Being a solopreneur looks glamorous from the outside; working in pajamas, being “your own boss,” sipping coffee while typing away. But behind the scenes? It’s deadlines, loneliness, financial risks, and people assuming you’re free just because you’re at home.
In this episode, I get real about the 10 things I wish family and friends truly understood about solopreneur life.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode:
- Why “being home” vs “being available”
- The hidden cost of interruptions
- Money struggles most people don’t see
- How AI has shifted the game for digital product creators
- The not-so-glamorous loneliness of working solo
- Why calling it a “real job” matters more than you think
- …and more behind-the-scenes truths solopreneurs rarely talk about.
Announcement
Starting October 3rd, the podcast will shift from weekly to bi-weekly releases but I might drop the occasional bonus episode when I can. In the meantime, you can catch more of my writing and fresh content over on Medium (@jacquelinetydus) Medium
Full Podcast Transcript
Hey everyone, welcome back to JacQ of All Trades, the podcast where we talk about the messy reality of being a multi-passionate creator. I’m Jacq, your host and your fellow home-based hustler.
Today in episode 10, we’re talking about something I’ve been living, breathing, and occasionally swearing about for years. It’s also a little… personal. We’re not just diving into what it’s really like to be a solopreneur in this era, I’ll also highlight some of the things I really wish people understood about solopreneurs especially those of us working from home.
If you’ve ever thought, “Wow, it must be so nice to work from home, you can wear pajamas all day, take naps whenever you want, and have coffee in Instagrammable cafés” Well, you’re not entirely wrong. But also… you’re kinda wrong.
Behind the laptop-lifestyle Instagram posts, there’s a lot of stuff we solopreneurs wish people actually understood. And trust me, it’s not all coffee shops and freedom.
Now, if you, on the other hand, are also a solopreneur/ freelancer like me and ever tried explaining your work to your aunt who still thinks you “play on the computer all day,” you know the pain.
So grab your coffee, or whatever fuels your hustle, and let’s get into it.
Let’s start with the one that still makes me want to scream into a pillow: just because I’m home, doesn’t mean I’m available.
Yes, I’m not in a cubicle. Yes, I can wear pajama pants to meetings. But no, that doesn’t mean I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for someone to need a favor.
I get calls like, “Hey, where are you?” When I respond, “I’m at home.” They’ll go “Oh, perfect!” And then boom! Here comes the favours and random requests.
Meanwhile, I’m literally in the middle of editing a video, juggling deadlines, and trying to bribe my brain not to wander off into Pinterest.
If you wouldn’t waltz into someone’s office and say, “Oh you’re just typing? Let’s go shopping,” then please… don’t do it to solopreneurs or freelancers working at home.
And…speaking of interruptions. Oh my god, they are productivity killers.
The interruptions are not just someone physically showing up, it’s also texts, calls, and “quick” messages that aren’t actually quick. And every time my phone buzzes, my focus gets tossed out the window like yesterday’s coffee. All starting with, “Hey, since you’re home, can you just…” And before I can even say no, I’m already in the mental spiral of “Why did I even answer?”
It’s like… I could be deep in writing mode, halfway through a brilliant idea, and suddenly my phone’s lighting up with “Can you help me check something online?” or “Quick question…” or “Do you know if the supermarket has that brand of soy sauce?” By the time I finish responding, that brilliant idea? Gone. Poof. Bye-bye.
And it’s not just humans. My furkids have perfect timing. I can be in the middle of a video edit or finally finding the right sentence for an article, and one of them decides right now is the time to paw at me for cuddles. They’re adorable, but I swear they’ve formed a secret pact with my phone to test my patience.
Science says it takes around 23 minutes to get back into deep focus after being interrupted. Twenty-three! That’s basically an entire sitcom episode.… wasted.
Now, a lot of people think solopreneurs are just lucky. That we woke up one day with unlimited time and financial freedom. Nope. That freedom is hard-earned, built on years of late nights, failed ideas, and trying to make rent without selling a kidney.
