Instead, the marketing professional turns to ChatGPT to work through mental blocks and prioritise daily tasks.

“As a small-business owner, you don’t generally have anyone to talk through ideas,” Alison told ISB. “ChatGPT allows me to get those thoughts out of my head and make sense of them.”

Alison opens ChatGPT throughout her day, including while driving (using the talk-to-text function). She admitted that the application is open on her devices “nine times out of ten”. Moreover, Alison’s AI doesn’t just give practical advice – it provides mental support, too.

“It can help you if you have a mindset block, almost by giving you a bit of a pep talk around how you can deal with it and if there’s any actions you can take to move past it,” she said.

Alison is far from the only solopreneur to use AI to make sense of her thoughts, talk her through problems, and for motivating pep talks.

While many business owners now use AI to streamline and support their business operations, it’s increasingly acting as an emotional support too, especially for sole traders.

Shona Gates, a solopreneur who owns the design studio Tyne Creative, told ISB that ChatGPT has become her late-night therapist.

“It’s surprisingly helpful to have a cheeky AI to bounce ideas off and help me stay on track when it’s too late to call a biz bestie or my mentor,” she said.

Anthony Shannon, who owns Tony’s Tech Support, also uses AI as a sounding board.

“[AI models] don’t always offer great advice, but explaining a problem out loud, even to AI, often helps me solve it,” he told ISB.

Why solopreneurs get attached – and when it’s a problem

It’s easy to see why natural language models appeal to solo business owners. Their mastery of natural language makes it feel like you’re talking to a real person, which can be comforting in moments where an advisor is unavailable.

Furthermore, AI can seem all-knowing. Its ability to regurgitate advice on seemingly any topic makes it tempting to lean into – to scratch that instinctive itch for a parent or mentor figure who knows more than we do.

Then there’s the fact that our AI tools are pre-trained to be ultra agreeable and say exactly what we want to hear, making them a reassuring voice in times of stress or uncertainty.

AI expert Leanne Shelton finds the trend of AI-as-business-mentor somewhat concerning.

“The AI might be agreeing with me, but for all I know, I could be completely off, and it’s just agreeing because that’s what it does,” she said. “I don’t like the idea of it being a co-founder, or of heavy reliance on it, because there are still humans that have a lot more worldly views on things that I would trust a lot more.”

Shelton pointed out that AI tools are simply prediction tools, regurgitating responses based on patterns; they aren’t thinking unique thoughts. At the end of the day, your AI doesn’t understand you emotionally – even if it sounds like it does.

How to use it properly

Despite the pitfalls, the solopreneurs that ISB heard from were clearly reaping some significant benefits from AI. Like anything, it seems to be helpful in moderation – i.e. as part of your support system but not as its entirety.

Bec Alison stressed that she seeks help outside AI when she needs it.

“It’s not going to replace an actual therapist or a business coach,” she said. “…But if you’re just needing someone to help you get on the right path, then it’s good.”

Alison added that she tries not to give too much personal information away, either – which is generally a good rule of thumb when it comes to AI, according to Shelton.

If you are asking your AI tool for advice, make sure you tell the algorithm to challenge your ideas. Shelton recommended phrases like “Based on your research…”, “Please push back”, or “Please feel free to challenge me…”. Over time, it will become less agreeable, and theoretically more useful.

So, in sum: if you’re using your AI as a co-founder, a business coach, or a therapist, you’re not alone. Talking to AI can improve your output, reduce decision fatigue, and maybe even support your mental health. It’s just when you become over-reliant – or when AI becomes a yes-man – that problems start to arise.

“Sometimes you don’t always like the friend who agrees with you – you like the friend who challenges you and pushes you,” Shelton pointed out. “We need to make sure we’re remembering it’s a bot regurgitating patterns. It’s giving us what we want, but it’s not necessarily giving us what we need.”

The post Solopreneurs are using AI like a co-founder. Is that a problem? appeared first on Inside Small Business.

About 97 per cent of businesses in Australia are small businesses and a significant portion of these are made up of freelancers and sole traders.

Yet these types of businesses barely rate a mention in the ongoing political and economic conversation.

Trends suggest sole trader and freelancer numbers are on the rise, and they are becoming a force to be reckoned with in the business and political landscape. According to the latest ABS data, there was a 2.4% per cent increase in sole proprietors in 2023-24, bringing the total number up to 803,607 sole traders in total. 

Sole traders are important contributors

Though these non-employing businesses don’t directly create jobs, they contribute a diverse range of goods and services to consumers, directly boost their local economies, create diversity in the market, and bolster innovation and entrepreneurialism. Small businesses, which include sole trader and freelance businesses, add an estimated half a trillion dollars to Australia’s economy, making up a third of its GDP in total.

