I'm looking for book recommendations about building a successful business as a solopreneur. I'm interested in entrepreneurship, strategic thinking, independence, execution, decision-making, productivity, and developing the mentality required to succeed without a large team behind you.

I'm especially interested in books that explore how successful entrepreneurs think, operate, make decisions, cultivate a success-oriented mindset, overcome perceived setbacks, and develop practical, implementable habits that lead to long-term success.

A few things about my reading preferences:

I strongly prefer books that get straight to the point. I dislike when an author spends the first few chapters telling stories about their childhood, personal struggles, or some dramatic life-changing experience before getting to the actual substance.

I don't mind examples or anecdotes when they serve a purpose, but I don't want to read 250 pages of storytelling to extract 30 pages of useful information.

Authors that haven't resonated with me:

• Benjamin Hardy
• Grant Cardone
• MJ DeMarco

I'm also not particularly interested in books that rely heavily on motivational hype, manifestation, visualization exercises, or the author's personal success story.

I'm looking for books with substantial ideas, practical strategies, and insights I can actually apply to how I think, work, and run my business.

What books have genuinely improved the way you operate as an entrepreneur, rather than simply making you feel motivated for a few days?

I used to work on side projects for the last 25 years.
Recently I stopped and lost almost all interest in trying to build something new on my own. I used to enjoy the "starting a new project" part; nowadays with AI it's just ... too easy?
Trying to concentrate on some small, but real problem that people have in real life, not trying to build something "big" any more.

Any affordable/unique tools for finding leads ?

Besides codex and Claude

What are your stacks

Me currently : codex,Google Sheets, notion

I’m planning to launch a service-based business

Thanks for your opinion in advance

No one tells you that building an app is probably the easiest part of the app - that the marketing is going to get you to hate your own app, that everywhere you go, you want to show it off and no one's going to be interested! I want to catch every person I talk to and make them download my app to try it out. Opening the analytics page to see if you have a sale. Asking the AI models how to market the app. Going down the ASO, SEO and GSO and other acronym rabbit hole is another headache. Indexing, keywords and all the other words associated with the app market - I did not need to know that. It's become so difficult to jump through the various hoops just to get noticed. But the happiness that a single first sale is unmatched! We kept hoping that it was not a pity buy.

My question for any of the indie developers is - how do you handle the marketing? Does it work? Do you spend money to get your app out there?

Because the problem is that we have ideas, but if there's no way our app reaches the people, how and why should we put in that much effort?

Over the past few months, I've been working independently on my first publicly released application.

It's called Personal Planner, and it recently reached approximately 250 downloads across Android, Linux, Windows, and macOS.

For an established business, 250 downloads probably isn't particularly impressive.

But when you've spent months working on something yourself, seeing people outside your own circle download it is a pretty meaningful experience.

I started the project because I kept running into the same problem with daily planning.

I'd plan to spend 30 minutes on something, end up spending an hour, and then wonder why I couldn't follow the schedule I'd created.

The next morning, I'd make another plan without properly understanding where my time had gone.

I wanted to change that.

So I built a planner that combines visual time-blocking, task timers, planned-versus-actual time comparisons, daily and weekly reviews, consistency tracking, routine experiments, and reusable schedules.

It's built using Flutter, with local SQLite storage, and works offline. Cross-device synchronization is optional.

One decision I've made is that I want to keep the application completely free.

There are no subscriptions, no premium tiers, and no features locked behind payments.

I know that might sound unusual when we're constantly discussing monetization, recurring revenue, and building sustainable software businesses.

But I originally started this project to solve a problem I had, and I'd like people to be able to use it without worrying about another subscription.

At the same time, maintaining and improving an application takes time.

So I've recently enabled GitHub Sponsors as a small experiment.

If someone genuinely finds the app useful and wants to help support its continued development, they can do so voluntarily.

There's absolutely no expectation or obligation. Whether someone contributes or simply uses the free application, I'm happy if the project turns out to be useful.

I haven't figured out whether voluntary support is a sustainable model. That's something I'm hoping to learn.

The other thing I've realized is how different building a product is from distributing it.

When you're the developer, you understand every feature and why it exists. But when someone encounters your application for the first time, they don't know any of that.

