.
If anyone wants to come on andtalk about their journey as a

(15:27):
one person business owner, Iwould be more than happy to talk
about it with you.
Again, thank you for listeningand we're going to stop it for
now.
Thank you, bye.