In this article, we will take a look at the 20 best business ideas for solopreneurs in 2024. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to 5 Best Business Ideas for Solopreneurs in 2024.
Some of the Most Notable Solopreneurs
A solopreneur is an individual who sets up a business and runs it on their own. Justin Welsh, Charmaine Pocek, and Mark Anastasi are among the most popular solopreneurs. Let's take a look at their achievements as business owners. You can also take a look at some of the most influential entrepreneurs today.
Justin Welsh is a popular solopreneur known for building a million-dollar business in less than 3 years. Justin Welsh is a mentor to small-scale startups and is the author of "The Saturday Solopreneur." The newsletter provides tips and strategies to launch and grow internet businesses as solopreneurs and is read by over 215,000 people globally. In the past decade, he has helped two companies cross a valuation of $1 billion and raise more than $300 million in venture capital. Soon he quit his job to become an angel investor and mentor to budding entrepreneurs. He mentors business founders in Latin America (LATAM), via the 500 Startups Mentorship Program, and at Go-to-Market Fund (GTMfund) as an LP. GTMfund is a rolling fund that invests $4 million into early-stage B2B SaaS companies. Welsh mentors people through his courses and writings covering topics such as productivity, social media growth, knowledge monetization, personal branding, business planning, and personal growth.
Charmaine Pocek is a top-rated freelancer on Fiverr. She has an average customer star rating of 4.9 based on 23,100 reviews, and over 75,000 clients across 167 countries. She provides services in master resume writing and contract corporate tech recruitment. She has multiple certifications and an industry experience of over 17 years, along with 31,000 followers on LinkedIn. According to a report by Fiverr, Charmaine Pocek made roughly $1.2 million through Fiverr in 2017. She founded My Improved Resume in 2011. On the website, users can schedule a free consultation and acquire her services through the shop. The salary negotiation letter is priced at $39, the custom cover letter is priced at $99, and the entry-level career package is priced at $249.
Another popular solopreneur is Mark Anastasi, who is an author, marketer, and speaker. His book, The Laptop Millionaire, a New York Times best-seller, has an average customer star rating of 4.5 based on 440 customer reviews on Amazon, as of April 29, 2024. He is also the founder of The Inspired Marketing Group, home to more than 52,000 customers from 116 countries across the globe. He wrote his first book in 2004, on alternative medicine, and generated over $2 million in sales. In 2005, he launched Inspired Seminars in the United Kingdom. These seminars focused on personal growth and development. In 2009, he then launched large-scale events in the United Kingdom in partnership with international speakers.
How to Start a Solo Business
Starting a business may seem daunting. However, existing companies, franchises, and platforms may make the process simpler. Becoming an author is one of the best business ideas for solopreneurs. Substack allows authors and publishers to discuss ideas and share their writing process with readers. Once writers set up their account on Substack, they will be directed to choose their preferred payment plan. In this section, authors can decide on their subscription packages and pricing. Bari Weiss, an author of Substack, managed to gain more than 90,000 readers within the first six months of starting a newsletter. She enjoys more than $800,000 in revenue a year. The Bear Cave, another author on Substack, bagged $300,000 a year after its debut on the platform. Substack allows authors to build a community on the platform and lets them keep 90% of the revenue.
Tutoring is another popular business idea for solopreneurs. To step into the industry, solopreneurs can own a franchise. Club Z! is a tutoring franchise for in-home and online tutoring. The franchise provides tutoring for college students, pre-K tutoring, writing training, and reading tutoring. Every franchise unit of the company has an average enrollment of 46 students per month. According to data by Top Franchise, the franchise has more than 400 locations across North America. Business owners must invest at least $35,000 and have a net worth of $100,000. The franchise fee is almost $35,000 and may go as low as $20,000. Lastly, business owners must have $40,000 in liquid cash to buy the franchise. The franchise is one of the best options for solopreneurs as it requires only one individual to run.
HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS) is a leading software provider to streamline a company's marketing, sales, and customer service functions. Solopreneurs can use the platform to automate their email marketing and social media capabilities for free. On March 25, HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE:HUBS) launched its spring update for 2024. As per the new update, the HubSpot Service Hub has launched a help desk workspace. The help desk workspace is an automated productivity platform that provides updates on tickets and updates to channels in real-time. Additionally, the chatbot in Service Hub is now powered by generative pre-trained transformer technology. The new AI-backed platform provides companies with recommendations and conversation summaries in real-time. Coming to the Content Hub, the company launched an AI content creation tool, a content remix tool, and a brand voice tool. All these tools combined can help solopreneurs streamline operations and reach a wider audience.
