10 Ways to Make Money as a Solopreneur (with Pros and Cons)

How many have you tried?

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Making money is the key to achieving the ultimate solopreneurial goal.

Freedom.

• Freedom from the 9–5 work life.

• Freedom from being accountable to bosses who don’t share our ambition or creative vision.

• Freedom from the constant, creeping fear of being unexpectedly terminated from a job role we’ve come to love.

The ability to make money by ourselves unlocks the door to that freedom.

But it’s often not easy figuring out exactly how to go about making money as a solopreneur. The possibilities seem endless, and that in itself can be a real stumbling block.

Here are 10 straightforward income-generating avenues you can explore as a solopreneur.

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1. Find freelancing jobs through websites like PeoplePerHour and Fiverr.

Pros: Easy to get started, can take on as many jobs as you like, secure payment.

Cons: Lots of competition, bad reviews can be damaging, jobs often don’t pay well.

2. Offer paid coaching services.

Pros: Opportunity to share your knowledge, straightforward setup, can take on clients from anywhere in the world.

Cons: Pressure to deliver on promises, no-shows are problematic, building trust takes time and constant effort.

3. Create an online store and sell products using Shopify.

Pros: Shopify has a super-comprehensive and easy-to-use interface, relatively cheap, online stores look and feel great.

Cons: Need good products to sell, stores need constant promotion, add-on apps can be pricey.

4. Become a brand affiliate and promote their products.

Pros: Multiple ways to promote affiliate products, easy to get started, commissions can be generous and recurring.

Cons: Hard to find truly great affiliate brands, some programmes close down without warning.

5. Write online (Medium, Substack, Vocal, Newsbreak).

Pros: Perfect if you love to write, steady audience growth over time, potential for stable passive income.

Cons: Very low returns in the beginning, requires long-term commitment.

6. Create digital products that solve problems and sell them on Gumroad.

Pros: One-time effort creating products, best way of creating passive income.

Cons: Need to be absolutely sure the product meets your audience’s wants and needs, Gumroad takes at least 10% of every sale.

7. Become an online tutor.

Pros: Can all be done over Zoom, chance to use your natural skills to help others.

Cons: No-shows are common, can be time-consuming and exhausting (especially with children).

8. Manage the social media presence for a business or create content for multiple businesses.

Pros: Use your natural skills to help a business, can schedule content well in advance, work with several businesses at once.

Cons: Some business owners expect too much, can feel like you’re on someone else’s schedule, very competitive industry.

9. Start a YouTube channel (like mine).

Pros: Incredibly easy to get started, can start making videos right away, evergreen discoverability.

Cons: Don’t expect much money for quite a while, editing can be time-consuming, top-quality equipment can be costly.

10. Become an online influencer.

Pros: Promote products and services you genuinely like and use, receive gifts from brands, gain audience trust.

Cons: Hard to make it into a stable source of income, growing a following on social media is harder than ever.

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Making money as a solopreneur is completely achievable if you’re willing to work hard and commit to a long-term process.

I’ve listed just a few of the ways you can generate income as a solo business person, but there are countless more. And if you can create new ways of bringing in revenue, even better.

Which of my suggestions are you already trying, or have tried?

This article contains a couple of affiliate links.

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