Alternative Entrepreneurship vs. Solopreneurship: A Structural, Moral and Psychological Reckoning
If you want to sear my soul, just confuse alternative entrepreneurship with solopreneurship. A lot of people (a lot of members!) do. It’s like mistaking Britney Spears and Nina Simone.
Solopreneurship is not a revolution. Solopreneurship is, even in the wildest claims of its stoutest defenders: just you, your ambition and whatever sells.
It can be a vehicle for something more human, but it's just as likely to be a vessel for manipulation and extraction. The model itself is morally agnostic.
So do labels matter? Maybe not. But identity does.
We've seen what happens when businesses form without ethical guardrails. Solopreneurship is often capitalism writ small but etched deep. It dresses itself in virtue signaling, implying that the mere act of being independent is deserving of moral praise. "Shop small", they trumpet. But why? Too often, solopreneurship reproduces the very dynamics it claims to escape.
Whilst it doesn't matter greatly to me what stickers people use, a failure to fully grasp the emancipatory nature of alternative entrepreneurialism (not just for its practitioners, but the planet) may delay people's hunger to begin.
This piece unpacks some key differences between solopreneurship and alternative entrepreneurship and invites you to center around values and impact in supportive communities as the only reliable way to achieve the Big Bold Life of Joy you crave.
Glorious Isolation vs. Interdependence
Solopreneurship is simple: Entrepreneurship, with all its problems, but without employees.
Solopreneurship heroicises the individual. And it has appeal to the self-reliant, the mistrustful and the introvert alike: no more boardroom battles, no more office politics: just do it all yourself!
The myth of the all-capable, all-knowing operator who handles strategy, fulfilment, customer service, marketing, finances and innovation alone is the key feature of the brand. These are the tech bros that litter Twitter. These are the young men (and women) with young looking profile pictures and grand titles of global control: the people whose key motivation is to be the boss. Of anything.
The solopreneur as a superhero is all part of the cachet.
Many solopreneurs report intense psychological strain. Studies on freelancers and solo founders show elevated levels of burnout, anxiety, and decision fatigue, often stemming from isolation and overwork.
Do we really believe that we are at our best alone? Do we want to be king so badly, we'll settle for a kingdom of one? Or is that disillusionment talking?
Alternative entrepreneurship rejects the cult of founder as god. It emphasizes shared responsibility, interdependence and reciprocity. Whether through co-operatives, worker-owned businesses, community-led initiatives, or informal mutual aid, these models distribute risk and power by design because two beliefs are retained: no-one alone has all the answers; and building something bigger than yourself (not in terms of revenue, but impact and sustainability) is the only escape from the trap of self.
Members of The Society who are thriving as alternative entrepreneurs speak without exception of their collaborators: alliances formed without defined parametres, contracts or payments that enable new ideas to take shape and be delivered. Put simply: the opportunities for learning, joy, community and impact are greater when we team up and don't worry about being The Boss.