Running a Business on Your Own: A Guide for Women Solopreneurs
If you've watched Schitt's Creek, you'll remember David opening Rose Apothecary. He has the vision, the taste, and some very particular opinions about candles. For a while, he figures it all out on his own, until Patrick walks in to help with the business registration and ends up becoming a partner.
Most of us don't get a Patrick walking through the door. When you are building and running a business on your own, you're the one with the vision and the one handling everything else that comes with it, from pricing and the paperwork to the quiet worry about whether you made the right call. If that sounds a lot like a typical week for you, you're in the right place.
What is a solopreneur, anyway?
A solopreneur is someone who owns her business and carries it on her own. You might have a bookkeeper, a virtual assistant, or a few contractors helping you out, but there's no business partner sharing the load, and at the end of the day you're the one who sets the direction and makes the call.
You might be a coach, a therapist, a yoga instructor, a designer, or a maker. You might be three months in or ten years in, and you might plan to stay solo for good or be solo for a season on the way to something bigger. All of it counts.
Some of this might feel familiar
You've been sitting on a decision for two weeks because there's nobody to talk it through with, and it keeps following you around long after you've closed the laptop.
You've had a great month followed by a slow one, and the slow one keeps you up at night because when you work for yourself, there's no guaranteed paycheque waiting at the end of it.
You've noticed that your energy is basically your business capacity, so when you're running on empty, everything slows down right along with you.
You haven't taken a real break in longer than you'd like to admit, because who would answer emails while you're gone?
And maybe the people who love you the most don't quite understand why a slow month weighs on you so much, or that a quiet afternoon at home is still a workday.
If you nodded along to any of that, you're in very good company, and it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. It's simply part of carrying a business on your own.
What helps lighten the load
I wish I could tell you there's one fix for all of it, but in my experience it comes down to a handful of small choices that add up over time.
The first is finding someone to think out loud with. So many decisions that sit for weeks get made in one good conversation, once there's someone across the table asking the right questions. That might be a friend in business, a small circle of peers, or a coach, as long as it's someone who gives your ideas somewhere to land.
Then, there's the money side. When you're the only one doing the work, your prices have to carry a lot - the admin, the marketing, the slow months, and your time off - so it's worth looking at your numbers with all of that in mind. Setting a little aside in the good months makes the quieter ones a lot less scary, too.
Your energy needs the same kind of care. For me, that means I don't work weekends; that's sacred time for family, friends, and rest. Vacations are vacations and long weekends are just that - a space to unplug. Walking back into your office after a break should have you feeling clearer and happy to be there. Whatever that looks like for you, whether it's capping how many clients you see in a week or building breathing room between commitments and tasks, protecting your energy is part of running your business well and creating sustainability within it.
And find your people. Two or three women who are building something on their own, who you can text when a week goes sideways or beautifully right, can change how the whole thing feels.
Underneath it all, it helps to start with the life you want, how much you want to work, and how you want your weeks to feel, and then check in every so often to recalibrate. The business that fits you today might not fit you in three years, and that's okay.
I've done it both ways
I've been a business owner since 2007. For years, I co-owned a marketing agency with partners and a team, and when I started coaching, I chose to do it on my own.
I mentioned that because there's a quiet assumption out there that a one-woman business is one that simply hasn't "grown up" yet. I'd already built the bigger version, and I knew exactly what partners and a team could offer. I also knew what I wanted next, which was the freedom to shape my work around my life and keep doing the work I love myself. Choosing solo is one of the best decisions I've made in this season of my life, and if you're running your business on your own, you deserve the same credit, whether solo is your long-term plan or just where you are right now.
Stay small or grow? You get to decide
There's a lot of pressure in the business world to keep scaling, but bigger isn't automatically better, and plenty of women build deeply satisfying, profitable businesses that stay small on purpose. Others love the idea of hiring help, bringing on associates or, like David in Schitt's Creek, finding their own Patrick. Either path can be a good one, as long as it's the one you're choosing.
If this is where you are
Building a business on your own takes courage, and it asks a lot of you. It also gives you the freedom to shape your work around what matters most to you, and that's worth protecting.
If you'd like a thinking partner as you figure out what's next, I'd love to hear from you. Book a free 30-minute conversation, and we'll talk about where things stand, with no pressure at all.
A few questions women often ask
What is a solopreneur?
A solopreneur is someone who owns and runs a business on her own. She may have help from contractors, an assistant, or a small team, but she's the sole owner and decision-maker, and the business ultimately rests on her.
Is it normal to feel lonely as a solopreneur?
Yes, it's one of the most common things solopreneurs feel, because so many decisions and worries rest on one person. It usually eases once you have a thinking partner or a few peers to talk things through with.
How should a solopreneur set her prices?
I believe that pricing works best when it brings a few things together: the value your work creates for your clients, what your offer actually includes, what's happening in your market, and your own financial goals for your business and your life. When those pieces line up, you can land on a price that feels fair to your clients and sustainable for you, and that you can say out loud with confidence.
Do I need to grow a team to be successful?
No. Many solopreneurs build profitable, abundant and, satisfying businesses that stay small on purpose, and whether you grow depends on how you want to work and live.
When does it make sense to work with a business coach as a solopreneur?
Coaching can help at almost any stage of a business, including the good ones. It gives you a fresh perspective from someone outside your business, helps you uncover the things you don't know you don't know, and gives you a place to say your ideas out loud and help them grow. For many solopreneurs, it also eases the isolation of making every decision on your own. Look for someone who understands what it's really like to run a business by yourself, and who will help you build something that lasts.
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