THE RISE AND RISE OF THE SOLOPRENEUR

28 June 2027

1. The Rise of the Solopreneur

A little-noticed revolution is reshaping the world of work.

Across the developed world, growing numbers of people are choosing to build businesses without employing staff. They are becoming "solopreneurs" - individuals who combine technology, expertise and digital platforms to create businesses that once required entire organisations.

This is not simply another entrepreneurial boom. Evidence from government business registrations and payment processors such as Stripe suggests that businesses with no employees have been one of the fastest-growing segments of the economy in recent years. At the same time, many are reaching meaningful levels of revenue more quickly than their predecessors.

Whether this proves to be a permanent structural change remains to be seen, but the underlying drivers appear durable.

Business formation has remained structurally elevated since the COVID period, with a growing share of new firms being non-employer businesses, i.e. individuals operating without staff. This suggests a sustained rise in solo entrepreneurship beyond the temporary distortions of pandemic-era stimulus. 

At the same time, payment data indicates improving outcomes, with successful firms reaching meaningful revenue thresholds more quickly and a higher proportion achieving multi-million dollar scale compared with pre-2019 levels.

Now, this is something that is not just unique to the United States, but it's actually something that's happening all over the world - more and more people are moving out into entrepreneurship. 

Solopreneur – an entrepreneur who owns and operates a business without permanent employees.

Business formation – the creation of new businesses.

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2. The Traditional Career Model Is Changing

For much of the post-war period, the accepted route to prosperity was relatively simple.

1. Attend university

> Join a large employer

> Develop expertise

> Earn promotion

> Retire with financial security.

For many people this model worked well. Today, however, the environment is changing. Large organisations have become flatter, promotion can be slower, and many experienced employees are remaining in work well beyond traditional retirement ages. As populations age and boomers stay in post, senior positions become vacant less frequently, creating career bottlenecks for younger professionals.

Some commentators also argue that corporate hiring and promotion policies have become more complex. Critics contend that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programmes may disadvantage certain groups in recruitment or advancement, particularly white and Asian males. Of course, supporters respond that such policies seek to correct historical inequalities and broaden opportunity. Whatever one's viewpoint, perceptions of reduced career mobility do seem to be encouraging more people to establish businesses independently.

So rather than waiting years for promotion, many talented individuals increasingly prefer to create their own opportunities.

Baby Boomers – the generation born approximately between 1946 and 1964.

Career bottleneck – limited promotion opportunities caused by slow turnover in senior positions.

DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) – organisational policies intended to increase representation and broaden access to employment opportunities.

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3. Why This Shift Is Happening Now

No single innovation has created the solopreneur economy. Instead, several technological developments have converged.

These include:

• Artificial intelligence.

• Cloud computing.

• Global payment systems.

• Remote working.

• Digital marketing.

• Social media.

• Online education.

• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Individually, each technology improves productivity. Together, they dramatically reduce the cost of starting and operating a business.

Tasks that once required accountants, designers, researchers, marketers and administrators can increasingly be completed by one individual using specialised software and AI assistants.

Cloud computing – software and computing services delivered over the internet.

SaaS – software accessed online by subscription rather than installed permanently on a computer.

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4. AI Is Transforming the Economics of Small Business

Artificial intelligence is not simply replacing individual tasks. It is changing the economics of the firm itself.

A modern solopreneur can use AI to:

• conduct research

• summarise documents

• write first drafts

• translate languages

• analyse data

• generate images

• draft contracts

• create marketing campaigns

• create regular posts of interest to their publics

• provide customer support.

Much of this work previously required multiple employees or expensive external consultants.

This does not eliminate the need for human expertise. Rather, it allows skilled individuals to become dramatically more productive.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – computer systems capable of performing tasks normally requiring human intelligence.

Productivity – the amount of output produced for a given amount of work.

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5. The Substack Revolution

One of the clearest examples of the solopreneur economy is Substack.

Substack is an online publishing platform that enables writers to send newsletters directly to subscribers by email. Authors can publish free content, charge recurring subscriptions or combine both approaches. The platform manages payments, subscriptions, email distribution and much of the technical infrastructure.

This has fundamentally altered publishing.

Instead of relying upon newspapers or magazines, writers can now build direct relationships with readers or potential customer bases anywhere in the world.

The model has been particularly successful in specialist subjects including finance, economics, technology, geopolitics, science and history.

Rather than appealing to millions of casual readers, successful authors often serve relatively small but highly engaged audiences willing to pay for high-quality analysis.

Some independent newsletters now generate revenues comparable with medium-sized publishing businesses. One frequently cited example is SemiAnalysis, founded by Dylan Patel, which has become an influential source of semiconductor and AI research for investors and technology companies. SemiAnalysis grossed $100,000,000 in 2025!

Substack also illustrates a broader trend.

