How to Build Financial Resilience as a Solopreneur

Before I started working solo in 2021, I observed those in my network who bounced between freelancing and full-time employment. As I planned my solopreneurship journey, I asked them what made freelancing difficult. Almost all of them brought up the challenges of the “feast or famine” cycle. So, I knew I had to develop a strategy to avoid it.

The engagement framework I use to create financial resilience in my work is a multi-phased approach. Over the last five years, I have learned that I always need to start small, deliver oversized value, and, in doing so, build each client partnership from a solid foundation.

The three key phases of my “SBS” framework are:

1. Start small and strategize

2. Build the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

3. Stabilize and enhance with ongoing support

These three phases can cycle repeatedly with the same client as they set new business objectives. By applying this framework, I am proud to say my first-ever client is still my client five years later. This is how I build life-long partnerships with my clients and avoid the feast or famine cycle. Now it’s time to learn how you can have the same results.

Stability is your choice

Your stability as a solopreneur is determined by you, even before you have your first client. As I discussed in a previous article, you need to first have a well-designed client journey. That client journey should have clearly defined deliverables for each phase of the SBS framework. This is how you will move from simply selling your time to being able to sell true transformation.

More than anything, your client journey must be something you can deliver fractionally — by which I mean you can deliver without selling all your time to any one client. The biggest threat to your financial stability comes from a client pausing work or a project naturally ending. If you focus on having only one client at a time, you are choosing to exist in an unstable environment.

Instead, seek to have a mix of clients who are in each phase of the SBS framework. I recommend not committing more than 25% of your time to any given client per week. I had upwards of six active clients at a time when I was fully solo. And now that I have three full-time contractors, I have upwards of a dozen active clients.

Sell transformation, not time

The biggest mistake solopreneurs make, in my opinion, is pricing their services by the hour. They turn themselves into a commodity, not a collaborator. So, how should you price your services instead? Let’s break it down for each phase of the SBS framework.

In Phase 1, your goal is to establish a foundation for a long-term partnership with your client. But it is also important that you give yourself a quick off-ramp if you find that this client is not a good fit for any reason. That’s why I always suggest selling a short strategic engagement, not lasting more than two to six weeks. Price this at a weekly rate, with a promised involvement of roughly 10-15 hours per week.

In my Phase 1 approach, the two key deliverables are system and process documentation, along with a roadmap of suggestions for what should be improved. This roadmap is usually a blend of the requirements the client has in their mind and issues or improvements my documentation has uncovered.

This approach brings you seamlessly to Phase 2. By having your client select what to work on first from the roadmap you provide, they are creating a clear MVP target. As the expert, it is your responsibility to estimate how much time it will take to solve those requirements. That work should be sold at a weekly rate, just like Phase 1, and becomes your Phase 2 deliverables.

As you near the end of Phase 2, you should look to establish Phase 3. That will look like an estimated monthly cost, which you are happy to receive, for a specific set of repeated deliverables that will do two things. First, help them stabilize with the new changes delivered in the MVP. Second, enhance from the newfound stability in their systems and processes.

The key elements to deliver success in Phase 3 are establishing clear boundaries, having scheduled weekly syncs and defining a method for them to request support from you. Do not promise instant response times, but be as responsive as possible. This will ensure a long-term partnership and bring real transformation to your client.

Repeat the cycle

If you delivered real value, then your clients will value you. When you are in the monthly support mode, with a lower amount of time dedicated to the client per week, they may present you with a new, larger business objective. If those needs fall squarely in your capabilities, you can cycle back to a weekly strategic engagement to design the MVP, move on to building the MVP and then return to your monthly support model.

And if you have avoided selling more than 25% of your time to any one client, you can have multiple clients across the phases of this framework. Of course, some months may be more lucrative than others, but you will be much better protected from the feast or famine cycle. And more than anything, if you set your rates right, you will easily surpass the earning potential you have if you are simply selling your time.