The virtual assistant

Types of solopreneurs

Define what is meant by the term ‘solopreneurs’

The Solopreneur Institute (https://www.solopreneurinstitute.com/) defines a solopreneur as:

“An entrepreneur who prefers the freedom to run a business without any w-2 employees.”

This means that you can work with people, but you are not actually hiring employees with an office. You can hire contractors and simply pay by hour or project.

A solopreneur is very agile in the sense that they can take on new roles quickly and provide different kinds of services based on the demand of the customers.

They are also more resilient, in the way that they are not dependent on anybody else to make decisions, and they most likely have other clients as well to diversify their revenue streams.

Solopreneurs can roughly be divided into four main categories:

1. The Freelancer
A Freelancer is someone who provides a service. They might sell their time by the hour, or price by the project. They often sell on proposal, and build their audience by talking about their craft, and sharing case studies of their work.

2. The Maker
A Maker is someone who produces a product. They sell something that others purchase through their website. They create good systems and find new audiences by nurturing advocates and champions of their products.

3. The Thought Leader
A Thought Leader is someone who shares ideas. They express their ideas to an audience of people who gain benefits when they learn these ideas. They grow their audience by producing books, speeches, courses and programmes to deliver their intellectual property.

4. The Agent
An Agent is someone who sells on behalf of others. Their brand is a subsidiary of their parent brand, and they often communicate with their audience in the name of their overbrand. Insurance agents, affiliate marketers, and commissioned salespeople are Solopreneurs, but also agents of others.

A Solopreneur can shift between these roles over time depending on the client and the task but most often they will be specialised experts hired to do a certain type of tasks for a company.

EXAMPLES/CASES

Case: Online Business Manager vs. Virtual Assistant: What’s the difference?

The terms Virtual Assistant and Online Business Manager are fairly common. There is certainly some overlap between the two, but they do ultimately encompass different roles and responsibilities. For a business owner, understanding the differing roles between the two helps narrow the search and speed up the hiring process.

https://horkeyhandbook.com/obm-virtual-assistant/

Case: 53 Solopreneur Businesses You Can Start

Creating a business does not mean you have to have an office full of people to be successful. Thanks to modern technology one-person business owners, usually called solopreneurs, have found tremendous success and freedom running a business on their own. They have the power to implement their own decisions and create the business of their dreams.

https://www.solopreneurinstitute.com/solopreneur-businesses/

Identify opportunities for aspiring ‘solopreneurs’

There are many new possibilities for starting a solopreneur business. Some of these business ideas would probably not have been a viable option just a few years ago, but the internet has made it possible to reach a very large market, so it is just a question of finding the right niche.

Here are some of the businesses a solopreneur can start today:

E-commerce Business
Blog Owner
Solo Bookkeeper
Consultant
Life Coach
Health Coach
Writer
Sell Online Courses
Ride Sharing Driver
Airbnb Owner
Software as a Service
Personal Chef
Social Media Management Agency
Web Design Agency
PR Agency
Search Engine Optimization Agency
YouTube Star
Logo Designer
Personal trainer
Affiliate Marketing
Virtual Assistant
T-shirts
Podcaster

TIPS

Take a closer look at Solopreneur jobs

5 Solopreneur Careers That Will Make You Want to Quit Your Day Job

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/373147