The Solo Business Playbook

Laura Stevens spent 11 years in corporate, most recently as a senior e-commerce product manager, before a message about voluntary redundancy landed while she was away in Cape Town. She had 24 hours to decide. Five months later, she's the founder of Build With Laura, working as a transformation coach and creative director for founders, brands and people in creative transition. In this episode, Laura and Laura (yes, two Lauras) talk about why so many founders feel stuck even when they know exactly what they want, why the answer is usually the who rather than the what, and how breaking a mountain down into tiny steps changes everything. Laura also shares why she stopped letting fear of failing in public keep her in the comfort of planning, and the one question to ask yourself each morning to move closer to the person you want to be. In this episode, we cover: Taking voluntary redundancy as a sign to finally go for it Why coaching should start with the who, not the what What "feeling stuck" usually means, and…

After more than a decade in senior finance roles at ASOS, Just Eat, Deliveroo and Global Fashion Group, Chenge Garaba realised the next step up the corporate ladder wasn't the life he wanted. So he started Forc Advisory, a fractional finance and tech finance consultancy for founder-led and VC-backed scale-ups. In this episode, Laura and Chenge talk about what's driving so many people out of corporate, why the fractional model works for both sides, and why fractional support shouldn't be limited to C-suite titles. Chenge also shares how he helped one business cut its tech spend from £100 million to £70 million without switching anything important off, plus the three questions every founder should be able to answer about the tools they pay for. In this episode: Why control over your time can matter more than a bigger salary The worst case of taking the leap is usually just your current reality How fractional work gives you a spread of income instead of one basket Why most businesses waste 20 to 30% of their…

Most founders know they should be showing up on social. Very few know what to actually film, how often to post, or which numbers are worth paying attention to. In this episode I'm joined by Ella Bradley, co-founder and creative director of Blank Social Co, a social creative direction house working with brands from upfront strategy through to ideation, production and delivery. Ella launched the business off the back of a single LinkedIn post that brought in more client enquiries than she could handle alongside her full-time agency job. We talk about the thing Ella sees founders neglecting most often, which is the personal brand side of the business. She makes the case that people connect with people, and that your face and your name will often do more work than your brand account ever will. We also get into what stops founders posting in the first place, usually not confidence but a lack of ideas, time or a clear sense of what anyone actually wants to hear. What you'll take away: Why personal brand is the gap…

Hayley Garraway founded Cos We Can, a single serve cheesecake brand sold in cans, on the idea that anyone can do the thing they keep putting off. In this episode she talks through what it actually took to get from baking bespoke cakes for friends at uni to running weekly drops with a proper order window, a canning machine shipped over from China, and a launch built on giving away the first 100 cheesecakes for free. We get into the logistics of a made to order food business, how she funded the equipment by asking friends and family and paying them back in cheesecakes, and the year she spent filming monthly check ins with herself because she could not work out why she was stalling. Her verdict on all the branding and website tweaking she did while she waited to feel ready: procrastination with glitter on it. What we cover Why she picked cheesecake when everyone else was doing postal brownies and cookies How the weekly drop works behind the scenes, from Monday prep day to freezing, insulated next day delivery…

Most people spend a year building an idea nobody wanted. Jacon Petel spent that year finding out what people would actually pay for. In this episode I'm joined by Jake (Jacob), founder of Fractional Creative, a creative agency running Google and Meta ads and website development on flat monthly pricing with no long term contracts. We met in Bali about four years ago when we were both working overnight hours for other people's businesses, and a year on from Fractional becoming his full time job, we get into what's actually worked. Jake is refreshingly honest about the parts that aren't fun: the tax bill, the multi currency cash flow, the sleepless night before raising his rates. And he's got a genuinely useful method for testing an idea before you sink money into it. What we get into Why the smallest possible version of your idea beats the polished one, and how to fake a product before you've built it The 80/20 rule, the perfectionist trap, and why hitting publish matters more than pixel perfect How shipping…

Amy is the founder of Eat by Amy, a vegan wholesale bakery, and Crumb, a vegan cookie and coffee shop, both in Islington. What started as a savoury vegan meal prep business (before Amy could even bake) turned into a bakery almost by accident, after customers kept asking for dessert. In this episode, Amy talks honestly about a first year of business that made her think she was smashing it, followed by four years of taking home almost nothing once she committed to a bricks and mortar bakery space. We get into the wholesale client cycle that kept eating into her income, the very specific moment on Camden Passage that led to finding the Crumb shop, and why she believes that when you get a strong feeling about something, you have to follow it. We also talk about pricing a physical product versus a service, why her dad's involvement as an unofficial accountant has kept her honest with the numbers, and the concept of visibility tax, the real cost of building a business in public that Amy has learned the hard way.…