As more companies enforce return-to-office policies, Australian workers are choosing to strike out on their own for a chance to be their own boss and enjoy freedom away from the traditional 9-5 work model.

Technology plays a role in this, with a range of tools arming professional workers with fully remote capabilities and leaving them with the power to choose more interesting and challenging work, more time to spend with their loved ones, and greater flexibility to apply their skills in a way that is fulfilling to them.

Why are sole traders left out of the conversation?

The benefits of being self employed often come with a slew of challenges, which are made more difficult by the lack of specialised support for freelancers and sole traders alone. Despite their growing numbers, sole traders and freelancers are still being routinely left out while small businesses and corporations take centre stage. 

This is evident in the way sole traders are barely acknowledged when it comes to the raft of initiatives being rolled out to support SMEs and the way policymakers create legislation with larger entities in mind. Plenty of grants and programs exist to nurture the growth of SMEs, but few are specific to sole traders and freelancers.

At the same time this agile and independent workforce are facing increased scrutiny from the ATO thanks to the actions of a few bad actors. Sole traders don’t enjoy the same level of representation or advocacy that bigger business entities do, but they still have to navigate the same amount of administrative work and red tape to run their business. From onerous tax obligations and insurance requirements to invoicing and chasing payments, the bureaucratic burdens fall heavily on the shoulders of solo businesses. 

This heightened scrutiny comes with a side of ATO court action over unpaid debts as the organisation firmly sets its sights on everyone from pure sole traders to those with a side job or two looking to make ends meet due to cost of living pressures. Compliance with rigorous accounting standards and managing cash flow is tough for businesses of any size, but it’s especially tough on sole traders who are forced to wear many different hats in the course of running their business.

More needs to be done

As more Australians turn to independent work, more needs to be done to create a network that recognises and supports their unique challenges and contributions. With this there are plenty of opportunities for both business and government to take the lead. The good news is rising awareness of this cohort will take us closer to realising the untapped potential of freelancers and sole traders, sooner rather than later.

The post Why are sole traders ignored by legislation? They need help too appeared first on Inside Small Business.

ISB: What first led you to the path of being an entrepreneur?

NJ: I am a teacher by trade – but the school classroom was a place that I never saw myself long term. It was actually around the kitchen table one night having drinks with my brother and some mates that my first business – Frankie & Nicole Sleepwear was born. I wanted to become the next Peter Alexander! It didn’t work out that way, but I had a lot of fun and learnt (A LOT) along the way

ISB: Despite being an entrepreneur for many years, why did you feel you haven’t achieved success?

NJ: Because it just felt so damn hard all the time. I was on the famine and feast cycle – doing really well sometimes and then barely scraping by other times. I guess I spent too much time focusing on what others were doing. When I saw other businesses winning awards, being endorsed by celebrities or going viral – and I wasn’t – I told myself I mustn’t be doing it right.

ISB: How did the founding of SHESpeaks change your perspective as an entrepreneur?

NJ: That when you find the sweet spot in business – the place where your strengths and talents intersect with the gap in the market that you are filling – you can achieve more success and grow more rapidly than you ever thought possible. The entrepreneurial journey isn’t linear, but you learn so much along the way and you just never know when skills you had to learn when you were cutting your teeth will come in handy again. Nothing is ever a waste of time.

ISB: How does the mindset of “I will make it work” versus “I hope this works” affect one’s growth as an entrepreneur?

NJ: Look, I am not a huge fan of hustle culture, I believe that we can have it all without sacrificing our health, and our nervous system. However there are times when you do have to go ‘all in’, say no to things that you really want to say yes to and make sh*t happen. I learnt a saying recently by one of my very successful entrepreneurial friends and that is sometimes you have to “f*ck your mood and follow the plan.” Sometimes you have to show up and post on social media – even if you don’t feel like it. You have to show up to a meeting when you just couldn’t be bothered. “I will make it work” is grounded in discipline whereas “I hope this works” is grounded in fairy dust – which isn’t that reliable.

ISB: How important is having a sisterhood as a support system in challenging times?

NJ: Absolutely crucial. Your support network, especially when you are solopreneur with very little or no team, is why you will keep on going when you don’t want to. I often ask audiences who is in their circle. Is your circle facilitating your expansion? Is it full of people that want to see you win and who will always push you to fulfil your potential? Or is it full of people that cast their own fears and projections on to you? Filling you with doubt and making you second guess your every move? Moving you towards being ‘safe’ and ‘comfortable’ instead of really seeing what you are capable of? Choose your circle wisely – especially in business. Surround yourself with and seek out women that are doing what you want to do, that see your light and want you to keep shining it instead of dimming it to make others around you feel better.

