Talking to stably-employed people about my soloprenuer business, now comfortably above $100k ARR & still averaging ~5hr of work a week, the default reaction is by far, “wow thats what I should be doing”. But there are so many subtle things about your stable job you probably aren’t thinking about, and which you would missing.
For example: Do you like working with people? The gratification of mentoring someone? The excitement of learning something new and cross-disciplinary, from an in-house expert you can just nudge any time & get great insight, for free? Kiss that goodbye, at least for now.
“OK, I’ll just grow big and hire a team.” Cool - first, you have to get there. It’s very hard for even experienced entrepreneurs to get big quickly, so dig in and get cozy solo. Second - now you’re CEO. Are you truly prepared for the fullness of responsibility (and loneliness) of that specific role.
“OK, maybe I’ll stay solo for as long as possible, but I’ll use my free time to learn new stuff.” Again, cool - but the business doesn’t stop. Guess how many departments you’re now in charge of, where you have zero safety net, if an “oh shit” moment happens unannounced. Legal; sales; customer support; freaking accounting. It’s all you.
There are many soloprenuers who have stayed solo and grown huge. They’re the exception; I think these are people who have found both a special product (eg Photopea), and are in fact also special people.
I’m not just talking benefits. I’m talking: