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Entrepreneur
16-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
5 Things You Need to Stop Doing as a Solopreneur
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Artificial intelligence and other technological advances, along with the rise in the "gig economy," have sent the number of solopreneurs in the United States soaring. SellersCommerce reports that in 2025, there are now 41.8 million solopreneurs, which means a whopping 85.8% of small businesses in the U.S. are solopreneurships. But just because there are 41.8 million solopreneurs, that doesn't mean there are 41.8 million successful solopreneurs. Statistics indicate that many of these small business owners are struggling to gain a foothold in their market. In fact, a recent University of North Carolina study found that 21% of new small businesses fail in the first year and 50% fail within five years. In my work as a provider of advanced technology platforms to solopreneurs, I have discovered that there are five key mistakes the solopreneurs often make that prevent them from achieving profitability over the long term. Stop doing these things, and your chances of experiencing greater success skyrocket! Related: Solopreneur Success: 5 Tips for Growing a One-Person Business 1. Stop working without a plan WinSavvy estimates that nearly one out of every three entrepreneurs start their business without a formal business plan. That means there is no set business structure to limit chaos, no roadmap to follow in difficult times and no set goals to maintain the solopreneur's focus. Without a plan, these solopreneurs often find themselves working on the wrong things and pursuing the wrong business opportunities, which reduces their profits and puts the future of their business in jeopardy. So, take time to make a plan and then commit to following it. You'll end up saving time and lots of stress, and you'll dramatically increase your chances for success. 2. Stop taking marketing for granted When the budget is tight, it is easy to cut back on marketing, especially those campaigns that don't produce direct profits. But this is almost always a mistake. There is an old adage, "You can have the best product in the world, but you aren't going to make any sales if no one knows about it." Well, guess what? This has become a popular saying for a reason — because it's true. Solopreneurs should be using a variety of marketing techniques — from email marketing to content and referral marketing and more — to build their brand, attract new customers and generate more sales. 3. Stop ignoring the financial side of the business It's not enough to simply send invoices to clients. Solopreneurs interested in long-term success must also track cash flow and routinely analyze financial data to assess business performance, identify trends and set more accurate goals for the future. The good news is that staying on top of financial data is much simpler today, thanks to a variety of easy-to-use tools, such as Stripe, Wave or Solowise. Many of these programs utilize AI and machine learning to instantly provide in-depth financial information in an easily understandable format. Related: 3 Challenges Every Solopreneur Faces and How to Overcome Them 4. Stop putting yourself second to your business Starting a business is a massive undertaking, and it is understandable that many solopreneurs want to devote all their energy and attention to their business to give it the best chance for success. But the truth is, devoting all your time to your business and ignoring yourself and your relationships ultimately ends up putting your business at risk. It's important for solopreneurs to have time away from their business to recharge their batteries. When you do that, you'll be able to go back to your business and get more work done in less time. What you don't want to do is perpetuate a cycle where you exhaust yourself with work, as you'll get less done while making more mistakes. Take time to be with loved ones and to exercise and look after your health. Doing this responsibly will pay huge dividends as you move forward. 5. Stop trying to do it all! There are a number of reasons why solopreneurs don't succeed, but by far, one of the most common is failing to effectively manage all the different aspects of their business. The truth is, solopreneurs have to be experts at a number of different things — from lead generation to sales to order fulfillment to customer service and more. While many have knowledge in some of these areas, very few have knowledge in all of these areas. That lack of knowledge and experience leads to an imbalance that typically proves to be too difficult for many solopreneurs to overcome. In the past, solopreneurs were limited in what they could do to shore up their weak areas. Their main options were to do hours and hours of research online and hope that the resources they came across were accurate, or spend money to purchase books, courses and other training material from self-proclaimed solopreneur experts. Now there is another option — technology. Today's AI and machine learning (ML) platforms put information and resources at solopreneurs' fingertips that they never had access to before — and they have been quick to take advantage of them. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that 90% of small businesses in the United States use at least one AI program today. Here are some tools entrepreneurs can use: Calendly and Acuity for scheduling, Trello and Notion for project management, and Zapier for automation and productivity. When it comes to subscription-based services, it's important to choose a tool that has all the features you need — without paying for unnecessary extras. So when choosing them, try to focus on the ones that are made for small businesses or solopreneurs. Related: Solopreneurs Are Quietly Building 6 to 7 Figure Empires — Here's How The most successful solopreneurs have figured it out. They understand that they don't have to do everything themselves. By utilizing technology and by prioritizing their own well-being, solopreneurs can avoid the traps that have caused so many to fail in the past. The key is to start small. Tackle one problem area at a time to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Then build upon your success. In no time, you could have a smooth-operating business that allows you to enjoy all the best benefits of the solopreneur lifestyle — like time freedom and wealth creation!