ISB: Why is it important for you to be able to share what you’ve learned in your business journey with other women who are facing their own challenges?

NJ: It’s not talked about enough. We see everyone’s highlight reels on a daily basis – we see the wins and the accolades and it’s easy to think, “Oh they’ve made it. They must have it easy now. They must know exactly what they are doing, having their sh*t together and never have doubt.” But that’s never the case! We are all working it out as we go. Nobody and I mean nobody has their sh*t together and the successful women that you see are working through a tonne of things (new level new devil right?) The thing is though – they keep moving, because here’s the thing – a confident woman doesn’t know more, a confident woman moves more. Even when she doesn’t know it all or know how it’s going to turn out.

The post Q&A: How Nicole Joy of SHESpeaks found success by owning that “nobody has their sh*t together” appeared first on Inside Small Business.

So I decided to create a new baby and toddler bottle and embarked on the journey as a solo entrepreneur. Thus, Little Stackers was born.

One of the benefits of doing this on my own is that there’s no one to rush me or minimise the importance of these finer points, and no one to muddy the waters of my vision. This level of care might not be possible if I constantly had to negotiate and compromise with a partner.

But being a solo entrepreneur comes with its own set of challenges. The loneliness can be tough, and the sheer number of roles I have to juggle can be overwhelming. As a solo entrepreneur, I wear many hats – designer, marketer, customer service rep, accountant, and more. And that’s just the business side. Switching between these roles and my responsibilities as a mother is a daily balancing act. From getting the kids to school, sports, and birthday parties, to making Book Week costumes and coordinating family schedules, there’s a constant need to shift gears. It’s exhausting, and sometimes it feels like there’s never enough time to do it all.

When mistakes happen, there’s no one to share the burden or catch an oversight. I’ve faced costly errors in packaging prints due to oversights that might have been avoided with a partner’s input. Such errors are not only financially draining but also a stark reminder of the burdens of solo responsibility. Marketing has also presented its own set of challenges. Investing in marketing partnerships without seeing a return was disheartening, and I often wonder if a partner with expertise in that area could have guided me towards better decisions.

Despite these hurdles, the solitude also brings a unique strength: the ability to trust your vision without compromise. I get to stay true to what I want Little Stackers to be. Over time, I’ve become quite adept at finding strength within myself and making decisions confidently. However, the pressure of knowing that the success or failure of every decision rests solely on my shoulders can be overwhelming.

The rewards are immense. Seeing my products in the warehouse, on store shelves, and being used by happy families feels deeply personal. There’s a unique joy in knowing that I had an idea to make something better, and I made it happen. Every accomplishment, no matter how small, feels incredibly gratifying. Seeing a concept come to life and receiving positive feedback is unparalleled.

The post The double-edged sword of solopreneurship appeared first on Inside Small Business.

Solutions for solopreneurs

COVID has transformed the labour market, leading to an increase in time employment, freelancing and self-employment. Digital Horizon predict that 2022 will be the year the FinTech sector really grasps the needs of solopreneurs through a boom in solutions that support them. Niche companies specialising in bank accounts for freelancers, credit providers suited to gig-workers in the gig economy and platforms providing greater financial stability and social benefits for solopreneurs are all expected to proliferate in 2022.

Payments in the metaverse

With metaverses expected to become an integral part of daily lives, Digital Horizon believes that FinTech, digital currencies and NFTs will become even more important, providing new infrastructure for digital assets and payments, based in open ecosystems so payments and data can be managed and transferred easily.

Green FinTech

The report predicts that green FinTech will become mainstream in the next three to five years, with regulators and society at large demanding that environmental, social and governance (ESG) resilience parameters are an integral part of finance. More and more people are looking to have their money looked after by green, eco-friendly banks.

“The past few years have been unexpected and difficult, but the FinTech industry has adapted to the new challenges and opportunities in our daily lives and driven innovation throughout this time,” Alan Vaskman, Founder and Managing Partner at Digital Horizon, said. “As the world grapples with how life post-COVID will look, as well as the looming green agenda and arrival of metaverses, FinTech’s role in our lives is set to not only continue, but to accelerate.

“As the colourful debit cards, 1-2-3 click transaction apps and payments move into the mainstream, we approach a stage where real, difficult problems need to be addressed by the FinTechs,” Vaskman added. “These include next generation financial infrastructure, availability of credit, deep financial product embedding into rapidly changing consumer spending and ‘person as a business’, while making these more sustainable in the long term.

“It is difficult to predict the future, but I am certain that the seven key trends in Digital Horizon’s report – from the tokenisation of real-world assets to the post-big data era – will all be fundamental to the FinTech industry in 2022.”

The post Solopreneurs a major focus for FinTechs in 2022 appeared first on Inside Small Business.