Unlike a 9-to-5 with a nice, predictable salary, our income is… how should I put this… like a rollercoaster designed by someone who hates you. Some months, business is booming. Other months, it’s “how do I stretch 1,000 bucks to cover everything?”
True story. I once had a year stretch where I was earning pretty much only about a thousand a month. Most of it went into paying utilities and phone bills. I had to dig into my savings to pay for mortgage loan. The rest? I had to juggle with balance transfers just to keep my head above water. So yeah, if I say I can’t splurge right now, it’s not me being stingy, it’s me surviving.
On top of that, solopreneurs wear all the hats. In a company, you’ve got the marketing team, the finance team, the operations team, the administrative peeps.
As a solopreneur? You’re all of that… and sometimes the cleaner, because the office is also my house. From invoicing to social media, customer service to actually delivering the product, it’s all on you. Which is empowering… but also freaking exhausting.
That exhaustion? It’s made worse by the loneliness.
Don’t get me wrong. I love working from home but some days, the silence is loud.
I’ve had moments where I came up with a brilliant idea and then realized… I had no one to share it with, in real time.
After the Covid pandemic lockdown was lifted, I even went back to corporate for a while, not because I hated being a solopreneur, but because I needed to work with other people. That’s how real the isolation can get.
And then there’s the judgment where some people don’t take us seriously.
“Oh, you’re still doing that? Isn’t it just a hobby?”
Or my personal favourite:
“You’re wasting your talent. You could be in a six-figure corporate role.”
Sure, but I could also be miserable in a cubicle. This isn’t a hobby, it’s my chosen career.
Another thing people don’t realise? The work/life line is basically non-existent. Every break feels like a risk. When your office is in your home, you never fully clock out. When you work for yourself, taking time off isn’t just about booking leave. It’s calculating how much income you might lose while you’re not working, and whether you can afford the downtime.
Sometimes the “vacation” becomes a laptop-by-the-pool situation, which sounds glamorous until you realize you’re squinting at spreadsheets in sunglasses. I’ve replied to client messages at 11 p.m. from bed. I’ve eaten dinner with my laptop open. I’ve worked weekends because… well, the laptop’s right there, mocking me.
Let’s not forget; AI is changing the game and not always in our favors. Yes, AI has its perks. Here’s the thing; I sell digital products. And AI can whip up designs in seconds. Now, anyone can generate dozens of designs in seconds.
Customers can’t always tell the difference between my carefully crafted and curated products and something auto-generated. But they will notice the cheaper, faster option. I can’t churn out illustrations like a bot.
I still believe in creativity and craft, but yeah…competing with AI sellers who can flood the market overnight? That’s a whole new kind of challenge.
And finally… the constant learning. Platforms change, algorithms shift, new tools pop up every week. If I stop learning, I fall behind and in solopreneur life, falling behind means fading out completely.
The ultimate goal for many of us is time and financial freedom but that’s the endgame, not the starting point. Getting there takes years of work, risk, and resilience.
When someone says, “You’re so lucky, you have all the time in the world,” I have to bite my tongue. Luck didn’t pay my bills. Grit did.
So yeah…being a solopreneur is equal parts freedom and frustration, joy and… occasional profanity. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
If you’ve got a solopreneur in your life, remember: respect their time, respect their work, and for the love of all things caffeinated, don’t assume “home” means “free.”
Oh, and a quick heads-up before I wrap up today’s episode, starting this week, JacQ of All Trades will shift to a bi-weekly schedule instead of weekly. Life’s busy, projects are piling up, and this woman needs to breathe. But don’t worry, I might still drop a surprise episode in between if I can swing it.
In the meantime, if you’re craving more fresh content from me, you can always check out my latest writing over on Medium. I post there more regularly. Just search for @jacquelinetydus and you’ll find me or click on the link in the show notes.
Thanks for hanging out with me today. If you enjoyed this, hit follow, share it with a friend, or come yell about solopreneur life with me.
Until next time, keep hustling, keep creating, and maybe… don’t text your solopreneur friend at 10 a.m. asking for soy sauce.
