The Solo Founder Playbook: From Zero to $500 MRR in 90 Days

Most advice about building a business assumes you have co-founders, funding, or at least a team. If you are solo with limited capital, you need a different playbook. Here is the framework I use. It is designed for one person with under $1,000 to spend. Week 1-2: Find the Pain Do not build anything yet. Your only job is to find a problem people will pay to solve. How: Search Reddit, X, and forums for complaints in your niche Look at what people are already paying for (Gumroad trending, AppSumo, Product Hunt) Talk to 10 people in your target market. Ask: "What is the most frustrating part of [their job/hobby]?" The output of this phase is a specific problem statement: "[Type of person] struggles with [specific problem] and would pay $[amount] for [type of solution]." If you cannot fill in that sentence with confidence, keep researching. Week 3-4: Build the Minimum Not a minimum viable product. A minimum sellable product. The difference matters. An MVP proves a concept. An MSP makes money