What would it take for you to go solo?
In the last few years, more and more professionals like you and I have realized something uncomfortable: the career path we were taught to trust isn’t as stable as it once seemed.
Layoffs happen overnight, industries reinvent themselves overnight, sexism and ageism are rampant, and the rules of employment change faster than a same-day Amazon delivery.
Leaving many of us quietly asking:
What if I had to rely on my own ability to generate income?
A lot of what we were taught about work no longer holds true.
For decades the deal was simple, and it worked: study hard, get hired, build a career, and stability would follow.
That isn’t really the case anymore, is it my dear reader?
But hey, at the same time, all these changes have created something new.
For the first time in history, we can build businesses around our expertise without needing a company, investors, or massive infrastructure.
• A designer can build a studio
• A strategist can build a consulting practice
• A developer can launch products
• A writer can build a paying audience
This is not a fringe underground movement anymore — just have a look around. How work… works is changing, and with it new opportunities for us are everywhere.
So what does it actually take to build a real solo business today?
The internet talks a lot about independence, escaping the 9-to-5, making six-figure businesses in passive income, and two-day work weeks swinging in a hammock with a coconut in hand while your Stripe overheats from so many sales.
By this point you know most of that conversation is shallow and performative.
You see the aesthetics of freedom everywhere, and very little of it talks about the actual work of building something sustainable and that matters.
That’s the question this newsletter exists to explore.
Every two weeks I’ll break down the strategic and emotional realities behind building a solo business.
The good, the bad, the ugly, and the strategic.
Things like:
How to identify problems worth solving
How to structure offers that people actually buy
How to move beyond freelance to running a solo business
How to build less volatile revenue
How emotions shape business decisions and what to do about them
Because independence doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s designed.
And that’s what Solo by Design is about.
Before the next issue, I’m curious.
What made you start thinking about going solo?
Just reply and tell me, I read every response.
