This Is Exactly What I’d Do If I Started Again as a Solopreneur
Take this short startup blueprint and run with it.
Hi there! 👋 My name’s David - I’m a writer and solopreneur from Northern Ireland. In this publication, you’ll find a growing archive of resources (created by myself and a collection of valued guests) for those hoping to become - or grow as - solopreneurs. While you’re here, you should also check out:
Thanks for stopping by! Now, back to the article.
I became a solopreneur by accident.
It was never my intention to work for myself. I didn’t think I had the know-how to survive in the world of self-employment.
I often still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing.
But part of the joy in messy self-discovery is that you get to help other people avoid your mistakes. You can look back over your shoulder and yell, “Hey buddy, watch out for that hole there — if you fall in you’ll get stuck for a while!”
You don’t have to start your solopreneurship like I did.
You can start intentionally.
My startup blueprint
If I was beginning my journey again, this is exactly what I’d do:
Write down everything I’m good at, no matter how irrelevant it might seem.
Write down everything I’m passionate about, no matter how silly.
Identify which points overlap and draw a big circle around them.
Narrow those circled points down to one I could see myself talking about for years. Am I obsessed with it enough? Would I ever get bored jabbering on about it?
Ask, what’s my USP (Unique Selling Point) here? What can I bring to the table that few others can?
Next, get an online presence in place — social media, blog, the works.
Start creating as much content around my idea as I can.
Set small, short-term, manageable goals to begin with.
Establish a creator routine that works with my schedule.
Tell at least one other person who I trust about it, and have them hold me accountable to my goals.
Start right
Start now is common advice, and it’s not totally wrong.
But I’d add a caveat — start slow.
Ease into your solopreneur journey with care rather than jumping in with both feet. Think of it like slipping into a hot bath. You wouldn’t want to rush that, either.
If you want to get going but don’t know where to start, just work your way through the above checklist. Take your first baby steps towards your self-driven lifestyle. Do it with care, but also with intention.
It could be the best decision you ever make.
Is anything holding you back from starting your solopreneurial journey?
Hi David,
Thanks for sharing some great advice. I particularly like your Venn-ish approach to finding out how what you're passionate about overlaps with what you're good at.
I am going to try this out on some paper.
I started solopreneur-ing just under a year ago and I went willy-nilly from the get-go. Then I burned out. I was creating too much content that wasn't very good. Actually it was crap.
Then I started paying more attention to my brother, who is a year farther down this road than me. He calls his creation path "soul-preneuring" - creating content with careful intention - being authentic and only writing about what you really believe in.
Since this re-alignment ("attitude adjustment" as my mom used to call it) I have had much more success on Medium, and am hoping for the same here on Substack.
Great guidance and love the 'what I'm good at / what I'm passionate about' venn as the start point for discovering your uniqueness and points of difference. Lots of my coaching clients add the 'what the world needs / what can I be paid for' lenses to these from the Ikigai model to get even closer to how one might a living in a way that's meaningful and strengths based. I'd also agree with just start! Plans emerge through the process of making :)