How To Move Beyond The Solopreneur Label

When speaking with other entrepreneurs, I often hear, “I don’t know how you do it, starting a business on your own.”

They’re referring to being a solopreneur or solo founder.

In many industries, there’s a bias against solo founders. Much of this bias stems from the fact that starting a business can be a lot of work, but a lot of this bias comes from examples of solopreneurs being unwilling or unable to accept help. I've navigated this path, and its ups and downs, and I’ve come to learn that accepting help and building a team can represent an evolution in both your business and personal life.

The Myth of the Solopreneur

When I started my entrepreneurial journey, I bought into the myth of the solopreneur — the idea of a lone founder who does it all. It's easy to get swept up in the narrative of working around the clock and wearing all the hats, especially if you’ve experienced increasing workloads in previous roles or were a high achiever in school.

For me, as the eldest daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, I also experienced cultural pressures and stereotypes around “oldest daughter syndrome”, and almost felt at ease with the responsibilities associated with being a solopreneur. Learning to ask for help and delegate meant deviating from a role I was familiar with, and learning how to embrace the reality that we can thrive and make better business decisions when we're not carrying the weight alone.

Letting Go of Control

As a solo founder, a lot of my personal struggle with moving beyond the solopreneur label was letting go of some control. What I learned was that letting go of control isn’t a sign of losing power, instead it’s a way to acknowledge that as founders, our time and energy are important resources for our business. These resources are better utilized for strategic thinking and our individual strengths, rather than trying to DIY everything or do work we’re not good at. This realization helped me begin to build a team of agencies, consultants and freelancers to support my business.

Practical Steps for Team Building

I began building a team around me by identifying my strengths and gaps. I prioritized finding support for the areas where I had gaps and could trust an expert, like design. I looked for experts who would value my opinion as the founder of Erleia, but who I could also trust would bring their own experience, perspective and know-how. Fostering a collaborative culture was key to being able to let go of control.

Open communication was also a key part of building my team. Being transparent about my vision and goals for Erleia, as well as any challenges or expectations I had helped my team better understand how to support me and my business. Likewise, I found that it’s more enjoyable to celebrate our accomplishments and share major wins as a team.

Growing Together

Learning to accept help and building a team has transformed my experience as a solopreneur. Not only has it helped me break free of the myth of the solopreneur, but it’s also allowed me to build strong professional and personal relationships with experts in sales, packaging design and website design, and ultimately become a better entrepreneur.