From Corporate Comfort to Solopreneur Reality: How to Survive the Shock

So you’ve decided to leave the corporate world and start something on your own. While your calling may be strong, genuine and inviting, the change of the environment could be a shock to the system.

So, what can you expect, and how can you soften the blow?

The Vanishing Support System

First and foremost, you will find yourself what some solopreneurs refer to as “naked” without the support of the ecosystem around you. You know, those specially appointed people who take care of processing your expenses, fixing your frozen computer screen, finding a venue for a client meeting, or making your presentation pretty. They’re gone in a flash, all of them. Now, in the words of Taylor Swift, you’re on your own, kid. It may feel overwhelming, and as one of my clients who tested this shift noted, “Well, if I do all of this, when do I actually provide my service?” 

Motivation Meltdown

The second surprise is how quickly self-motivation evaporates at times. Even with a clear vision and plan, being alone can feel de-energising. When no one sets deadlines and targets, and there's no guidance on how much you should grow this quarter or whether to focus on content / do more networking / set up personalised client tracks, you may just not do these things.

Running on your own is largely about deciding where to invest your energy. The tricky part is that you don’t know with certainty what track will be fruitful, so new solopreneurs often find themselves hesitating and not taking any steps at all. Energy is a finite resource, and it’s natural to want to know if you’ll get results, but no one is giving certainty. The resulting indecision itself can be quite draining, and since there’s no one to recharge from, the initial motivation may be leaking away.

Unpaid Efforts

If that wasn’t enough, there’s one more: in most cases, you’re not paid for the time spent on research, planning, admin, or simply gathering your thoughts. Your corporate salary usually covers these things, but your new clients are typically not willing to pay for anything beyond deliverables. Since we’re on the subject of “not included”, shall we also mention things like pension, holiday, and sick payments? Because they’re not. Sorry.

If you’re still with me after all of that, let me share some tips.

1. Pause to decide what to take on and what to outsource. The initial reaction may be to outsource everything that is not your core skill. But hold on for a second here. We live in the best times to be a solopreneur. Modern technology is incredible. From accounting to video editing, the majority of supporting business functions are becoming accessible to anyone with basic computer literacy and the willingness to invest a few days into figuring out how those things work. 

In my previous post, I reviewed tools I use as a solopreneur. And just recently, I’ve recorded a course - a combination of video and AI-powered scenarios. I had to learn a video editor (took less than a week), some basic facts about light and sound (a few days), and immerse myself in the world of AI-agents and custom GPTs (that took weeks but seriously boosted my knowledge and confidence).

In your corporate career, you focused on your area of expertise and didn’t engage with tasks that were not core to your work. You might still have the habit of saying, “Oh no, that’s definitely not me,” when faced with a new field to figure out. Well, we’ll need an attitude shift here, as from now on, it has to be you. Even if you now think some people know better, believe me, there will be a time when you start questioning their choices and recommendations. Might as well start now.

As a solopreneur, you regularly reassess what you outsource and what you take on. Before you make those decisions, think about the following:

• Will it be affordable in the long run?

• Will it take away from my authenticity and make me “less me”? (especially if you’re outsourcing content production)

• What are the key elements that MUST be 10/10 perfect, and what are the others that could be 7-8/10, at least for now, while I’m testing my concepts and product-market fit?

  
  

Overall, it’s about striking a balance between having a solid product/service, not overexerting yourself in the process, and not overspending on things that you can do yourself with the help of affordable technology.

2. Manage your energy like it’s a finite resource. I initially considered calling this chapter “time management,” but at its core, it’s about managing energy and attention. Where your attention goes, energy follows. It often feels like you have to do 350 things at the same time, you don’t know where to start and what to prioritise. 

This is what seems to work for me and my clients:

• Start with the low-hanging fruit. Everyone’s naturally good at something - whether it’s being a “people’s person”, writing stories or making videos, or being great at operations. Do that thing first - not only will it give you a sense of control, but it could bring the results much quicker. If you’re a natural conversationalist, go and tell everyone about your business. If you’re not shy of the camera, you already won in the age of video. And if you’re the one who keeps everything in order, set up your repeatable processes first and build from there. Start where it’s comfortable and then add difficulty. 

• Focus on one thing at a time and then move to the next one. Say, you’re assembling your portfolio career and want to test the most profitable directions - is it client services, your social media content, your academic writing, or maybe a collaboration with someone? The temptation is to do everything at once, but it’s better to focus on one thing, give it enough time (3 weeks? 3 months?) and then move to the next one.

• Take care of your energy. It’s VERY easy to get depleted quickly, especially if you’re not seeing the results you expected and the bills are mounting. Refill your energy reservoir by getting enough sleep, going for a walk, engaging in physical activity, cuddling with your cat, and doing things that support your mental health. You need to make business decisions from a place of mental clarity, and this is best achieved when your physical and mental health is in its top form.

3. Automate the inevitable. Remember how your pension pot used to grow without you even noticing when you worked for that big company? Those were the days. Things like this will require more deliberation once you’re on your own. Once again, the technology is on our side: your banking app is likely to offer you pots, such as a tax pot and a savings pot. You could set up rules so that a particular portion of your earnings goes into those pots and, most importantly, remains there. I know, easier said than done. In addition, it’s a good idea to start paying into your own pension - the company will not top it up, but you’ll still be growing your pension pot. 

Being in control of your own time is one of the most appealing promises of becoming a solopreneur. The monetisation of that precious time is, however, a challenge. Many people move into this sort of career because they want a closer contact with the customer and the product. They want to do something that requires their physical presence, such as running therapy sessions, making bread, or filming birthday parties. These are wonderfully rewarding things, but the catch is you only earn when you’re there. You often have to absorb expenses such as travel, preparation time, or your ongoing education.

The advice here is realistically asking yourself: how much time do I actually invest per day into my work, but don’t bill for it?  Then you have three options: spread these overlay expenses across your invoices, create a passive income stream that doesn’t require your presence (if you’re not lucky enough to inherit an extra property, think digital content), or change your business model so that it doesn’t solely depend on your presence.

The solopreneur journey is all-absorbing and makes you face the world as you are, without anyone to catch the ball. But isn’t that part of the fun, too?  Hopefully, these tips will help you regain your balance more quickly.