The term “solopreneur” has become a popular way of describing a growing phenomenon in the way we work. The term is sometimes synonymous with entrepreneur. However, there are some distinctions.
An entrepreneur is someone who has business ideas, as well as the capital to finance their ideas or the know-how to find it. While an entrepreneur will usually seek to set a business up and to hire employees to run the business on their behalf, a solopreneur uses their own talents as the core of their business. A solopreneur creates a brand which they themselves personify, so we will be dedicating this post to five steps to building your business as a solopreneur.
Step One: Embrace Your Passion
Regardless of what your talent is, whether you’re an illustrator, an accountant, a writer, or a gardener, now is when you should begin to conduct research and practice a part of your daily life.
Step Two: Consider Specializing
If you’re a recent graduate or are looking to break into an industry that you have little or no experience in, then perhaps consider starting with a focus on some of the areas you feel most practiced in.
Step Three: Create a Brand
As you begin to set out to look for work, you’ll begin to realize how daunting the labour market can be, especially at first. It’s natural that employers or clients are going to be more likely to hire known and established brands over unknown individuals. The remedy for this is to create your own brand identity.
Step Four: Social Media and Networking
Once you have started getting to work on building up your brand image, including your brand name, logos, website design, and more, it’s time to consider the social media wing of your business.
Social media is extremely effective as a means of building your business from the ground up. You can begin to add people in your industry, to get your name out there, and even to pick up clients through networking.
Step Five: Grow From Your Foundation
Once you begin to establish yourself, you’ll find (often by pure chance) that you’ve acquired significant experience in one particular area of your work. This can be the result of a snowball effect of others seeing work that you’ve successfully completed for clients in their same industry, leading to them employing you in the same area.
