The $1.8M Solopreneur Playbook

Brett Williams

• Started as a graphic designer working a standard 9-to-5 job, doing landing pages, logos, and brand design
• Discovered a subscription-based unlimited graphic design agency and was inspired to replicate the model as a solo side project
• Launched a simple landing page called Design Joy, offering unlimited design requests for $449/month, and landed his first paying client within 24 hours
• Progressively raised prices from $449 to $1,000, then $3,000, then $5,000, and eventually up to $8,000 per month per client
• Today earns nearly $2 million per year with zero employees, zero contractors, and only works about 6 hours a day
• Maintains 16 active clients at any given time, each paying around $5,000/month

Products and Offerings

• Design Joy: A subscription-based unlimited graphic design service where clients pay a flat monthly fee for asynchronous design requests
• Scribbles: A downloadable collection of design templates priced at $4.99, created in just 6 hours in 2019, downloaded over 25,000 times
• Productize Yourself: A course teaching other designers how to build their own productized services, priced significantly higher than Scribbles
• Info products (Scribbles + the course) now account for 29% of Brett’s total income

Metrics and Financials

• Annual revenue: approximately $1.8 million to $2 million
• Only 16 clients needed at $5,000/month to generate about $1 million per year
• Scribbles generated revenue from over 25,000 downloads at $4.99 each
• Info products represent 29% of total income
• Works only 6 hours per day with virtually zero dollar expenses beyond his time

Strategy and Growth

• Step 1 – Demand-based pricing: Deliberately undercharged at $449/month to gain speed and momentum, acquiring a first customer within 24 hours and building thousands of reps that elevated his skill and reputation
• Step 2 – Boundaries: Enforced two strict rules to protect his time: all requests must be submitted asynchronously via a Trello board, and clients can only have one active request at a time with no calls or meetings
• Step 3 – The $5,000 client: Transitioned away from low-paying, high-maintenance $500 clients to $5,000 clients, targeting businesses that view the service as a no-brainer compared to hiring a $200K/year designer or a $30K–$40K agency
• Step 4 – High-demand, low-touch product: Chose website and branding design because it is high-impact for customers, requires minimal ongoing maintenance, and can be delivered in just a couple of hours per request
• Step 5 – Build once, sell forever: Monetized years of accumulated knowledge by creating digital products (Scribbles and Productize Yourself) that generate income without trading additional hours

Tech Stack and Infrastructure

• Simple landing page as the initial sales channel
• Trello board used as the sole client request and project management system
• Fully asynchronous workflow with no sales calls, no meetings, and no real-time communication
• Digital product delivery for Scribbles and the Productize Yourself course

Lessons and Advice

• Speed and momentum matter more than perfect pricing when starting out; getting a first customer fast is worth undercharging
• Willingness to put in thousands of reps, even while essentially working for free, is what separates those who succeed from those who quit
• Setting firm boundaries on how clients interact with you is essential for solopreneur sustainability and sanity
• Focus on serving clients who can easily afford your service rather than chasing price-sensitive customers
• Choose a service that is both high-demand and low-touch to maximize profit with minimal time investment
• Build digital products from your existing knowledge to create income streams that don’t require trading more hours for dollars