The Expertise + AI Advantage: How to Build a 7-Figure Solo Business at Midlife

AI doesn't create expertise, it amplifies it.

When I started Copyblogger in 2006, it was just me against the world.

But once I attracted an audience, I collaborated with a series of partners who complemented my skills so I could accomplish more. They helped me fulfill my vision for products that I couldn’t build on my own.

• In 2007, I partnered with a designer and coder to deliver a unique course I created, all wrapped in a custom, community-based learning management system.

• In 2008, I partnered with a coder to create a design framework for WordPress that solved many of the frustrations I faced as a non-technical content creator.

• In 2009, I partnered with a software architect to build a product that reflected my best practices for SEO copywriting and content marketing, creating a SaaS that received three patents.

Eventually, I merged everything into one company that grew in annual revenue from $3 million to $12 million. After that, the company was acquired, and I pondered my next project.

Now I’m solo again with Further. And my new partner is generative artificial intelligence.

Back when my partners were human, I never handed off the stuff I was best at. And more importantly, my partners had zero interest in stepping into my lane; the reason they wanted to collaborate in the first place was because of what I brought to the table.

Now that I collaborate with AI, has this changed? 

Absolutely not.

That’s how to think about AI for your own business.

The Next Acceleration of 7-Figure Small

Most people start out as freelancers, consultants, or some other form of client services. And that includes me. My first two business successes were a solo law firm and a boutique real estate brokerage company.

The difference, for me and countless others, is we didn’t stop there. It was a stepping stone, not a destination.

You now know that what you're really creating is an expertise-based business. And that realization allows you to quickly expand beyond client services into your own digital empire, also known as a personal enterprise.

In fact, a key component of the personal enterprise approach encourages you to start thinking about other revenue streams right from the beginning. This is thanks to a process of productizing your expertise even as you build your business foundation with high-ticket client services.

When you begin strategically, it's possible to create a high-revenue solo operation sooner rather than later. And you won't be alone in this pursuit — the trend toward powerful one-person businesses has been exploding over the last decade.

As we’ve previously explored, the numbers are staggering. According to the Census Bureau's "nonemployer" statistics, there was a 33% increase in businesses earning between $1 million and $2.49 million in revenue between 2011 and 2015. 

The trend kept accelerating through 2018, but that was just the warmup. Things were about to shift from linear to exponential:

The number of million-dollar one-person businesses essentially doubled from 2021 to 2022, reaching 116,803 nonemployer businesses hitting $1 million or more in revenue.

The largest category? Professional services, which grew to 16,279 businesses in the $1-2.49 million category, up from 13,576 in 2021. Another 2,465 hit $2.5-4.9 million, up from 871 the year before.

So, who is in this category? Professional services include solo attorneys and accountants, but also marketing consultants and management advisors — exactly the types of expertise-based businesses that Generation X is uniquely positioned to dominate.

And the cherry on top? These businesses are largely location-independent, meaning the owner can live anywhere in the world they want.

But here's what most people miss about this explosion of seven-figure small businesses, and the even larger number of solo six-figure businesses, which also provide their owners with an exceptional “live anywhere, work from everywhere” lifestyle.

These founders had been riding the wave of digital transformation, using the internet and powerful software tools to automate and augment their human skills to reach customers wherever they may be. Now we’re about to watch what happens when those with experience and expertise leverage those same advantages while surfing the AI tsunami.

Your $20/Month Co-Founder

People are already predicting we’ll soon see the first billion-dollar solo business thanks to AI augmentation. While I have no interest in achieving this feat personally, I know it will begin with the unique experience, expertise, and purpose of a human, not a magical AI prompt.

Here's the truth about generative AI that most people are missing: AI doesn't create expertise, it amplifies it.