As the idea that "you don't need to build a large organisation to create a successful business" has become more widespread, the "solopreneur", a person who runs a venture independently, is gaining attention as a way of working.

In addition to the diversification of work styles, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services have boosted individual productivity, expanding the scope and nature of tasks a single person can handle. However, to handle everything from product development to sales and customer support on your own, an efficient business management system is also necessary.

In this article, we explain the meaning and characteristics of solopreneurs, clarify how they differ from freelancers and traditional entrepreneurs, and discuss the reasons behind their growth in Japan, as well as the main factors for success. This is required reading if you're thinking about starting a business independently.

Key takeaways

• A solopreneur is an entrepreneur who starts and runs a business on their own, without employing any other permanent staff. By using AI and cloud services as tools to handle team roles, it is easier than ever to simplify product development, customer support, marketing, and other areas.
  
• Based on analysis of data for both global and Japanese markets, the number of people running businesses on their own is increasing, and the interest in solopreneurs is increasing alongside that.
  
• For solopreneurs to run a stable business, they need to specialise in a niche market and balance one-time sales with recurring revenue streams, such as subscriptions. As part of this, automating billing and payment management can help reduce the daily workload.
  

What is a solopreneur?

A solopreneur is an entrepreneur who launches and runs a business on their own, without cofounders or a large supporting organisation. As the combination of "solo" and "entrepreneur" suggests, the founder develops distinct products or services and takes full responsibility for decision-making and direction.

Unlike freelancers who take on projects independently, the most distinctive feature of solopreneurs is their entrepreneurial perspective, which involves systematising their skills and resources into a product. As a business owner, you decide what kind of value to provide to which customers, and by using AI and tools to increase efficiency and automate operations, you can adopt a creative approach that generates profits efficiently with a small team. While you could collaborate with external experts or outsource work when necessary, the core of the business is a one-person operation.

Characteristics of solopreneurs

When it comes to working as a solopreneur, what mindset and behaviours are most important to success? Let's take a look at the typical characteristics:

High degree of independence

As a solopreneur, you make every decision independently. This covers your business direction, product details, working hours, and commercial partners. Since there are no approval processes such as those larger organisations follow, you can quickly incorporate market and customer feedback and flexibly adjust your business model. You can use your own judgement to make decisions such as listening to customer feedback, immediately improving services, or testing new pricing plans.

Having your own products or services

Rather than simply providing labour, you can package your knowledge and experience as "value" and offer it as an asset. Specific instances of this include online courses, digital learning materials, membership services, and consulting. The ability to "deliver value directly to the market under your own name" is a unique thrill of being a solopreneur, and it is an element that sets you apart from freelancers who sell their labour by the hour.

Low-risk, low-cost, and straightforward to operate

Since a solopreneur business does not require substantial fixed costs, large office space, or a large staff to maintain an organisation, it allows for a low-risk, small-scale start. By operating from home or a coworking space and making optimal use of the latest cloud platforms and AI tools, you can minimise capital expenditures and staffing costs. Another strength of this structure is that, by keeping fixed costs low, it's easier to reinvest a larger portion of profits and maintain financial health.

Differences between freelancers and traditional entrepreneurs

It is simple to group solopreneurs together with freelancers or traditional entrepreneurs, but there are significant differences in their intentions and approaches to business:

Differences from freelancers

Freelancers primarily operate through a “labour-intensive” model, where they provide their skills and time to clients and receive compensation in return. Although there is considerable individual discretion, income largely depends on hours worked and, as a result, there is a limit to the revenue that can be generated.

On the other hand, solopreneurs aren’t selling their “labour”; rather, they convert their skills and expertise into products and offer them to the market. The key difference from freelancing lies in moving beyond one-off contract work but also in using digital content and recurring billing models, such as subscriptions, to build a system that produces income without requiring constant active work.

Differences from traditional entrepreneurs

Traditional entrepreneurs build organisations alongside cofounders and employees to expand the business and increase its value. They might also consider selling it in the future.

Unlike these founders, solopreneurs prioritise efficient operations while maintaining a small-scale structure centred around a single person. Since it is easier to keep labour and equipment costs down, the financial risks are generally lower than those faced by their counterparts.

