Solopreneurship in a time of economic uncertainty and flux

 

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-remote-control-beside-silver-round-analog-wall-clock-6120218/

These are fraught times with geopolitical tensions and the upending of a well-established global economic order by the sole superpower of the world promising to usher nations across the world into a pall of uncertainty. Add to that the seemingly inexorable march of AI threatening jobs across segments and sectors. Everyone is afraid of what the future holds for them in the next five to ten years. Above all, they are afraid if they will have jobs at all, the way things seem posed to move.

Is solopreneurship the answer to people’s job and employment anxieties? It is an autonomous occupation that is completely under one’s own control. It allows everyone to leverage their own skills to create an income stream that is unaffected by corporate downsizing or a change in the economic orientation of industries.

It can help impart stability and put one in charge of one’s affairs, which is not possible in the case of traditional employment, especially in the times that we live in. That is because a solopreneur can be agile and nimble with business decisions-something that large, established corporations struggle with. This is what will help people who adopt solopreneurship stay afloat despite the uncertainty and head winds that seem to be the norm in today’s times.

What’s more, the very AI which threatens traditional livelihood can become a tool or platform to be leveraged to automate tasks, put in place efficient processes, improve productivity, increase sales and fuel growth and expansion. The important thing here is to find one’s own niche or niches and build one’s business around them.

Solopreneurship allows one to have multiple income streams, so that in the event of one income stream petering out, there are others that can keep one afloat. Besides, a solopreneur can expand into international markets taking advantage of digital global connectivity. This can help them hedge their risks with regard to any slowdown in business.

Solopreneurship is, of course, not risk free, but what line of work ever is? It requires good business ideas, strategic planning and deft decision making, but is very doable in the age of AI and global connectivity. Above all, it is one’s insurance against economic redundancy in fraught times, if done right.