Unconventional forms of working have become ever-more popular over recent years. One of the most significant movements to come out of the working world over the last several years was the solopreneur pathway of labour. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the top 5 solopreneur benefits, demonstrating why so many are flocking to this new career path.
If you’re unsure, ‘Solopreneur’ comes from ‘solo’ (alone) and ‘entrepreneur’. It’s a term that encompasses anyone who works directly for themselves, without the aid of employees or a team.
Here at Verfacto, we’ve been supporting new solopreneurs for years. That’s why we’re currently offering our services completely for free for new eCommerce solopreneurs. Why not kickstart your eCommerce business with our platform today!
What’s the difference between a solopreneur and an entrepreneur?
Although both solopreneur and entrepreneur stem from the same root, their prefix suggests a slight deviation. While entrepreneurs often lead or have employees working under them, solopreneurs work completely alone.
Due to this, the scale of operation between entrepreneurs and solopreneurs varies greatly. While entrepreneurs could offer many services to a wide variety of clients and have their teamwork on several projects at the same time, solopreneurs don’t have the same flexibility.
As a solopreneur has to manage their time by themselves, there is a limit to the amount of work they can get done in the week. But, that said, it’s often easier to organize and manage a solopreneur operation. Instead of having to schedule and manage a team, you’ll be working directly to the beat of your own drum.
Depending on your skills and motivations, the solopreneur or entrepreneur path may be better for you.
Let’s take a look at some of the main solopreneur benefits you can expect to obtain if you decide to go down this pathway.
Top 5 Solopreneur Benefits
Considering that over 59 million US adults self-identify as either freelance or solopreneurs, there is bound to be a vast selection of solopreneur benefits many are already taking advantage on.
We’ll be focusing on:
- Ease of decision making and management
- Work from home, work from anywhere
- Complete flexibility
- You can choose which contracts you continue
- Your profits are yours
Let’s take a look at these in more detail.
Day-to-Day Solopreneur Benefits
Have you ever had a boss that micromanaged you? What about a colleague you found particularly difficult to work with? When following a solopreneur pathway, these concerns become a fact of the past.
You’ll never have to answer to anyone but yourself, making sure that you can always operate exactly how you’d like. From your own daily schedule to the order in which you approach your tasks, you manage yourself.
This also makes decision-making a breeze. Instead of hosting meetings and running things up the chain, you become every single link in the chain. If you need to sign something off, you just do it – no more back and forth!
Work From Anywhere
Another one of the solopreneur benefits that people tend to flock to when pursuing this career is the ability to work from anywhere in the world. If you’re unattached from your home country, you can spend time traveling the world while working online.
All you need is a laptop and an internet connection, allowing you to run your business from wherever you are. Currently, there are over 10.9 million ‘Digital Nomads’ as of 2020. These are people that travel around the globe for extended periods of time while working online.
If you follow the solopreneur pathway, you, too, could join these ranks.
Complete Flexibility
Being your own boss gives you the power to choose when you want to work. If you’re more of a night owl, then feel free to sleep in late and begin your workday in the afternoon. Similarly, if you’d prefer to get things out of the way early, nothing is stopping you from waking up at the crack of dawn and getting started.
This especially comes in handy if you’re wanting to designate time to other areas in your life. Maybe you want to spend more time with your partner, kids, or friends? If that’s the case, then you can organize your working day to keep hours free for social events and occasions.
The same goes for when choosing vacation dates. Considering you’re in charge, you can start to take on fewer clients before you go abroad. By slowing down the amount of work coming in, you’ll be able to take extended holidays without feeling any strain.
The Power of Saying No
As a solopreneur, you’ll sometimes find yourself working on freelance contracts with people that you may not particularly like. While in the working world, this would mean a particularly frustrating couple of months working through a contract, as a solopreneur, you can simply decide to terminate a contract.
You have no obligation to keep working on contracts or ideas that you don’t enjoy, or that don’t interest you. The flexibility to choose your own contracts gives you the power to say no.
This is one of the most overlooked solopreneur benefits, but it is by far one of the most important. Saying no is critical for your work happiness, and now you have the power to do so as and when you’d like.
Your Profits Are Yours
As a solopreneur, you’ll no longer be splitting the amount of money that comes in from a project among a team. What’s more, as you’re your own boss, you’ll no longer have a fixed salary. Instead, the more contracts you pick up, in theory, the more you can make.
The solopreneur lifestyle is fantastic for those that can self-motivate easily. Every contract you complete will be going right back into your pocket, giving you even more reason to put your all into your work.
At the end of the day, anything you make – bar those pesky taxes – will be completely yours.
Final Thoughts
At heart, the solopreneur benefits all come back to one main idea – freedom. No longer are you tied to a working schedule, location, or even the same job role.
As a solopreneur, you can choose your path, change it, and move around fluidly.
Now that you know the benefits of being a solopreneur, it’s time to learn how to become an eCommerce solopreneur and how to be successful at the job!
