Over the past two years, a record number of workers have quit their jobs. It’s a phenomenon that the media and business analysts have taken to calling The Great Resignation. At the core of the trend is a shift in how workers see their professional futures unfolding, brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. But now that the pandemic is starting to disappear into the rearview mirror, it’s becoming more apparent that many of the workers who quit have no intention of coming back to the traditional workforce.
Instead, a significant number of them are opting to start businesses of their own. In 2021, a record number of Americans — 5.4 million in total — applied for their own business identification numbers. And they’re doing it in large part because technology has finally made it feasible.
Today, a solo worker can take advantage of all of the same tools and technologies that used to be available only to big corporations. And it lets them handle all of the hard work involved in running a business without needing a large support staff. But if you’re planning to go solo, though, it’s necessary to assemble the right tech tools to get the job done before you take the plunge. To help, here are the three types of tech that no solopreneur can do without.
A Unified Communications Solution
Although most people take it for granted, modern offices make communications easy. Today, every worker has access to a desk phone, instant messaging, email, and countless other communication tools at all times. And that’s a capability that solopreneurs must build for themselves. But they don’t have to spend a fortune to do it. They can add all of those capabilities through a Unified Communications as a service (UCaaS) provider. That will give them access to all of the voice and video communications utilities they’d have in a corporate office at a fraction of the cost.
And in some cases, those functionalities can integrate into business-oriented email clients, too. Solopreneurs today have their pick of email clients to suit their needs. There are multiple solutions for Windows PCs, or they can opt for an email client for Mac or iOS devices instead. In any case, they’ll have a solution that centralizes their email and communications in one place — making managing things a snap.
Automation Tools
One of the big challenges that every solopreneur faces is that there are only so many hours in the day and too many tasks to fit within them. But today, they can reduce the demands on their time by turning to automation. Solopreneurs can leverage social media automation tools and other automated marketing technologies to keep new client leads coming in. They can also automate their appointment scheduling and common accounting tasks, among other things. The result is that they’ll have more time left over to do meaningful work that keeps their bank account full and their business viable.
Collaboration Tools
Even though most solopreneurs start their businesses intending to run a single-person operation, it’s quite common that they find themselves in need of help sooner or later. That’s because no single person has all of the expertise and skills they’ll need for every conceivable work project. Eventually, they’ll need to collaborate with other freelancers if they don’t want to start turning down lucrative work.
And that means they should always have a suite of collaboration tools at the ready should they need them. The good news is that several options fit the bill, many of which allow access on an on-demand basis. That means solopreneurs won’t have to pay for them when they’re not in use. And should they decide to expand their operation and take on some employees, they can turn to remote working software to empower — and monitor — the people they’re hiring to get specific tasks done.
Ready to Work
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that the technologies covered here aren’t everything a solopreneur will need. Depending on their specific industry, there’s bound to be a list of other technologies they’ll find indispensable. But no matter what kind of work they do, the three types of technologies mentioned above are must-haves. With them in place, a solopreneur can keep the wheels of their business turning — and be ready to take on anything. And in a world where more and more people are leaving the nine-to-five rat race, it’s nice to know there are options to help solopreneurs succeed.