Why solopreneur businesses are attracting attention

Thanks to the widespread adoption of AI and cloud services, there is now an environment that makes it straightforward for a single person to start and run a business on their own. Data from both Japan and around the world indicate a growing trend towards individual-led careers and independent entrepreneurship.

AI and cloud services

With the widespread adoption of generative AI, no code tools, and cloud services, it has become possible for a single person to handle everything from product development, marketing, customer support, and accounting to programming and design.

While a certain level of knowledge and skills is required, the technology reduces work time and makes it possible to handle a wide range of tasks without hiring additional employees. By implementing external offerings for online payments and customer management, it is finally possible to operate independently without needing a large organisation or extensive facilities.

The rise of solopreneurs in Japan and around the world

Per data analysed by Stripe Atlas, a platform that supports the formation of corporations in the United States, 63% of the C corporations incorporated through the service in the second quarter of 2026 were founded by solopreneurs, marking a record high.

Furthermore, according to a "2024 Freelancer Survey" compiled by freelancing platform provider Lancers, Inc., the number of freelancers in Japan reached 13.03 million in 2024, representing a 39.1% increase from 2015. Although this survey includes people with side jobs and companies with a single employee, and therefore does not consist solely of data on solo founders, it suggests that the idea of running a business alone is gaining long-term traction. Based on this trend, we can conclude that this way of working – where individuals bring their skills directly to the market – is becoming more widely accepted across a broader range of people, not just among specific groups.

Key characteristics shared by successful solopreneurs

People who have achieved sustainable growth as solopreneurs share the following common characteristics:

Developing AI-centric products

Many of the leading solo founders are developing "AI-native products" that incorporate the technology as a core feature. What sets this approach apart is that it doesn't simply use AI to facilitate operations; rather, it uses it as a central feature to solve customer challenges.

Focusing on niche B2B markets

Many of the top-earning solopreneurs provide business-to-business (B2B) services specialised in specific industries or operational functions. Narrowing the scope of the target audience makes it easier to highlight your expertise and build stable income with a small customer base.

Prioritising customer retention and recurring revenue

Solopreneurs who have stabilised their businesses can retain customers from an early stage and increase retention rates while continuously improving their offerings. A common trait is that many have adopted a recurring payment model, establishing a system that makes it straightforward to generate stable revenue.

How solopreneurs can generate ongoing revenue

In this section, we'll introduce ways for solopreneurs to build a steady revenue stream:

Implement a recurring billing model

While one-time products and services tend to generate substantial sales, the resulting monthly income is unstable, making it difficult to operate the business in a planned, systematic manner. By incorporating recurring billing models such as subscriptions and maintenance contracts, and combining them with one-time revenue, it becomes easier to achieve stable sales.

Automate invoicing and payment management work

If you handle tasks such as issuing invoices, confirming payments, and sending payment reminders manually, the workload will increase as your business grows. For solopreneurs in particular, who don't have a dedicated team standing ready to tackle this work, the burden of these administrative tasks is no small matter.

By using Stripe Billing, you can automate recurring billing, invoice issuance, and payment management, freeing time for other tasks. Another advantage is that Stripe supports bank transfers in Japanese yen and convenience store payments, making these options available to customers without credit cards.

How Stripe Billing can help

Stripe Billing lets you bill and manage customers however you want – from simple recurring billing to usage-based billing and sales-negotiated contracts. Start accepting recurring payments globally in minutes – no code required – or build a custom integration using the API.

Stripe Billing can help you:

• Offer flexible pricing: Respond to user demand faster with flexible pricing models, including usage-based, tiered, flat-fee plus overage and more. Support for coupons, free trials, prorations and add-ons is built-in.

• Expand globally: Increase conversion by offering customers' preferred payment methods. Stripe supports 125+ local payment methods and 130+ currencies.

• Increase revenue and reduce churn: Improve revenue capture and reduce involuntary churn with Smart Retries and recovery workflow automations. Stripe recovery tools helped users recover over US$8.2 billion in revenue in 2025.

• Boost efficiency: Use Stripe's modular tax, revenue reporting and data tools to consolidate multiple revenue systems into one. Easily integrate with third-party software.

Learn more about Stripe Billing or get started today.

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