In this episode I'm joined by Jody Gilligan, founder of Arvo, a neighbourhood sauna and plunge space in Walthamstow, East London. Jody spent years in tech, most recently as Head of Growth at a fast scaling software company, before walking away from it all at 30 to self-fund a bricks and mortar wellness business from scratch. We talk about what life actually looked like before Arvo, the slow burn of discontentment that led her to leave a high pressure, high visibility career, and why she doesn't believe you should need a holiday to escape your own life. Jody gets honest about the British Business Bank startup loan that helped fund Arvo alongside her own savings, what the business plan process actually involved, and the privilege and risk calculations that go into choosing bricks and mortar over a digital business. We also start to get into the maze of commercial leasing, from use class requirements to filtering property listings, and why there's so little accessible information out there for first time…

Virgo and Sofia are the founders of Molto, a whole foods dessert brand born out of a Sunday night ritual. In this episode, we talk about Virgo's redundancy from a corporate finance role, the solo trips that quietly shifted both of their perspectives before Molto existed, and the exact moment a supermarket cookie run turned into a business idea. We also get into what it actually takes to build a business with your best friend and flatmate, why they've deliberately kept the relationship non-transactional, and how they navigated different working styles, one more intuitive and feeling led, one more research and execution led, without it becoming a source of friction. This is an honest, warm conversation about creativity, partnership, and building something that doesn't cost you your wellbeing to run. What we cover Leaving corporate finance after redundancy, and why it felt like an opportunity rather than a threat Solo travel as a turning point, and how stepping away from routine shifted both founders'…

Danielle Greene didn't set out to build a marketing agency. She helped a friend with her salon's Instagram, and eight years later she's running Greene Creatives with a team, a wait list, and clients who've stuck with her since the start. In this episode, Danielle talks through the corporate marketing job that pushed her toward self employment, the lockdown moment she handed in her notice on a Teams call, and what it actually took to go full time (spoiler: a lot more planning than the "I just quit" stories you see online). We also get into hiring people you trust, why she still struggles to delegate even with a team in place, and the pricing lessons she wishes someone had told her from day one. What we cover: How Greene Creatives started as a favour for a friend and grew into a full time agency Why Danielle left a corporate marketing role in the oil industry, and what it taught her about trusting your own judgement The financial planning behind her leap to full time, including a three month buffer and selling…

In this episode I'm joined by Nadia Rose, feminine embodiment coach and founder of Raya Rituals, a space helping women reconnect with their bodies and rebuild trust in themselves. We get into why "fake it till you make it" is a lie, what it actually means to embody your brand rather than perform it, and how the fear of not feeling "ready" can keep you stuck for years. Nadia shares her own story, from social media creator burnout to building a business rooted in something far more honest, and we talk openly about ego death, survival mode, and what it looks like to build slowly, on your own terms. If you've ever felt physical resistance to a part of your business (looking at you, LinkedIn), or found yourself performing a version of success that was never really yours, this one's for you. In This Episode, we cover: Why Nadia doesn't believe in "fake it till you make it" The difference between performing your brand and embodying it How authenticity can quietly turn into a new kind of performance Nadia's own ego…

In this episode I'm joined by Sienna Fleur, co-founder of Hausformer, the brand bringing foldable Reformer beds into people's homes across the UK and beyond. Sienna launched Hausformer at just 20 years old, self-funded, with no roadmap and a lot of figuring it out as she went. And in true Solo Business Playbook fashion, we get into the parts nobody puts on their grid. We talk about what it actually feels like to build something from nothing while your friends are finishing university, how founder anxiety is its own very specific beast, and why Sienna thinks if you really value consistency in your life, starting a business might not be for you. We also get into the real cash flow reality of running a product-based business with no outside investment, the global shipping challenges that have tested her in the last few months, and why making decisions with no one to validate them is one of the hardest parts of being a solo founder. This one is honest, relatable, and a little bit of a reality check in the best…

Welcome to the very first episode of The Solo Business Playbook. No polished setup, no perfectly lit shot, just me being honest about what building a business on your own actually looks like. For episode one, I wanted to talk about something I've struggled with for most of my career and something I know so many of you will relate to: imposter syndrome. I share my own story of putting off freelancing for two years, ghosting potential clients out of pure fear, and the moment in a Barcelona apartment where I almost talked myself out of a call that led to my first ever client. I also share the tools I've picked up along the way for dealing with imposter syndrome when it shows up, because it never fully goes away. It just gets easier to work with. In This Episode, I cover: What imposter syndrome actually is and how common it really is Why procrastination is often fear in disguise, not laziness My own story of ghosting clients on Upwork before I'd even started freelancing The call I almost talked myself out of,…

The Solo Business Playbook is my honest take on freelancing, starting a business, and building a career on your own terms without having it all figured out. I’ve taken the non-traditional path, from freelancing to building my own business, and in this podcast I share what’s actually worked, what hasn’t, and everything I’m still learning along the way. We’ll talk about finding clients, growing your income, navigating the ups and downs, and building a solo business that supports the kind of life you actually want. I’ll also bring on guests who’ve built their own independent careers, so you can hear real stories, real lessons, and feel a little less like you’re figuring it all out alone. If you’re leaving your 9–5, starting a freelance career, or launching and growing a business then this is for you. https://www.lunabizsolutions.com/ Laura - @laurfromluna on TikTok & Instagram