Taking the plunge and running your own business is a daunting task filled with risks and inevitable complications, particularly for those embarking on the journey alone. However, though solopreneurship comes hand in hand with challenges, building your operation from the ground up can change your life for the better.
Successful solopreneurship requires dedication, patience, and ambition to become lucrative, a task difficult for those unwilling to buckle down and work hard. That said, if you’re ready to face potential predicaments head-on, keep reading for eight common solopreneurship challenges and how to conquer them.
Trying to do everything
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When starting out, you may feel the heavy expectation to do everything yourself, from making momentous decisions to designing a company logo to answering every email in your inbox. Though part of solopreneurship is managing operations alone, most successful individuals utilize freelancers for projects or menial tasks.
Though you should be overseeing day-to-day functions, allowing a freelancer to design your site face, hiring a contractor for over-the-top productions, or working with a social media manager can limit initial stressors.
Lack of resources
As a fresh-faced solopreneur, you may lack the necessary resources to get your business up and running. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to make ends meet without the proper tools for solopreneurs, resources in terms of time and money, and skills to secure clients.
However, by researching your niche market, carefully budgeting, and connecting with other solopreneurs, you can scale hurdles and make your business idea a reality.
Not prioritizing tasks
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As a solopreneur, you and you alone will take care of daily operations, future projects, and schedules—a recipe for disaster without proper organization and prioritization. Unfortunately, it’s easy to become bogged down by trivial tasks, leaving you scrambling for time and energy to complete urgent duties. So, creating a system to track and weight each job is critical to long-term success and client satisfaction.
Start by asking yourself if the work at hand will affect the bottom line. If the answer is no, focus your time on projects that will increase profits and save less critical tasks for later.
Attempting to scale your business right off the bat
Though scaling is a critical aspect of any business to stay afloat, solopreneurs often make the mistake of rushing into transactions, ultimately biting off more than they can chew. Larger companies— even ones run by entrepreneurs —have an easier time growing operations because they have teams dedicated to growth and outreach.
Solopreneurs, on the other hand, should focus on maintaining a reasonable workload and streamlining processes before attempting to climb the ladder of success. However, that is not to say you can’t expand operations once you’ve built a stable foundation. Just make sure you remain realistic about your capabilities as a solopreneur and stay patient to bypass burnout.
Financial challenges
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Almost any new business, especially ones run by solopreneurs, typically faces financial issues. If you are reckless as a solopreneur, you may wind up sinking too much of your own money into a business, scrambling when things get tight.
To help sidestep significant financial setbacks, set a budget for your business, make wise financial decisions, or seek out investors for more substantial projects.
Loneliness
Unfortunately, riding the solopreneur wave can be a lonely job. In an office or entrepreneur setting, you have access to coworkers and teams to build professional relationships and commiserate as you face work challenges.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to socialize as a solo-run business owner. Many solopreneurs rely on online and in-person groups to bounce ideas off or create meaningful friendships. Others rent shared office spaces or work in public cafes, enabling them to work and chat with like-minded individuals.
Though it can be difficult to open yourself up to people around you and share your ideas, finding a community that supports and understand your passions and struggles is critical to success.
Motivation
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A must-have for eager solopreneurs is motivation to succeed. However, it can be challenging to transition from a nine-to-five position with round-the-clock supervision into a self-motivated solo setting. To diminish the culture shock, try sticking to a strict schedule at first, clocking in and out (metaphorically) at the same time each day. That way, you can build helpful habits before introducing a more flexible schedule into your solo-run operations.
Work-life balance
Creating a work-life balance is challenging for everyone, from those with structured positions to solopreneurs with a whirlwind schedule. Successful solo-run business owners find the job demanding, unable log-off, leaving them exhausted after working long hours with little downtime.
While it may be tempting to spend every minute working on your business, it’s important to take time for family, friends, and yourself.
Parting thoughts
As a solopreneur, you’ll face many challenges along the way. However, with the right mindset and enough willpower, you can scale each hurdle that comes your way and build the business of your dreams.
