What business are you building? (Basics of Solopreneurship)

This one decision will change everything.

“How to grow my Substack?” 

I get this question a lot. 

It’s a valid question. Substack is a great platform for solopreneurs. You should want to know how to make the best of it. 

But here’s my counter question to anyone who asks me that: 

“What kind of business are you building?” 

To which I usually get an annoyed, “Well, I’m building a Substack newsletter and I want to go paid.” 

Duh! 

Okay. Let’s take a step back for a moment. 

First of all, Substack is only one of many platforms that allow you to build & monetize a newsletter (admittedly, one of the best ones, especially for beginners). 

If you’re going for a paid Substack, you’re not building a Substack, you’re building a paid newsletter. That’s the business, Substack is just the platform. 

Second, if you’re also looking to sell services or products (which most of you are), then you’re not just building a paid newsletter — you’re building the solopreneur equivalent of a conglomerate. 

And that’s difficult to build even by experienced solopreneurs. 

Most successful soloprenuers are known for focusing on one of the 3 types of online businesses: