How to Grow a Solo Business: 4 Changes You Need to Make
Do more without overwhelm.
Most solopreneurs I know started with a simple goal: freedom. They wanted the freedom to choose their clients, control their schedules, and do work they feel good about.
But freedom can quickly morph into overwork. You have to do everything in your solo business — client projects, admin, tasks, marketing, and finances. Eventually, you'll hit a ceiling. You don't have any more hours in the week, so you feel like your business can't grow anymore.
What worked for you as the scappy newbie solopreneur doesn't work as you continue to build a business. Growth requires structure, systems, and a willingness to change.
Here are four changes you can make to shift from the always-hustling solopreneur to running a sustainable, growing solo business.
1. Stop Doing Everything Yourself
Lots of people think that "solopreneur" means that you are the only person in the business.
To me, a solopreneur means you are the main person running the business. You are the only person making business decisions and the primary (or only) source of income. That doesn't mean you don't have help running the business.
In fact, there are a few reasons to outsource tasks — either to humans or through automation.
Hire help
Over time, you will become your own bottleneck. If every task runs through you, you can't spend your time doing higher-value work.
A virtual assistant can take over some repetitive tasks, like responding to emails or organizing files. More skilled VAs can also help with social media.
It can feel hard to let go of work in your business, especially if you feel like no one can do the work as well as you. One thing you can do is create standard operating procedures that outline exactly how the work gets done. I use Loom to record videos and Loom AI creates written versions of the SOP for me.
Outsource projects
If a project isn't within your skillset, you might end up spending way too much time on it — and possibly with sub-par results.
Know your limits, and know when you should hire an expert instead of spinning your wheels.
For example, I reached the limits of what I could create in Canva for social media. I hired a designer to create a consistent brand: fonts, colors, a logo, and Canva templates. I knew I was out of my element, and I wanted people to take my business seriously.
Anna Burgess Yang
Automate tasks in your business
You can also save time by automating tasks in your business.
Every time I sign a new client, Zapier creates folders in my Google Drive, adds the new client to QuickBooks, and does a bunch of other stuff. I'm not doing manual work, plus automation makes sure my business operates consistently. If I had to do all of those steps manually, chances are I'd make a mistake somewhere.
Zapier runs hundreds of tasks for me per month. Everything from social media posts to sending me custom text alerts.
I also use AI in parts of my business. AI field agents in Airtable can categorize content. ChatGPT can pull quotes from my blog posts (that I then turn into social posts in Canva).
2. Understand your numbers
Many freelancers I know shy away from their numbers. They claim they're they’re “not a numbers person.” Tax time is scary because they haven't been tracking their income or expenses.
When I first started my freelance business, I was sending invoices from a Google Sheet template. I quickly realized that I needed actual software to keep track of my business. Now, I look at my revenue and expense numbers month-over-month and year-over-year.
I also built a Notion [affiliate link*] dashboard to track newsletter growth, freebie downloads, and other business metrics. I can use this information to figure out what's working, what isn't, and how I should spend my time.
Even simple metrics can be powerful, such as:
- How much are you earning per client or per project?
- What are your main sources of new business (referrals, inbound, cold emails?)
- If you're active on social media, what does your engagement look like every month?
Tracking your numbers doesn't have to be intimidating. I look at everything once a month. And looking at the numbers doesn't necessarily mean I have to make a change. It just means that I'm aware of what's going on in my business.
Anna Burgess Yang
3. Get feedback from other people
One of the best things about working for yourself is that you can make decisions without other people. No boss to approve a change. No coworkers holding you up.
However, this is also a really isolating part of working solo. When you plan everything in a vacuum, you lose the opportunity to learn from other people who've "been there, done that."
If you join a peer group or mastermind, you can bounce ideas off of others. If joining a group (especially if it's paid) isn't an option for you, see if you can schedule 1:1 time with a friend for accountability. A friend and I meet regularly to talk about things in our businesses. Sometimes the focus is on me; sometimes the focus is on her.
To make these conversations effective, ask specific questions. Instead of asking, "What do you think of this new idea?" ask questions like:
- Have you launched anything similar?
- If so, what worked/didn't work?
- Do you see any drawbacks that I'm not considering?
Remember, you have to be generous with your own knowledge. If the other person asks you for feedback, you have to share openly. Otherwise, mastermind groups or 1:1 sessions aren't effective.
4. Build repeatable systems
If every project or launch feels like starting from scratch, you're wasting valuable energy. Reinventing the wheel each time is exhausting.
In addition to automation, you should build as many repeatable systems as possible.
Every week, I have a few things I review on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons. I use Todoist to keep track of these items as a checklist. I also use Trello to keep track of bigger projects, and each project has checklists.
When you reuse assets, you'll save time and streamline your work. Plus, standardized processes will help you appear more professional to clients.
If you know you need to create repeatable systems, set aside some time to work on these. One thing I like to do is check myself into a hotel for the weekend. This gives me the heads-down, focused time that I don't get during my weekly work.
⚙️ Practical Toolkit
Choose one thing to change this month
Improving your business doesn't mean overhauling everything at once. You can quickly find yourself pulled in too many directions. That's a quick path to overwhelm.
Instead, start with one intentional change. Where do you feel the most stuck right now? Maybe it's finally documenting your processes. Or maybe you need to create a dashboard of your numbers so you feel like you know what's going on in your business.
Once you’ve chosen your focus, block off dedicated time each week for the next four weeks. During your focus time, work on a small tweak you can make. Then track the results for the following 30 days. Ask yourself, "How did this change impact my business?"
Repeat, regularly, so you can make the necessary changes to help your business grow.
Need to review the health of your business? Check out my quarterly planning checklist for solopreneurs.
