Solopreneurship is growing in popularity. The ‘solo entrepreneur’ is a savvy individual who builds and runs a business single-handedly, calling all the shots alone. In this age of global connections, internet-driven money-making potential, and highly specialized work, this go-getter is able to carve out a niche in their chosen industry and realize the dream of a self-supporting business. No bosses. No arguments. No limits. The solopreneur is most definitely here to stay.
But why are so many embracing the glories of solo entrepreneurship? And if you’re reading this blog post and wondering if you should take the plunge, what are your reasons for considering it? While the internet abounds with experts who can enumerate the reasons your bottom line will improve as a solopreneur, I think the intrinsic motivation is more responsible for the explosion of solopreneurs than freedom or finances.
Here are my thoughts for why solopreneurship is exploding.
 

It’s Possible

More than ever before, becoming a successful solopreneur is possible. The unique combination of factors have combined to make it easier than ever before to leverage your skills, experience, and passion into a profitable business with little-to-no start-up capital or investment. If you have a skill or service to market, there is someone, somewhere that values what you have to offer and is willing to pay you to do it. It’s that simple.
The internet provides a global forum for locating and contracting needed resources from skilled and experienced practitioners. Moreover, the tools needed to collaborate and produce what others need are available to anyone with an internet connection and a laptop, for little or no cost. More and more, the global community is seeking for that certain someone who can demonstrate expertise in a particular specialty, regardless of their location or ethnicity.
Solopreneurism is also more possible than ever because a growing number of successful solopreneurs are leveraging their success to show other potential solopreneurs how they, too, can become successful. Each week a new webcast, video series, coaching series, mentoring relationship, or other paid service becomes available to help budding entrepreneurs transition from dreams to reality. These gurus not only share valuable principles that can apply to every solopreneur, but many go further and provide specific ways to become a specialist and leverage your skills in particular professions, like writing and marketing.
 

It’s About Passion

Another top reason for the explosion of solopreneurs is passion. For decades, entrepreneurs were challenged with the question, “What would you choose to do with your life if you didn’t have to make a living?” Or, “For what would you pay for the privilege of doing?” Now more than any time in the past, those with the entrepreneurial spirit are able to translate their passion into a career. Making a living at what you love is actually doable; and many are choosing to do it.
Let’s face it; who is passionately slogging through monotonous days of struggling up the ladder in the corporate world? Alarm clocks were invented for those who must blast themselves out of bed each day to face a sad reality, not those who wake on their own eager to invest another day in their dream. When an opportunity presents itself to break free of the grind and go for broke, with a high probability of success, who wouldn’t take that chance?
And while financial remunerations are a large incentive, a growing number of solopreneurs are not passionate about simply making money. They measure success by a different set of criteria, one defined by what they value and cherish about life. For some it’s travel. For others it’s family. Still others want to impact their world in some meaningful way that lasts for generations, and solopreneurship provides the avenue through which their dreams can become reality.
 

It’s Personal

A third and equally important reason for the explosion of solopreneurs is that it’s personal. Solopreneurs are able to follow their own plan for success and not that of someone else. People at large are beginning realize the idea that there’s more to life than following a path constructed by someone else. We are getting excited about ideas like loving the work we do and being able to contribute something to humanity. We’re more than ready to carve out a life on our own terms.
Climbing the corporate ladder is following someone else’s path to help them achieve success. More and more, people are asking, “Did I deliberately choose to follow this plan and take this direction? If I choose a different, better path of my own making, where would I like the rest of the road — the journey of life — to take me?” Life is too short not to choose our own adventure, to have our own hero’s journey.
Speaking of personal, let’s get deep. You have unique skills, talents, experiences, and contributions that you can and must share with our world. You cannot accomplish that by being simply another cog in someone else’s machine. Your company can and will be completely unique. There is nothing else out there like it, just as there is no one else out there like you. Solopreneurship is the future, and the future is now. The opportunities are truly endless, and so will be your ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction.
I promise you. “Work” will never be the same again!