Community for Solopreneurs Is Career Insurance: A 30-Day Plan That Actually Works

Solopreneurship can feel like freedom… right up until it feels like isolation. If you’re trying to build community for solopreneurs, you’re not alone—and you’re not “being soft.” You’re being strategic.

When you’re the operator, the marketer, the accountant, the customer service rep, and the “keep it together” person—your world can shrink fast. And when business slows, a client ghosts, or life throws a curveball, you find out what you really have:

• A real community
• Or just a pile of contacts

The goal of this guide is simple: help you build the kind of community that makes you more resilient—professionally and personally—without turning your life into one long networking event.

Because community isn’t fluff. It’s career insurance.

What good community for solopreneurs actually looks like

Building community for solopreneurs isn’t about collecting contacts—it’s about creating a small circle that helps you make better decisions, stay consistent, and recover faster when work gets hard.

A real community does three things:

1. It improves your decisions.
2. It keeps you moving forward.
3. It reduces isolation and mental load.

Executive coach Lise Bruynooghe says strong community brings “perspective and regulation,” normalizes uncertainty, and reduces isolation so you’re not carrying everything alone—leading to better clarity and decision-making.

Growth leader Colleen Goepfert puts it even sharper:

“Community only works when it’s designed with the same discipline as your business.”

In other words: it’s not the number of groups you join. It’s whether the relationships inside those groups actually change your outcomes.

The litmus test: community vs. audience

This is the simplest way to tell if you’re building something real:

“If a community only celebrates your wins but can’t hold you in stress or burnout, it’s not community, it’s an audience.”
— Ektha Aggarwal, LCSW, Founder & CEO, Shakti Therapy & Healing Services

An audience claps when you post good news.
A community checks in when you disappear.

An audience consumes.
A community contributes.

An audience is comfortable.
A community is honest.

That distinction matters because many solopreneurs mistake “being seen” for being supported. The goal is simple: replace “networking noise” with community for solopreneurs that’s real, reciprocal, and consistent.

Why most solopreneur networking fails

Three common failure patterns show up again and again:

1) Visibility chasing

Tracy Lamourie (Lamourie Media) says it plainly:

“Community isn’t about visibility… it’s about continuity.”

Translation: showing up once doesn’t build trust. Repetition does.

2) Too many groups, not enough relationships

You join Slack groups, Facebook groups, and attend events… but nothing changes. Your calendar fills up, your business doesn’t.

3) The “wrong stage” trap

Dawn LaFontaine (Founder, Cat in the Box) shared that her first attempts at community didn’t work because members were in very different places in business. When the gap is too large, advice flows one direction and eventually the group breaks.

Her takeaway: don’t just find “someone.” Find people on the same part of the path.

The small-circle strategy (this is the cheat code)

If you want one principle to remember, let it be this:

Small, consistent circles beat large, occasional networks.

Tracy Lamourie explained that when she stopped treating networking as exposure, she narrowed her focus to 10–12 people across adjacent industries—chosen for work ethic and character, not status.

No pitching. No scripts. Just consistent contact and genuine support.

That’s how referrals happen without begging for them: trust compounds.

A 30-day plan to build real community (without being cringe)

You don’t need a massive network. You need a repeatable rhythm.

Here’s a 30-day blueprint for building community for solopreneurs that leads to accountability, clarity, and referrals over time.

Week 1: Pick your circle (and pick your values)

Most people don’t need more contacts—they need community for solopreneurs that helps improve decisions, create accountability, and reduce the mental load of doing everything alone.

Action steps:

• Identify one area where you need support most (revenue? clarity? accountability? emotional resilience?).
• Choose one community lane:
  • Peer circle (same-stage operators)
  • Mentor lane (2–3 people slightly ahead of you)
  • Local lane (in-person relationships that deepen trust)
• Make a list of 5 people you genuinely respect (Tracy’s advice: not influencers, not prestige—people with strong character and work ethic).

Simple rule: You’re not collecting contacts. You’re selecting companions.

Week 2: Reach out one-to-one (no pitch)

Send 3–5 short, personal messages. Keep them human. Keep them specific.

DM script (Tracy-style, values-forward):

Hi [Name] — I’ve noticed your work on [specific thing]. I respect how you approach it. I’m not pitching anything. I’m building a small circle of people I learn from and stay in touch with. If you’re open to it, I’d love to connect and learn what you’re focused on this season.

DM script (offer-first, Caitie-style):

Hi [Name] — I loved your post about [X]. I’m working on [Y]. If it’s helpful, I can share a resource that helped me with this, or I can give quick feedback on one thing you’re building. Open to a 20-minute chat next week?

