Launch Your Idea in One Week
Solopreneurs are alchemists. We transform passion into profit.
Today, you’re getting the one-week system I use to launch any idea. Cracking this code cost me millions in wins and losses. Think of it as a bite-sized Solopreneur MBA.
When you monetize your labor of love, life becomes a magical experience. Most people live wondering “what if” and thinking “should’ve, could’ve, didn’t.” No matter who you are, solopreneurship is an accessible way to create your ideal life.
Curious how? Let’s begin.
Day 1 → Introspection
Go somewhere peaceful and ask yourself these questions. Don’t judge yourself or create fake urgency. Self-awareness prevents false starts and setbacks.
1. What’s your founder-market fit?
This is the alignment between your background and specific markets, giving you an unfair advantage over others. For example, if you’re doing marketing for law firms, being an ex-lawyer gives you founder-market fit. You have the intuition of an insider and understand the buyer.
2. What’s your founder-problem fit?
This is the alignment between your experiences with specific customer personas and their problems. For example, if you’re building a medical product for the military, being a combat medic gives you founder-problem fit. Firsthand experience helps you build and sell with empathy.
3. How have you shared your passions and proficiencies in the past?
Think about experiences that brought you money or appreciation based on your knowledge and knowhow. Lean into your sense of curiosity, pride, and belonging. These feelings are clues that guide you to your zone of genius.
Day 2 → Ideation
Ideation is the bridge between internal awareness and external action. Solopreneurship is for the arena, not the ashram. This process will help you triage your options and discover the highest-potential path.
1. Come up with 3 business ideas.
Name each idea and give it a price, a one-sentence pitch, and three bullet points. As you think about problems to solve, remember that customers who are screaming are better than customers who are sniffling.
2. Identify your profitable niche and beachhead market.
Identify your ideal customer personas for each idea—those who would pay you the most and with the least resistance. Find the most accessible ways to reach them. These are your beachhead markets. If you don’t see a profitable niche or a beachhead market for an idea, make adjustments.
3. Guesstimate ROI with napkin math.
To get a rough estimate of future revenue at full capacity, calculate how much you’d earn based on the amount of sales you expect and the number of customers you can handle at once. If you cannot see a path to ROI, make adjustments.
Day 3 → Research
Before you bet on yourself, study the market and compare yourself to others. Never build in the blind.
1. Study your competitors.
Identify the top players in your beachhead market. Study their offers, prices, and value propositions. Check out their reviews, case studies, and funnels. Understand their weaknesses and imagine how you’d win.
2. Study your comparables.
Identify the top players in the world. Comparables are similar to you but they serve separate markets. For example, if you’re a fitness coach in Japan, a coach in Estonia can be an inspiration and a friend because they won’t eat your lunch.
3. Strengthen your idea or pivot.
Here’s the rule of thumb. If your level of quality is somewhere between what’s available in your beachhead market and what’s admired in the world, you’re in a good spot. If you can’t measure up to the others in your beachhead market, pivot.
Day 4 → Offer
When you wrap a business model around an idea, it becomes an offer. Think of an offer as your business model translated into customer language. Write it the same way you’d write an idea: name, one-sentence pitch, price, and three bullet points.
- The name of your offer should have your customer’s dream outcome, the path to that outcome, and a time lock. For example: “Launch Your Solopreneur Business in 7 Days: 1:1 Coaching & Course.”
- The one-sentence pitch should make your customer curious and inspired. For example: “Make a living on your own terms with $3,000~30,000/month/project.”
- Pricing is always a challenge and it’s more of an art than a science. Just make sure you’re not suspiciously cheap or unreasonably expensive.
- State your value propositions in three bullet points, using “you” phrasing whenever possible.
Day 5 → Validation
My favorite part: validating the offer and testing assumptions with champions and friendly prospects. The art of the short list is powerful yet simple.
1. Identify three champions.
Champions are people in your network who will help you. They must be capable of giving relevant insights and introductions.
2. Identify three friendly prospects.
Friendly prospects are people you know who fit your customer persona.
3. Call them.
There’s value to spontaneity and serendipity so make a call instead of sending a text. There are only two things you need to think about.
- Asking the right questions.
- Asking for the right assistance.
Here’s an easy opener that you can adapt.
“Hi NAME, I’m investigating PROBLEM that CUSTOMER PERSONA faces in INDUSTRY. Since you’re familiar with this space, can I ask some quick questions? If my assumptions are correct and my idea has legs, I’ll launch OFFER in 1~2 months.”
In many cases, my champions introduced me to paying clients after an initial call. If the offer is good and you’re reliable, there’s no reason not to. I’ve also taken calls where prospects tell me “no, I don’t like your idea but here’s what I would pay for” and I simply close that deal instead.
Weekend → Iteration
If you get positive signals, start building and selling. If you need more time, extend this process for one more week.
How You Can Help Yourself
Take this online course with a cohort of peers. In one month, you will learn the secrets of a full-stack business builder who can reliably advance from idea to revenue. This course is 99% practice, 1% theory.
Feeling curious, but not ready to commit? Check out this free e-book which includes a workbook, reading list, and previous of the UC Berkeley solopreneurship course.