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Solopreneur Business Models I Actually Tried (And What I Really Think)
You probably read many articles and social media posts about the glory of being a solopreneur. But how many actually walk you through the real solopreneur business models behind how you can start earning?
I have been in the self employment game, what I like to call the journey versus solopreneurship. Today, I want to share the business models you can choose from to get started.
I have tried many of them myself. Some I like, some I do not. Not all will work for everyone, so you have to choose your own battles.
If you have been sold the goodness of the solopreneur life, this sharing will definitely help kickstart your journey.
The Traditional Way Of Doing Business
To start, you probably already know about the traditional way of doing business from the olden days. But I want to spell it out so we are all on the same page.
Doing business did not have a fancy name back then. My father was a butcher. He had his own store and took care of everything himself. No one called him an entrepreneur or a business owner.
When I was asked about my father’s occupation, I was trained to say, my father is a butcher. Once I grew up, this whole situation has been given a fancy name. What we now know as entrepreneurship, and in this case, solopreneurship.
Back in the days, starting a business felt incredibly difficult. You literally needed a physical shop, and that came with rental fees, product costs, fulfillment, and many more expenses.
But things have changed. We now have this amazing thing called the internet. Your target audience does not need to be just the people in your town. It is the whole wide world.
Which is why in this post, I will not be sharing about the traditional way of doing business. I am sharing what you can create online instead. Here are the income streams that I have tried out myself.
1: Digital Products
First up is digital products, probably one of the most common models you will see online. Everyone tells you about the good side, but no one tells you about the bad.
How it works: the idea is simple.
- You make the product once, like a PDF, a mini course, or a template.
- You host it somewhere and
- sell it over and over again.
Over time, you accumulate your digital product stack and build wealth.
What no one tells you is that this will take time, especially if you are starting from scratch. And if you are hosting on a platform with no traffic, you will need to learn marketing to drive eyes to your page.
My personal opinion:
At the start, it will be very slow. You need to be smart with your strategies if you want to see results fast. If not, the whole process will feel very tough, like a tunnel with no end. But once you find the trick, it can become a lucrative income stream over time.
How to get started: one of the coaches I would recommend if you want to explore this is Maria Wendt.
2: Print On Demand
Next is print on demand, by far my favorite after three years of experimenting, at the time of writing.
How it works: as a graphic designer, I always love the creation part, because to me, that is the fun part.
- You create a design
- You put it on a product within your supplier’s catalogue
- You sell it online
- When you get an order, the supplier handles fulfillment and shipping
My personal opinion:
I love this one because I do not have to deal with inventory and fulfillment. Those are the repetitive tasks that do not actually help the business grow. If you are a solopreneur, you need to learn how to manage your time to give the highest return on investment. Anything repetitive that cannot be automated is a huge no for me. This is why print on demand is my favorite.
How to get started: there are different ways you can approach it.
- Sell on marketplaces that already have a built in target audience, so you do not have to drive traffic yourself. This is what I am doing now. I learned it from Taylor Posado.
- Build your own website and drive traffic there yourself.
Depending on how confident you are in marketing and your designs, you can go different routes.
3: Affiliate Marketing
After that comes affiliate marketing, one of the easiest business model concepts to grasp.
How it works: you help another brand market their products or services, and you get a commission for it. Essentially, all you have to do is keep marketing and marketing. You probably heard of Amazon Affiliates and TikTok Affiliates, the usual starting point for anyone pursuing this journey.
My personal opinion:
This income stream only becomes lucrative when you market high ticket items. Think about it.2% on a $5 item versus 2% on a $299 course. Which one is higher, and which one accumulates faster? There is also a difference in strategies and sales techniques for both, which is why you need to pick your own battles.
As I continued to experiment with different income streams, I quickly learned that live streaming on TikTok is essentially affiliate marketing. When you make a sale, or hit a certain GMV, you get to work with brands, and you are paid depending on the commission rate you negotiated. This is true if you work independently.
How to get started: I started learning this with Stephie Chen.
The shortcut to making millions with affiliate marketing
4: Blogging
Now, let us talk about blogging, my first income stream, and one I am still doing today.
How it works: blogging means you write articles, like the one you are reading right now. You drive traffic to these pages and get accepted into an ad agency like Google AdSense or Mediavine. Your blog becomes an ad space where people pay you to put ads on your website, and you get to earn from it.
My personal opinion:
I will not say the money is huge. But I do think this is a great top of funnel strategy to drive traffic to your other platforms and build trust. Most importantly, this is your own channel that cannot be taken away from you. Compare that to social channels like TikTok and Instagram, where things can go missing any day, or you can get suspended for no reason at all. Those are situations you cannot control, and if it happens, all your efforts are gone.
Not to mention the scalability, like how fast you can grow your email list with just a blog pop up, or increase watch hours on YouTube simply by embedding videos within the pages. I am still blogging right now because I genuinely love sharing the things I share, and it has truly given me results. It is an integral part of the whole business system I have built.
I was able to monetize my blog within a month of implementation. Right now, I average about two hundred dollars a month with around ten thousand monthly blog views. It may not be huge, but it helps cover all the software costs in my business.
How to get started: if you are interested in finding out more, I started my journey with Sophia Lee.
Don’t waste months trying to figure it out…
I spent 5 months trying and failing to make real progress before I finally took this course.
In just one month, my blog got monetized and I had more traction than I ever did before.
Trust me, your future self will thank you for starting sooner.
5: Starting a YouTube Channel
Finally on the list is starting a YouTube channel.
How it works: the concept is similar to blogging. You earn when someone watches your video and comes across an ad. The requirements are quite high: 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours before you get monetized.
My personal opinion: I feel this has a lot of potential. Just from ad income alone, I believe it is higher than blogging. In the long run, you can also open up other income streams like brand sponsorships, which is huge. In the short run, before you are monetized, you can use the other business models we talked about, like digital products and affiliate marketing, to earn.
Extra Tips
While you are at it, play to your strengths:
- If you are great at long form content, try YouTube.
- If you are great at writing, try blogging.
If you do not know whether a model suits you, try it first to find out. Print on demand might be my favorite, but it might not be yours if you are not into designing.
Ready To Start Your Own Journey?
Now that you have seen the solopreneur business models I have tried and my honest thoughts on each, you might be wondering where to even begin.
That is exactly why I created Lift The Fog, my beginner’s guide to starting an online business. It walks you through the exact starting points I wish someone had handed me when I was staring at a blank page, wondering which income stream to pick first.
WANT TO START AN ONLINE BUSINESS & GET RESULTS FAST?
The right business model makes all the difference between spinning your wheels and actually making money online.
This blog post is all about solopreneur business models.
If you love to see more content like this, connect & follow me on social media to stay updated with the latest information.
Other posts you may like:
- How to Make Affiliate Income The Smart Way
- 7 Profitable Digital Product Ideas for Graphic Designers
- 7 Best Platforms to Sell Digital Products for Beginners
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