Solopreneur, You

Could You Become a Solopreneur in an Hour?

Always dreamed of running your own business? You’re not the only one – there are more solopreneurs than ever today as the latest statistics show.


Even a few years ago, starting out on your own was super hard. However, today’s solopreneurs have a huge wealth of technology and tools to make starting out a lot easier.

All the same, whether you are a massage therapist or a management consultant, starting up your own business can feel like an enormous task. It feels like there’s so much you’d have to do to get started that it’s tough to know where you should even begin.

But what if we told you that you could take the first step toward striking out on your own in less than an hour? Sounds too good to be true right? Well, read on and we’ll see how you really can launch a business and start taking your first bookings under 60 minutes! All you need is a little planning and the tools to make it happen — both are closer than you think!

First – Start Planning

There are some basic questions you need to consider before you create an online presence as a solopreneur. If you’ve been thinking about this business idea for a while, most of these should be straightforward to answer:

• What type of service will your business provide?
• How much will you charge for your service?
• Can you offer your services over the internet, or will people need to come to you in person?
• If you are selling physical items, how will you deliver them to customers?
• How many clients can you take on at one time?
• What’s the best way for clients to reach you?
• What do you offer that’s different from your competitors?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can go from answers on paper to clients online pretty quickly.

Launch A Profile for Your Business

You do not need any technical experience to set up a one-stop online platform for your clients to book your services. Book Like A Boss allows you to create a fully customized profile in minutes. Potential clients can view your information, send you a message, pay for services, and schedule an appointment all in one location.

On the back end, you’ll see all that information in one dashboard. You can also integrate it with your personal calendar and embed your profile on a website. Oh, and most importantly, Book LIke a Boss partners with PayPal and Stripe so you can be paid for your hard work right from the start.

Your profile can be as minimal or as expansive as you want it to be. If you are short on time and keen to hit the ground running, you may opt for a slim presence to start, knowing that you can come back and add features over time.

Get customers visiting your page and booking you

Your business as a solopreneur is only worth it if people know about it and use your products or services. A marketing strategy should be part of your planning process. Consider who you are trying to reach and how it might be best to do that.

For example, if you are going after the Millennial market, consider some paid social media advertising. Can you partner with any other solopreneurs or small businesses for mutual benefit? Your Book Like A Boss profile will be easy for your clients to remember no matter what type of promotional tools you use.

The more photos, videos, testimonials, and other content you add to your profile, the more successful your business will become – it makes the page more engaging and ensures visitors are more likely to convert into paying customers. Again, this does not need to happen overnight; things can start small and grow over time.

What are you waiting for?

If you’ve been thinking about launching yourself as a solopreneur, there’s no time like the present! Everyone has an extra hour to spare; why not use it to further your goals and launch your business today?

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Len is a tech and business writer who covers small business and startup advice and has appeared in many print and digital publications. He lives in London, UK, where he's also a sub editor on a national newspaper. He loves to travel and has lived in France, Spain, Senegal and Rwanda.

5 simple exercises for home-based entrepreneurs

Running your business from home is a great way to save on expenses when you’re starting out. You avoid paying for office rent, eating out at lunch and money spent commuting. But, one area where you could end up paying is your health. If your home-office routine means you walk no more than a few meters from your bed to your desk each day, and then sit in front of a computer for 8 (or more) hours, you could be doing real damage to your health.
Fortunately, research suggests that you can get a lot of health benefits from doing as little as 15 minutes of exercise per day. So, let’s look at 5 simple exercises you can do in your own home which will get your heart racing, without interrupting the flow of your work too much.

Here are 5 simple exercises for home-based freelancers and entrepreneurs:

1. Burpees

Burpees offer a full-body workout which will burn calories fast and get you sweating. Aim for three sets of 10 burpees, with a 30 second break between each set.