Keep your goal simple: one meaningful conversation, not ten shallow ones.

Week 3: Create one recurring touchpoint

Community becomes real when it becomes routine.

Pick one:

• a weekly 30-minute check-in call
• a standing coffee
• a monthly virtual meet-up
• a small group text thread with two prompts per week:
  • “What are you working on?”
  • “Where are you stuck?”

Dawn LaFontaine’s model is clean and sustainable: her small group meets one hour weekly on Zoom/Google Meet, shares current challenges, and works through a running list of discussion topics.

That’s the win: structure beats vibes.

Week 4: Contribute first, then formalize

Before you ask for anything, be useful:

• share a resource
• make an introduction
• offer quick feedback
• send a thoughtful encouragement message when someone is struggling

Lise Bruynooghe’s framework is a great north star here:

“Community grows through genuine interest, consistent presence, and generous contribution.”

Then formalize what’s working:

• set the next call
• set the next meetup
• set a simple agenda (see below)

A simple agenda for a weekly 45-minute peer circle

If you want community that doesn’t drift, use this:

1. Wins (5 min): quick and real (no flexing)
2. Stuck points (15 min): each person shares one current challenge
3. Hot seat (20 min): one person gets focused feedback + next steps
4. Commitments (5 min): everyone states one action they’ll complete before next meeting

That’s it.

Boundaries: how to avoid “community” becoming distraction

You can’t join everything. And you shouldn’t.

Colleen Goepfert warns that if a community lacks purpose, time boundaries, or expectations of contribution, it becomes noise. Lise Bruynooghe adds a helpful personal signal: if relationships feel consistently one-way or leave you drained, it’s not community.

Here are three boundaries you can adopt immediately:

1. No purpose = no participation.
   If you can’t explain why a group matters in one sentence, you don’t need it.
2. Time box it.
   One primary community + one secondary lane is enough.
3. Watch the “after effect.”
   After a strong community interaction you feel clearer, calmer, and more motivated.
   After “noise,” you feel scattered and behind.

If your groups drain you, it’s time to rebuild community for solopreneurs around purpose, reciprocity, and time boundaries.

The Community Scorecard (rate your community in 2 minutes)

Give each item a 0–2 score (0 = no, 1 = sometimes, 2 = yes). Total out of 20.

1. People notice when I disappear.
2. I can be honest about struggles without fear of judgment.
3. I leave interactions with clearer next steps.
4. I both give and receive value (reciprocity exists).
5. There’s a consistent rhythm (weekly/monthly).
6. The group pushes action—not just conversation.
7. Members are roughly in the same stage, or the structure supports mixed stages.
8. I can ask for help without feeling ashamed.
9. Referrals/collaboration happen naturally over time.
10. I feel more resilient afterward, not drained.

Score meaning:

• 0–8: mostly audience/noise
• 9–14: some value, needs structure
• 15–20: real community (protect it)

Online vs local: which one should you pick?

Don’t overthink it. Pick what you can do consistently.

Dawn LaFontaine made a strong point: virtual community removes travel friction, and even if people lived near each other they’d often still meet online because it’s efficient.

A good approach:

• Use online for consistency and frequency
• Use local for depth and trust when possible

Start with what’s realistic for your schedule, then add the other later.

One thing to remember

A strong, healthy community is built on things most of us already know are true:

• humility
• honesty
• patience
• generosity
• serving others without keeping score

In practice, that means you don’t treat people like opportunities. You treat them like people.

And ironically, that’s also how the best opportunities tend to show up.

Your next step (do this tonight)

If you want momentum immediately, do this in 20 minutes:

1. Write down five people you respect (not famous—real).
2. Send two personal messages.
3. Schedule one call.
4. Decide on one recurring rhythm (weekly or monthly).

Community is built through repetition, not volume.

And once you have even a small circle that’s real—your business and your resilience change.

Start small: two messages today can be the beginning of community for solopreneurs that compounds for years.

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Thanks to our contributors!

• Ektha Aggarwal, LCSW, Founder & CEO, Shakti Therapy & Healing Services — shaktitherapyhealing.com
• Tracy Lamourie, Founder & Managing Director, Lamourie Media — lamouriemedia.com
• Lise Bruynooghe, Executive Coach & Founder, ProFound Consulting — lisebruynooghe.com
• Colleen Goepfert, Founder, Peak Line Advisory – buildwithoutchaos.com
• Dawn LaFontaine, Founder, Cat in the Box — thecatisinthebox.com
• Caitie Sfingi, Cofounder & CEO, Merakite – merakite.com