The 1-Person Business: How The Internet Has Made It Possible To Run A Multi-Million Dollar Business By Yourself

Starting your own business can be an exciting endeavor, but it can also be overwhelming and filled with many challenges. 

While, starting a business can seem extremely difficult and intimidating, current technology has made it much more feasible to handle solo.

Running an entire business used to be a big job that required many employees, from assembly workers to sales representatives to upper management. But with the advent of technology and especially the internet, you can do just about everything by yourself—and make millions while doing it.

The internet has been huge in promoting and supporting one-person businesses. These days, it's even more viable than ever before to operate a multi-million dollar business by yourself, either as your main job or as an adjunct to something else you do full-time.

If you are considering starting your own business, but you aren't sure if the internet will be able to support you financially, here are four ways that the internet has made it possible to run a multi-million dollar business by yourself.

One of the primary reasons independent business owners choose to work for themselves is that they're tired of corporate America. If you're going to be in business for yourself, you must do things differently from a corporation.

One great way to do that is to take advantage of free advertising—or more commonly known as “free education”. But, people don't care what you know until they know that you care; start by giving away valuable content will show potential customers that you are willing to go above and beyond with your service. They want to see your passion, thus encouraging them to stay loyal to your brand.

Free advertising provides incredible ROI (Return on Investment) over paid advertising as it keeps your company in front of potential clients constantly. It also gives you a chance to build a reputation for yourself and gain credibility that can be difficult to obtain through paid advertisements.

A few easy ways to get free advertising is by posting to social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. These platforms allow you to share valuable information directly with people interested in what you have to say. Not only will they return again and again, but they'll share your business with their friends and ask valuable questions that can provide inspiration for future posts. You’d be surprised at how curious most people are and just because you have knowledge in a topic, that doesn’t mean others do, so don’t be afraid to share—and that's how word-of-mouth marketing works.

If you want more customers, start giving away valuable online content. The internet has made it possible for anyone with an idea and some motivation to reach millions of people at no cost—so take advantage of that opportunity.

In the last 3 months of 2021, one of our customers Molly did over $10k in sales for her side-hustle Greet & Cheese LLC solely by launching and sharing consistently through a brand new Instagram account and inviting her friends. She didn’t launch her website until 7 months after her business started, proof that you can start small through word-of-mouth.

This can take a lot of load off your shoulders. Automated sales and marketing systems like Klaviyo, Hubspot, Mailchimp, and Productivity Sweet are some of our favorites. These systems will allow you to set up a lead generation system where people can opt-in via email to hear more about your business; they'll pre-populate forms for you, set up automated emails based on specific triggers (i.e., if someone hasn't purchased anything after X number of days or has engaged with your website by watching one of your videos).

Their marketing system will work with various platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc., and help you grow a community around your products. A lot of work goes into these, but once they're all set up, you don't have to do much else besides run them.

You might even be able to hire virtual assistants or freelancers at reasonable rates to help manage them while you focus on other aspects of your business. Virtual assistants aren't just for large businesses and ecommerce sites—they can also be used effectively by small businesses that need extra support without breaking their budget.

For example, every time you sell something online, it requires an additional five minutes of customer service time because customers have questions about how something works or want refunds due to shipping issues.

One of the best ways to get funding for your business is to offer your idea to others and let them decide if they want to invest. Sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and GoFundMe allow you to put a pitch out there and see what happens.

Your company doesn't have to be up and running yet—some people will fund you based on a concept. Crowdfunding sites account for more than $34 billion in capital funding raised in 2014 alone—more than any other means of capital generation except bank loans.

That's pretty significant considering that only 1% of startups that launch on Kickstarter become multi-million dollar companies. But it's important to note that not all crowdfunded businesses succeed. According to a study by Small Business Trends, 36% of crowdfunded businesses fail within 18 months, and 54% fail within three years.

So how do you make sure yours succeeds? Remember: You're asking strangers for money so treat them with respect by offering something valuable in return (like products or services). And don't forget about marketing.

If you're going to ask strangers for money, then make sure they know about it so they can contribute their hard-earned cash. Crowdfunding can be an incredible tool, but it takes work and planning before diving into it.

With the prevalence of web-based spreadsheets and CRMs, it's easier than ever to organize and catalog your business records digitally. One of the many benefits of digital recordkeeping is that you can quickly access records from any device. If you're concerned about spending a lot of money on software, plenty of free options are available to help keep track of your business information.

Additionally, if you need help organizing your new company's records, YouTube has a treasure trove of information on how to use various services. Remember to save all files in multiple locations (USB hard drive and cloud storage) so they can't be accidentally deleted by mistake or hardware failure. Make sure you back up everything frequently.

Some people use spreadsheets as their primary method of data organization; others prefer CRMs or good ole document software. Each approach has pros and cons, but make sure whatever program you choose works with your computer setup and provides all the features necessary for recording key information such as income, expenses, payroll tax withholdings, invoices, and inventory.

Organizing your data correctly from day one makes tax time much less stressful because you'll have accurate financial statements.