  • Begin stood up straight before crouching down and placing your hands on the floor in front of your
  • ‘Hop’ your feet backwards so you’re in plank position
  • Then, jump your feet forward to crouch position again, before leaping into the air with arms extended
  • When you land, move immediately back to crouch and repeat

Burpee

2. Mountain climber

Another high-intensity quick home workout, mountain climbers are a powerful exercise for getting almost every muscle in your body firing.

  • Once again, begin in plank position
  • Next, rapidly bring one knee up to your chest before returning it to plank before switching to the other leg. Do this as fast as possible
  • Do three sets of mountain climbers lasting 45 seconds each, with a 30 second break between each set

Mountain climber exercise

3. Squats

Squats are a powerful exercise for your leg muscles. After a few rounds, you’ll really start to feel the burn.

  • Stand with your feet in line with your shoulders and your arms in front of you

    • • Gradually bend your knees while keeping your torso straight until it almost feels like you’re in sitting position

    • Then, drive up through your legs so you’re standing up straight

    • Do 3 sets of 10 squats with a 15 second break between sets

Squat exercise at home

4. Raised push-ups

By placing your feet at shoulder height – on your couch or a coffee table, for instance, you increase the benefits of standard push-ups.

  • Get into plank position, before placing your feet on a stable surface which is parallel in height to your shoulders
  • Then, with your hands placed in line with your shoulders, bend your elbows so your chin is almost touching the ground before pushing back up
  • Do 3 sets of 10 push-ups with a 30 second break between sets

Raised pushed up

5. Jumping jacks

A great way to get your heart rate up, jumping jacks also help tone your legs and arms in this quick home workout.

  • Stand up straight with your arms by your side
  • Next, jump up, and simultaneously swing your arms up into the air (watch out for lights!) and your legs out to the side into a star shape
  • When you land, return your arms to your sides before repeating in quick succession
  • Do three 30 second sets of jumping jacks with 15 second breaks

Jumping jack exercise at home

5 Online Service Businesses you can start on $1,000 or less

Starting an online service business doesn’t need to cost the earth. With some dedication and a little bit of luck, you can start an online services business for as little as $1,000. Let’s look at five popular kinds of online service businesses you can launch with limited capital.

1. Event Planning

To become an event planner, you need little more than a website where people can book your time and a knowledge of your niche. It’s a wise idea to choose a specific kind of event that you help plan for, as this will allow you to differentiate yourself in the market. Whether it’s kids’ parties, weddings or business networking events, you need to make a name for yourself in one specific sector.

You’ll need to be able to source entertainment, refreshments and space for your events, but once this is organized, you’ll be able to include these in your prices and start turning a profit fast.

2. Online Tutoring

Got a college degree in Physics? Know a language that people the other side of the world want to learn? Have years of experience in a sector and can provide guidance and mentoring? Online tutoring is a great, low cost way of selling your expertise in a specific area. You need little more than a laptop and some lesson plans to get started and making money!

3. Copy Editing and Proof Reading

Whether it’s reports, brochures, whitepapers or guide books, there’s ever more companies producing ever more content. To make sure that content is well written and free of grammatical mistakes, many companies turn to copy editors and proof readers. If you can spot a spelling mistake a mile off – and proof copy fast and efficiently, your services will be in high demand. And, because you need nothing more than a computer (and maybe a printer) to get started, this is one of the cheapest businesses to start around.

4. IT Consulting

As businesses use technology more and more, the demand for friendly, efficient and knowledgeable IT consultants keeps on growing. Whether you’ve got experience installing hardware or are more comfortable migrating databases or coding applications, there’s an almost limitless number of companies who will need your help.

5. Virtual Assistant

Many companies have a range of jobs and pieces of work that their own employees don’t have the time or skills to do. Whether it’s chasing customers about invoices, managing their social media or data entry, if you have versatile office skills you can offer your customers a huge help – all you need is a website to get started.

Whatever your business idea, you need to make it easy for customers to book your services. Learn how you can do that in just seven minutes here!