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Career Pivots

Solopreneur starter kit: What you need on Day 1

How to get started when you’re working for yourself.

Anna Burgess Yang's avatar
Anna Burgess Yang
Dec 07, 2025
∙ Paid
A graphic novel-style briefcase filled with freelancer essentials like a laptop, invoices, and glowing digital cables.
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You’ve decided to start a solo business. Congratulations! I’ve been a solopreneur for years and love being my own boss.

My decision to become a full-time freelance writer happened overnight. I lost my full-time job at a marketing agency. Looking around, the job market seemed bleak. Working for myself was a way to start earning money immediately to pay bills.

However, I’d been thinking about a solo business for months. So while the timing wasn’t my decision, it was a direction I was headed anyway.

I had been freelancing alongside my 9-5 job for a few years, so I had the “infrastructure” in place to turn my side hustle into a full-time business. What you need on Day 1 is a lot different than what you need on Day 1,001.

Here are some of the minimum things you need to get started.

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