The One Person Startup

[Pre-orders open! Books to be dispatched by May end.]

As India’s economy has grown and matured, so has its job landscape. While traditional jobs continue to hold their place, the gig economy is largely touted as the future of work by many.  

Organizations of all sizes are increasingly outsourcing critical business activities to specialists for optimum outcomes. Countless individuals have already built thriving careers and earn handsome incomes through the solopreneur route.

Indian companies need Indian professionals who understand the context of their problems to deliver the right outcomes. Yet, despite the demand, many capable students and professionals are uncertain of how to navigate their way to success as a freelancer. 

The One Person Startup aims to help all such individuals by giving them a clear blueprint to ace the solopreneur journey. Ayush draws extensively from his experience as a freelancer—and now the founder of a successful creative agency—and ensures that you don't make the mistakes he did because of the absence of a guiding light.

The book is divided into 5 parts:

Part 1: Why Freelance?

What are the trends that point to a growing need for smart gig workers? Why is India in a favourable position to serve the world? And why can anyone start their freelance business today and become successful? This part answers these questions in detail.

Part 2: Skill Building

Here, we cover how to find and build the skills that can put you on a path of excellence and prosperity. It is designed to help even those who may be starting from zero. It introduces the FLAG framework - Find, Learn, Apply, Grow - and gives a step-by-step process of skill-building. It doesn’t promise any quick hacks, but does give you a clear path on how you can acquire a useful skill and put it to use quickly.

Part 3: Crafting Your Freelance Identity

Once you have the right skills, the next crucial phase in your freelancing journey is acquiring your first clients. This part covers what you need to do to do this efficiently. You learn how to present yourself well - both online and offline - and the methods you can employ to get your first client. We also cover how to work with clients and the important aspect of negotiations.

Part 4: Servicing Clients

While the skill to acquire clients is obviously important, you can’t keep them or hope to succeed as a freelancer purely on good sales skills. Client servicing is not only crucial for ongoing revenue, but also for your reputation as a freelancer, and long-term success. This part covers the best practices a freelancer can employ to do client servicing right.

Part 5: Growing as a Freelancer

Once you have set the foundation of your freelancing career, it’s now all about growing well. This part covers some of the philosophies Ayush himself adopted to go from a solopreneur to a successful agency owner. It also includes a chapter with contributions from other successful business owners who started out solo and scaled remarkably.