The Solopreneur Nightmare

What you need to know about being a solopreneur before you dive in

Imagine living in Bali, feeling the calm breeze and sounds of the waves engulfing your senses.

On your side table, there is a cocktail cup filled with a concoction that tantalizes your senses.

Not long later, a call comes in, and it is Jeff, your newest client. He just appointed you to be his copywriter. He is paying you $1,000 a month to do work for him. He is very happy with what you just sent him.

As soon as you hang up the phone explaining what you will do with him on the phone, there is an email notification that Mary has just transferred $2,000 to your bank account for your services.

This is your solopreneur life that everybody would die to have.

That’s the tale that usually everybody hears. Everybody yearns to escape the 9–5 job. Get that solopreneur job where it is a dream every single day.

The question is, how did you get there in the first place?

Yes, you can have your own schedule. Work from anywhere you want.

But…

how do you get there? That’s the part where things are a little tricky.

A few weeks ago, I was told that I could do real estate business with 1 case that would give me above RM10,000+ (USD 2000). The person who referred me to her agency has been a consistent top salesperson even during Covid-19 times. She’s been top sales for three years, and she introduced me and roped me in.

After signing up and going for the NCC (Negotiators Certification Course), I found out so many things that make the whole beautiful dream turn into a nightmare.

I will not reveal the details. But there you have it. A beautiful picture was painted.

Flexible working hours. Work anywhere you want. That’s also what this person told me about my real estate job that feels like a solopreneur, globe-trotting job.

Eventually, this picture was smashed, and what I get is reality.

Thus, now is the time to debunk the myths of a solopreneur for you.

Working 12- 24 hours a day before you make the first few sales

Some people would be very lucky. Everything they try for the first time, they get. They get lucky with getting clients. Get lucky by getting sales.

But that is a dime in a dozen. Whether they get it at the start or not. There will be ‘dry times’ when there is no sale.

Since you have to do everything yourself, you will have to learn everything there is under the sun to get your work done.

From managing Fiverr or Upwork, to negotiations for your services, to managing social media, to learn how to operate that darn accounting software.

Imagine having to compete with millions of people for work. That’s what Fiverr and Upwork is about. Yes, it might not be millions. But you are up against thousands of people trying to get that one job. Go figure.

Learning and getting the necessary skills are all part of the game. Like it or not, you have to get familiar with all of these. Those that are listed there are not all you have to get familiar with. We’ll create a different story for all the many skills you need to make it as a solopreneur in the future.

Having no income until you get your first sales

You got that right. You don’t have any money coming in until you make your first sales. That means, you might be dry for months without cash flowing in. You are trying to win clients over. You are trying to write that blog or novel. Or trying to get affiliate marketing going, podcasts up and YouTube videos that will get viewers or listeners.

For YouTube, you need 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time in the past 12 months to monetize. So don’t quit your day job just yet if you want to go down that path.

Podcasts and all also have their requirements. No easy life there, honey.

How long it will take before you break even

With all the expenses you have living there in Bali, which is quite cheap, I suppose, you still need to get money in. When can you get that money in? It is up to your luck, your 24/7 hustling mode on and pray to God the angels will help you to secure a few accounts to break even.

Break-even means you can pay for everything without savings and extra cash in your bank account.

If it was $1000 spent, you get back $1000 from your services.

It’s still a good life.

Doing everything yourself when there is no budget for help

When you have no money in the bank account to get help, you will need to do everything yourself. Whether it is marketing, copywriting, operating your social media accounts or designing your graphics and do video editing, everything has to be done by you.

When you have money, you can hire freelancers to do it for you. But they don’t come cheap. So, you’ll have to charge your client a hefty sum.

This brings us to the question.

Will the client pay a high price tag to accommodate all your freelancers working for you?

Isolation for maybe months working alone

When you are working as a solopreneur, you are working alone. There will be no colleagues to gossip with you. Or any form of communication in real life, unless you work at a co-working space and you make friends with all the hot girls and boys there. Which, by the way, doesn’t exist.

You will be doing Zoom meetings and communicating with your clients through email.

It’s a lonely path. But you can always make friends with the people around you. As long as they are human, they might become a friend.

But then, if they are all solopreneurs, they might be too busy to entertain you.

Get a pet. That’s a good idea.

Finances must be kept in check

All your food and your expenses for your accommodation in Bali has to be paid. Then you will see how much money you have left to go surfing.

If you run out of money, you’ll have to do bartending like that Cocktail movie with Tom Cruise in it.

Maybe you’ll meet a cute girl or guy that is rich.

Let’s just stop dreaming at this point.

It can happen. So let’s pray it does.

Burning Out is a Major Problem

This is the biggest problem of them all. Burnout.

Yes, you are so excited about the work. Yes, you can work 18–20 hours a day.

Then, you will have to hope that work is coming in and that clients are lining up.

That’s because after putting in all the work and still nothing is coming through, you will not be able to sustain that momentum for months on end.

When you burn out, you will be burnt out for weeks or months.

Some never recover.

They go home and live with their parents, playing video games their whole life.

Scared yet?

Clients Might Give You A Hard Time Getting Money

If I haven’t tortured you enough till this point and that you are still reading, then I will tell you the very last thing that you will want to be aware of.

Client paying the money.

My dad worked for the government in Malaysia and they never pay on time, dragging the payment for months or years.

Some clients might pay you on time. Some might not. Some might give you a hard time. That is just normal.

If you are lucky. Congrats. You got good clients. If not… we will just go home, live with our parents and sing I Want To Be A Billionaire with Bruno Mars every single day.

Now the Good News

The good news if you are still with me is that once you get over that phase of difficult times. Where everything seems like it is not going your way, you might be on your way to making your 6 figure income that so many solopreneurs do make. We are not talking 1 or 10. There are millions of them all over the world making a good living as a solopreneur.

This is what Google Bard had to say when it comes to six figure earning solopreneurs.

There is no definitive answer to this question, as there is no single source of data that tracks the number of solopreneurs who make a six-figure income. However, according to a study by Leapmesh, 20% of solopreneurs earn $100k to $300k without needing to hire staff. This suggests that there are millions of solopreneurs around the world who make a six-figure income.

If you remember the movie Cast Away, where Tom Hanks had a volleyball named Wilson to keep him company, he had a really hard time getting off the island pass a certain point at sea.

Everytime he tries to get past a certain point, he will be washed back to the island.

Somehow, that one chance got him off the island with Wilson together with him.

You got to work like you gonna take a lot of hits. You are going to feel like shit. You are going to be depressed.

But if you don’t quit and persevere. Be persistent with your efforts every day.

Remember to hydrate, rest, meditate, sleep and eat. You will one day make it.

If you are a solopreneur or aspiring to be one, please comment and let me know your journey so far.

I’d love to hear where you are now and what you plan to do.

We are all rooting for you.

You can make it if you keep going and don’t give up.

Good times are ahead. If you keep believing in your dream and getting work done.

Good luck and Godspeed.

Best,

V

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