Solo entrepreneurs thrive while their corporate counterparts struggle
Solo entrepreneurs thrive while their corporate counterparts struggle
By Jared Lindzon | Published: 2025-10-27 14:30:00 | Source: Fast Company – leadership
In 2018, Joy Das Gupta left a tenure-track marketing job at Starbucks after 13 years to pursue a career as a rewards program consultant on her own.
As a caregiver to a young child, Das Gupta says institutional life proved too inflexible, and the logistics of balancing her personal life and professional life became stressful. Starbucks was also undergoing a restructuring, and DasGupta’s once-secure corporate function was starting to feel a little shaky.
She explains that for most working mothers, “if they had the opportunity to earn the same amount of money – maybe a little less – and have flexibility, many of them would make that choice.” She adds, “There are not enough companies that are innovating ways to compensate people with time, instead of just money.”
Instead, she earns what she calls a good income as a solopreneur, while having the flexibility to structure her own schedule in a way that allows her to show up for her daughter and clients.
“(The) hourly rate is great in terms of return on my time.”
Between the return to desk tasks, job insecurity caused by artificial intelligence, and a faltering job market, American employees are feeling disconnected from work, inspiring many to look for an alternative. Meanwhile, solopreneurs — or those who have full-time independent businesses and have no desire to hire employees —Prosperous. Â
It pays to be a solopreneur
According to a recent study by online payroll and HR company Gusto, solopreneurs typically earn about a third less than employees with similar skills in the first year. But catch up quickly.Â
“By year two, the average solopreneur makes about 15% more income than an employee with similar skills, and that rises to about 25% by year five,” says Nitesh Trimper, economist at Gusto.
According to the study, a solopreneur earns on average about $41,000 in the first year and more than $83,000 in the third year.
The most popular industry for solopreneurs, according to the study, is professional, scientific and technical services, closely followed by transportation and warehousing, each accounting for about 13%. Those working in the information sector typically witness the largest annual growth in revenues at more than 51% annually, followed by arts, entertainment and entertainment at about 30%. Real estate, leasing and leasing professionals ranked third at nearly 12%.
“When people think of small businesses, they tend to imagine people on the main street, with employees — small shops, small restaurants,” Tremper says. “In fact, 80% of small businesses don’t have any W2 employees, so solopreneurs are the foundation of the economy in many ways.”
Since the pandemic, the United States has seen a significant rise in new businesses, and this boom in entrepreneurship includes traditional business owners and solopreneurs.
Why are more workers going solo?
Not long ago, starting a business required a formal business plan, a loan, a lease, and employees. Then Internet and mobile technology made it possible for individuals to open a digital storefront at almost no cost and connect with customers around the world.
Now, AI is empowering solopreneurs to create professional-quality marketing materials, websites, apps, presentations, proposals, and more without hiring help.
“I’ve become the silent business partner of solopreneurs,” says Carolyn Castrion, a senior Forbes contributor and founder of Corporate Escape Artist, which helps individuals transition into entrepreneurship. “What previously required teams is now available to one person, so AI is really the equalizer.”
But it’s not just technology that has made the lifestyle of solopreneurs more attractive.
“It really took off in the pandemic as people’s priorities and values changed,” Castrion says. Millennials and Generation Z in particular want independence, meaning, and control. Work used to be used to define our identities, and now people design work around their identity
Withdrawal of entrepreneurship, push for corporate disengagementÂ
As solo entrepreneurship has become more attractive – and more achievable thanks to technology – perceptions of the corporate lifestyle have simultaneously moved in a more negative direction.
“We have all these RTO mandates, there are layoffs left and right, people don’t feel secure in their jobs, salaries aren’t keeping up with inflation, so what incentive is there to stay in the corporate world?” Castrion says, adding that this is especially true for caregivers.
“Businesses often claim to support families, but they rarely back this up with meaningful programs, and for women in particular, individual entrepreneurship is one way to find the flexibility they need.”
This is ultimately what pushed Starbucks’ Das Gupta into solo entrepreneurship. Seven years later, she says she has no regrets.
“Companies are really focused on meetings, and there has been this really amazing shift to being able to dedicate myself to producing work for people,” she says. “I wouldn’t trade it.” It was a great experience
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(tags for translation) Independent
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