Having a brand presence on the internet is crucial. To establish business credibility, solopreneurs can set up a work email, and acquire a suite of productivity products to boost business performance. Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google Workspace brings together Gmail, Calender, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The suite of products is integrated with Gemini, an artificial intelligence tool, that acts as an assistant to business owners. The Business Standard plan is available for $12 per month. The plan offers a custom and secure business email, 150 participant video meetings, 2 terabytes in pooled storage per user, and standard customer support. Here are some comments from Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Q4 2023 earnings call:
"Customers are increasingly choosing Duvet AI, our packaged AI agents for Google Workspace and Google Cloud Platform to boost productivity and improve their operations. Since its launch, thousands of companies and more than a million trusted testers have used Duvet AI. It will incorporate Gemini soon. In Workspace, Duvet AI is helping employees benefit from improved productivity and creativity at thousands of paying customers around the world, including Singapore Post, Uber and Woolworths. In Google Cloud Platform, Duvet AI assist software developers and cybersecurity analysis. Duvet AI for developers is the only Gen AI offering to support the company development and operations lifecycle, fine-tune with the customers’ own core corpus and policies."
Now that we have glanced at some of the possible opportunities for solopreneurs, let's discuss the 20 best business ideas for solopreneurs in 2024. You can also take a look at the small business ideas for teens.
20 Best Business Ideas for Solopreneurs in 2024
20 Best Business Ideas for Solopreneurs in 2024
Our Methodology
To gather a list of the 20 best business ideas for solopreneurs in 2024, we consulted over 10 rankings and reports on the internet. We picked the business ideas that appeared in 50% of our sources and then ranked them.
20 Best Business Ideas for Solopreneurs in 2024
20. Virtual Assistant
Becoming a virtual assistant is one of the best business ideas for solopreneurs in 2024. Rebecca Morassutti is a virtual assistant who makes six figures from home. According to a report by Entrepreneur, she started her journey by submitting a proposal on Upwork. At the end of her first year as a virtual assistant, in 2024, she had bagged $65,000. In 2023, she had made $144,000 in revenue.
19. Tutoring
Business owners can provide tutoring services either online or in person. Setting up a virtual tutoring capability will be considerably cheaper. Tools like Zoom and Google Classroom may facilitate the execution.
18. Podcasting
Podcasting is one of the best business ideas for solopreneurs. The Joe Rogan Experience is a highly popular podcast with more than 16.6 million subscribers on YouTube and a star rating of 4.8 based on over 814,000 reviews on Spotify, as of April 29, 2024. According to Fourthwall, podcasters can earn somewhere between $700 to $13,000 per month, depending on downloads and streams.
17. Photography
Photography is a great business idea for entrepreneurs. Business owners can provide coverage services in their vicinity on special events. To market their photography, business owners can set up an Instagram and TikTok business account.
16. Author
Becoming an author is one of the best business ideas for Solopreneurs in 2024. Business owners can start a newsletter or sell their books on Substack. According to a report by Backlinko, the top 10 authors on Substack make more than $25 million per year.
15. Personal Training
Personal training is one of the best business ideas for solopreneurs. Business owners can provide personal training sessions virtually. Business owners can also market their training business on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok.
14. Online Courses Selling
Solo entrepreneurs can also create and sell online courses on platforms like Udemy. The "Complete Python Bootcamp From Zero to Hero in Python" course on Udemy is rated 4.6 based on over 500,000 customer ratings. It has an enrollment of 1.89 million students and is priced at $74.99.
13. House Cleaning
Starting a house cleaning business is one of the best business ideas for solopreneurs in 2024. Molly Maid is a leading domestic cleaning franchise in the United States. It had more than 500 franchise locations across the United States. The initial franchise fee is $14,900 and the total initial investment may go up to $190,000.
12. Graphic Designing
Graphic design is crucial for any brand and business, contributing to its ranking on our list. A designer may earn somewhere between $15 to $35 per hour on Upwork.
11. Event Planning
Starting an event planning business is one of the best business ideas for solopreneurs. Business owners can either start a virtual event planning business or an in-person event planning business. A virtual event planning company may be considerably cheaper.
10. Etsy Seller
Some of the best products to sell on Etsy include tote bags, paintings, handmade jewelry, and planners. The set of 100 handmade jump rings on Etsy is available for $18.1 and is reviewed by more than 180,800 customers.
9. Errand Service
Starting an errand service business is one of the best business ideas for solopreneurs. An errand service can be targeted at busy individuals who cannot run errands for themselves. These services can be provided on a small scale and can later be expanded to a much bigger geographical area.
8. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is one of the best business ideas for solopreneurs. Solopreneurs can set up a dropshipping store on Shopify, and source products from B2B marketplaces such as Alibaba. According to a report by Shopify, Noah Wickham's dropshipping stores generate 40% gross profit and 20% net profit on average.
7. Pet Grooming
Pet grooming is another great business opportunity for solopreneurs. Business owners can also purchase a pet care and grooming franchise. Dogtopia is a dog daycare, boarding, and grooming franchise. It is set to have more than 400 franchise locations by 2025, a testament to its growth.
6. Web Development
Web development is one of the best business ideas for Solopreneurs in 2024. Solopreneurs can sign up on Upwork to provide services in web development. A web developer on Upwork can earn somewhere between $100 to $1,000 per project.