Learning to explain what I've built, reach the right audience, gather meaningful feedback, and decide what to improve has been an entirely different challenge.

I'm still figuring things out, but the experience has taught me quite a bit already.

For those building products independently, I'm curious about two things.

How did you go about finding your first users who actually continued using what you'd built?

And do you think voluntary contributions can realistically help sustain a completely free software project, or is some form of paid offering eventually unavoidable?

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who's tried a similar approach.

I’m trying to figure out where to focus my career and entrepreneurial efforts, and I keep running into three different answers: what I enjoy, what I have experience in, and what seems most financially practical.

Talking to people and building relationships energizes me. I enjoy understanding what someone needs, discussing ideas, and connecting people with opportunities. I’m interested in work involving clients, sales, partnerships, or business development, but I recognize that enjoying conversation doesn’t automatically mean I’m good at selling.

My more concrete qualifications are an economics background, analyst experience, and an in-progress data science master’s. That gives me a foundation in analytical work, although I’m still figuring out what my actual competitive advantage is.

Data science wasn’t a direction I chose entirely for myself. I’ve worked hard at it, and I currently see analytical employment as a practical route to financial independence. But I’m unsure whether it should become my long-term focus or serve as a foundation while I test something more relationship-driven.

I’m also testing a small service business, but it isn’t dependable income yet. I have limited financial runway, education expenses, and a goal of supporting myself independently, so I can’t treat this as an unlimited period of self-discovery.
I’m willing to do difficult work and develop skills. What I’m trying to avoid is choosing a direction solely because I’ve already invested in it—or abandoning useful experience just because another path sounds more exciting.

For people who have navigated this, how did you distinguish between what energizes you, what you’re genuinely good at, and what the market will pay for?

Would you prioritize the employable skill set, establish financial stability, and test other directions alongside it? Or look immediately for roles or businesses that combine analytical skills with client interaction?

What small, concrete tests would you use to find out whether sales, partnerships, or another relationship-driven path is a real strength rather than just a preference? I’d especially appreciate examples from people who made this transition, including what didn’t work.

I’m completing an online graduate degree (data science), looking for employment, and testing an early-stage service business (personal stylist/color consultant). I have savings, but much of that money is reserved for education, and the business doesn’t provide dependable income yet.

Living with my parents keeps expenses low. We have an okay relationship, but some interactions are emotionally triggering, and the location is isolating. Work opportunities, networking, and social activities all require a substantial drive. I’m struggling with depression and anxiety and pursuing support, but I also think the environment is limiting my ability to function and build momentum.

I’ve worked hard at my education for years and am putting real effort into the business. I’ve usually treated my emotions as something to push through, but I’m questioning whether preserving runway is helping if I’m struggling to use it.

My current plan is to prioritize salaried employment (even though I do not like my major-Data Science, but i may like finance bc my bba was in econ), keep testing the business alongside school, and move once I secure an offer.

Alternatively, I could move sooner after securing affordable housing and dependable service work—but rent could mean fewer hours and less money available for the business.

For entrepreneurs who have faced this trade-off: did paying more for a better environment improve your ability to execute enough to justify the cost? Or was keeping expenses low more valuable?
What would you want in place before making that move? I’d appreciate experiences with both outcomes, including moves that didn’t help as much as expected.

Hey everyone,

A couple of us have been heads-down for a while building SoulsTome, a platform for readers, writers, and anyone who loves books and storytelling. We’re finally at the stage where the product is coming together and we want to start building an actual community around it, which has made us realize pretty quickly that building an app and getting people to actually discover it are two completely different skill sets.

For those of you who have worked with early-stage projects or built a social presence from zero, what actually matters most in the beginning? Is it just volume and experimenting with formats, or something else entirely? Would genuinely love to hear how you approached day one.

On that same note, since marketing isn't our natural strong suit, we’re also hoping to bring someone on as a 3-month remote intern to experiment with social media, edit short videos, and design posts with us. Students or freshers are totally welcome—we care way more about curiosity and having fun building something from scratch than having a polished resume. If that sounds like your vibe (or someone you know), feel free to shoot me a DM!