Forbes
25-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tech Startup Marketing: How To Get The Ball Rolling
Adhip Ray, is the founder of WinSavvy, a digital marketing consultancy for startups and professional service providers. Starting a tech firm can be akin to standing on the edge of a cliff with a jetpack on your back. You know there is a method to fly—but you also know that if you mess things up, you could fall hard. Marketing can serve as your ignition and propel you into the air fast. If you're uncertain how to get your marketing off the ground, here are four steps that I have found to be effective for tech startups. Many founders wait until their product is complete before communicating. In my experience, that is a mistake; it's important to start promoting the moment you start building. Why? Because people are more likely to care when you build in public. This can help attract your first 50-100 fans, potential users and possibly even early investors. Here are a few ways you can begin: • Start publishing about the experience on LinkedIn, including early mockups, pain issues you're addressing, and even failures. • Make unfiltered videos, such as founder updates, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes footage. • Create a landing page on Day 1 that provides interested people with a clear problem statement, one bold line explaining how your startup will fix the problem and a simple email grab box. If you don't use social media, you're invisible. It doesn't matter if you look weird on camera; be honest, be fast, and do not overthink it. People are drawn to authenticity. Many startup websites resemble a pitch deck: all about the product. In my experience, people don't care about the tools a company offers; they care about fixing their problem. So, instead of "features," prioritize deep, informative and straightforward content that addresses a certain issue. For example, when my team creates a development tool, we write blog posts with topics like "Why Your Frontend Keeps Breaking In Production (and How To Fix It)" or "How We Saved $1,200/mo By Switching From X To Y." These are not SEO fluff; these are tactical, problem-solving pieces that can address exactly what your ideal user searches for at 2 a.m. I have a simple strategy for this step: • Locate 10-15 subjects that are being searched online. You can do this with technologies such as Ahrefs or just Google Auto Suggest. • Write blog entries on those topics. I write blog entries as if I were emailing a friend who needs aid. You don't need to be elaborate—just be helpful. • Include one call-to-action (CTA) in each post. For example, you can include a button labeled "Try the tool" or "Join the waitlist." And yes, you can measure. I use Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics to track which blog entries generate signups, which pages users leave and which pages convert visitors into leads. I've found that in most cases, tech startups don't need $10,000 in advertisements; they just need a little hustle. When I start a business, I spend the first few weeks doing manual outreach through DMs, emails and cold messages. However, don't send spammy messages. Find a niche. Let's imagine you're creating a tool for remote teams. Go to LinkedIn, Reddit and/or Slack groups—anywhere your target demographic hangs out—and seek folks discussing the problem you're solving. Message them with something like, "Hi, I noticed your comment regarding difficulty with setting up an email marketing campaign. I'm creating something around that. Do you want early access? This is not a pitch—it's a conversation starter. In my experience, 2-7 out of 100 messages get a response. Out of those, a decent fraction should try the product. And some of them can provide gold: comments, referrals and possibly even testimonials. Try to reach out to at least 100 people per day when you are starting out. This can help you gain early momentum without investing a dollar. Building what I refer to as a power loop has proven to be a gamechanger for me. Here is the idea: Instead of trying to gain each new user individually, create a system in which each new user attracts more users. I am not referring to a dull referral program—they rarely work this early in the process. I'm talking about designing your onboarding, sharing and product use so that it spreads naturally. For example, let's say you're creating a free tool or calculator to address a pain issue for a B2B SaaS firm, such as determining how much time their team wastes on bug triage. Within the tool, include a soft CTA to your main product (ex: "Want to change this? Try X."). You can also preload the "share" button with a brag-worthy result, such as: "Turns out our team wastes 17 hours/month fixing avoidable bugs—use this free tool to check yours." People who use the tool and find it valueable can use this button to share it with others. Sharing can attract additional individuals who will try the instrument. Of those, a certain percentage sign up for your main product. That's a power loop. I've used this tactic for hiring-scorecard generators, KPI dashboards and even "startup runway calculators," and I can say from experience that it works quite well. Bonus: If you execute this correctly, you can also gain backlinks and free SEO juice. I've found that journalists, bloggers and even forums enjoy linking to free resources. In my experience, most startups fail because they hide behind product development. They wait too long to tell their story. Or, worse, they talk but no one listens because there's no value. Marketing isn't about shouting; it's about helping the right people at the right time, then showing up again and again. Here's my personal checklist when I'm kicking off: • Am I documenting the build publicly and showing real progress? • Is my site solving problems, not pitching features? • Am I talking to users every day, even manually? • Is there at least one power loop running? If your answer to any of these is no, fix those areas first. As a tech startup, your edge is speed. So move fast and keep iterating! Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
