The Solo Not Small mission: help one person run a real business, and still have a life.
After three exits and a team of 75, I'm going all in on helping solopreneurs, solo founders and small business owners. Here's why, with the numbers.
Watch: Built to Explore, the film · 4:33
Why this, why now
I've done it with a team. Now I want to make it easier alone.
I've built seven companies. I sold Dad of Ad in 2021 and Write Right in 2023. This October I exited Blushush. That's my third bootstrapped exit.
Every one of them started with one or two people. No investors. Just a laptop and a lot of nights.
I know how hard it is to scale a dream company. The hiring you can't afford yet, the client who pays late, and the proposal you write at 1 am because there's nobody else to write it.
In my experience, founders rarely quit because the idea was bad. They quit because they ran out of hours.
That's the problem I want to solve. Not with a bigger team. With one system for each job, built in Claude.
That's Solo Not Small. Ten lessons, made for the one-person business. The personal side of this story is in my letter to solo founders.
From 75 to 1
Drag the team down to one.
These are real numbers from my own companies. The jobs never changed. Only the number of people doing them did.
The 13 jobs
How many of these do you do yourself?
I run all thirteen alone today. Tick yours and see your count.
The numbers
The world is going solo. The data agrees.
I didn't start Solo Not Small on a hunch. Here is what Forbes and the census data show about solopreneurs right now.
Each row runs on its own scale, so you can compare the climb, not the size of the country.
Source: Forbes, 24 Oct 2026, citing the US Census Bureau, UK government statistics and the Australian government. UK start figure is "just under 3.3 million".
Share of contractors hired by one-person businesses, by type of work. These are the jobs solo founders hand out first.
Source: Forbes, 20 May 2026, reporting Gusto's 2025 contractor-payment data. Share of contractors hired by US one-person businesses, by type of work.
At a glance
Seven numbers. And thirteen jobs.
| What | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US one-person businesses, 2023 | 30.4 million | Forbes, 24 Oct 2026 |
| Same count in 2012 | 22.7 million | Forbes, 24 Oct 2026 |
| US small businesses with no employees | about 82% | Forbes, 2026 |
| What US firms with no employees add to the economy | about $1.7 trillion | Forbes, 2026 |
| Spent on contractors by one-person businesses, 2025 | $72 billion | Forbes, 20 May 2026 |
| One-person businesses that paid at least one contractor | 43.5% | Forbes, 20 May 2026 |
| US zero-employee businesses over $1M in revenue, 2017 | 36,879 | The Startup on Medium, 19 May 2024 |
| # | The job | In Solo Not Small |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Deciding what to hire for | Lesson 01 |
| 02 | Briefing AI every morning | Lesson 02 |
| 03 | Saying what you do in one line | Lesson 03 |
| 04 | LinkedIn that brings work | Lesson 04 |
| 05 | A website that goes live | Lesson 05 |
| 06 | Being found on Google and AI | Lesson 06 |
| 07 | Getting published | Lesson 07 |
| 08 | Doing a job the same way twice | Lesson 02 |
| 09 | Ads that pay back | Lesson 08 |
| 10 | Pricing the result, not the hours | Lesson 10 |
| 11 | Research before a sales call | Lesson 09 |
| 12 | Proposals the same day | Lesson 09 |
| 13 | Welcoming a new client | Lesson 09 |
Read the reporting
Six pieces worth your ten minutes.
The one-person company has finally arrived, as a Forbes Business Council piece put it in August. Here is everything I read before writing this page.
- Solo Businesses Are Multiplying. This Founder Is Putting Them On The MapElaine Pofeldt, Forbes, 24 Oct 2026
- One-Person Businesses Fuel $72 Billion In Demand For Freelance HelpElaine Pofeldt, Forbes, 20 May 2026
- Want To Run A Business By Yourself? What It Looks Like To Start A One-Person CompanyForbes Small Business, Forbes, 2026
- The One-Person Company Has Finally Arrived, Thanks To AIOlivia Roach, Forbes Business Council, 6 Aug 2026
- The Race To Create A Billion-Dollar, One-Person BusinessForbes, Forbes on LinkedIn, Nov 2025
- Forbes Predicts The Growth of $1M+ One-Person BusinessesMichael Lim, The Startup on Medium, 19 May 2024
Who's behind it
Bhavik Sarkhedi
I'm a serial entrepreneur with three bootstrapped exits and a best-selling author of 21+ books. My work is featured in The New York Times and Forbes. I sit on the Fast Company Executive Board. I have 1,200+ clients in 25+ countries, and a verified Google Knowledge Panel.
My work on personal branding, AI and LinkedIn continues. Solo Not Small is where most of my time goes now.
Watch
Short videos on working alone.
Questions
Asked and answered.
What is the Solo Not Small mission?
To help one person run a real business with one system for each job, built in Claude, and still have a life outside it. I'm going all in on it after my third exit.
Who is Solo Not Small for?
Solopreneurs, solo founders, freelancers and small business owners who carry most of the jobs in their one-person business themselves.
Why is Bhavik Sarkhedi building it?
I have built teams of two and a team of 75, and made three bootstrapped exits: Dad of Ad, Write Right and Blushush. I know what scaling costs a founder, and I want solo founders to carry less of it.
How many one-person businesses are there?
30.4 million in the US in 2023, up from 22.7 million in 2012, per US Census figures reported by Forbes on 24 October 2026. The UK has nearly 4.3 million and Australia 1.8 million.
Where do I see what is inside Solo Not Small?
The ten lessons and what each one sets up are listed on solonotsmall.com. Founding member pricing runs until 6 November 2026.
Is there a personal version of this story?
Yes. My letter to solo founders is on bhaviks.com/solo-not-small-mission/, and the Blushush exit announcement is on bhaviksarkhedi.com/blushush-exit/.
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