The creator increasingly owns the audience direct rather than depending upon a media organisation to provide access.

Success still requires expertise, consistency and credibility. Most newsletters remain modest businesses, but the barriers to entry have never been lower.

Newsletter – a regularly published email sent directly to subscribers.

Subscription economy – businesses based upon recurring customer payments.

Creator economy – individuals earning income by producing digital content.

Audience ownership – direct access to subscribers without relying upon third-party publishers.

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6. The Economics Behind the Trend

Nearly ninety years ago, economist Ronald Coase asked a simple question.

Why do firms exist?

His answer was that organisations reduce the costs of coordinating work between many people.... Economists call these transaction costs.

Artificial intelligence and cloud software are reducing many of those costs.

As coordination becomes cheaper, individuals can increasingly perform work that once required large organisations.

This helps explain why many knowledge-based businesses are becoming smaller and more flexible.

Transaction costs – the costs of organising, managing and coordinating economic activity.

Knowledge worker – someone whose primary asset is the management of specialised knowledge rather than physical labour.

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7. Who Benefits and Who May Face Greater Competition?

The biggest beneficiaries are likely to be highly skilled individuals.

Lawyers

Consultants

Designers

Programmers

Writers

Engineers

Analysts.

Many can now establish independent practices at relatively low cost.

Large professional services firms may therefore face increasing competition.

For example, AI can already assist with legal research, accounting, report drafting, financial analysis, architectural concept design, computational design, software development and engineering calculations. 

Architects can rapidly generate and refine multiple design options using AI-assisted modelling tools. 

Software engineers increasingly use AI to write, debug and document code, allowing smaller teams - or even individuals - to develop sophisticated applications that previously required much larger development groups. 

Lawyers advising on debt restructurings can use AI to review financing agreements, identify key covenant provisions, compare alternative restructuring scenarios, summarise case law and draft transaction documents, enabling specialist advisory firms to undertake complex engagements with leaner teams and greater efficiency.

In many knowledge-based professions, AI functions less as a substitute for human expertise than as a highly capable junior assistant, dramatically increasing the productivity of experienced practitioners.

Take the debt restructuring as an example of a broader point: AI is not replacing expert judgement in high-value advisory work. Rather, it is automating much of the labour-intensive groundwork - reviewing hundreds of pages of loan agreements, extracting clauses, comparing precedents and preparing first drafts - allowing experienced professionals to focus on negotiation, strategy and client advice. That is precisely the kind of productivity enhancement driving the rise of the solopreneur and the lean consultancy.

Or software engineering... the underlying structural point is that software engineering is moving from “manual construction” towards “AI-mediated system orchestration”, where the scarce input is increasingly judgement rather than coding labour.

Independent professionals using these tools may offer comparable services at lower prices.

This could place pressure on profit margins across consulting, accounting, advertising and other knowledge-intensive industries.

However, large firms will continue to enjoy advantages in reputation, scale, capital and the ability to manage highly complex projects.

Professional services – businesses that sell specialised expertise rather than physical products.

Economies of scale – cost advantages achieved through operating at larger size.

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8. The Risks and Counterarguments

The solopreneur economy should not be romanticised. Most new businesses still fail. Many independent workers experience irregular income. Competition is increasing because barriers to entry have fallen.

Research also shows that many of the world's fastest-growing companies are still founded by teams rather than individuals.

Employment continues to offer important advantages, including stable income, career development, paid holiday periods, pensions and reduced financial risk.

The future will not consist entirely of independent entrepreneurs. Instead, both employment and entrepreneurship are likely to coexist.

Risk capital – money invested with the possibility of financial loss.

Scalability – the ability of a business to grow without proportionate increases in cost.

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9. A New Economic Landscape

The Industrial Revolution concentrated production inside factories.

Artificial intelligence may be beginning the opposite process for knowledge work.

Instead of concentrating talent inside ever-larger organisations, technology increasingly allows capable individuals to compete globally from almost anywhere.

This shift may prove as significant for professional work as mechanisation was for manufacturing.

Whether it ultimately creates greater prosperity or greater inequality remains uncertain.

What is clear is that the traditional career path of spending an entire working life with one employer looks like a rhing of the past. Indeed, for more and more people, the future may belong not to the corporation, but to the capable individual equipped with digital tools, global platforms and artificial intelligence.

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References

Stripe Economics. The Age of the Solopreneur (2026).

US Census Bureau. Business Formation Statistics.

OECD. Entrepreneurship at a Glance.

International Labour Organization. World Employment and Social Outlook.

Ronald Coase (1937). The Nature of the Firm.

World Bank. Digital Economy Reports.

McKinsey Global Institute. Research on generative AI and productivity.

Harvard Business Review. Articles on the creator economy and knowledge work.

Markets Weekly. Offset 17'33"