Solo Company Craze: Some Earn Millions Annually, Others See Incomes Shrink by 90%

The "Solo Company," a model where individuals leverage tools for independent entrepreneurship (OPC) in the AI era, has gone viral.

The year 2026 is hailed as the "Year One of Solo Companies." With AI empowerment, ordinary individuals have entered a golden era for starting businesses. One person + AI enables minimal-cost entrepreneurship: using large language models to write code, GPT to generate content, and AI for monetization. AI is no longer just a tech concept; it's genuinely creating commercial value for individuals.

Success stories of "Solo Companies" are emerging everywhere. Dozens of cities across the country have introduced policies encouraging and supporting "Solo Company" entrepreneurship. According to public data, by mid-2025, the national stock of "Solo Companies" had exceeded 16 million, accounting for 27.4% of the total number of enterprises in China.

Of course, behind the hype lies much controversy. Reports claim that "the first batch of solo company founders have already exited." Some criticize that "Solo Companies" are not fundamentally different from previous entrepreneurial models like "sole proprietorships" or "founder-led businesses." There are even statistics suggesting that amidst the OPC solo company frenzy, the reality is that 52.7% earn less than 7,000 yuan per month.

In fact, starting a business always carries risk; successful entrepreneurs are always a minority. AI lowers the barrier to entry, reduces costs, and increases efficiency, but it doesn't guarantee success. What is the real survival situation of "Solo Companies," and who is reaping the benefits? We spoke with several entrepreneurs.

Developing 6 Bullet Screen Games, Earning 1 Million Annually

Entrepreneur: Mr. Zhang, Game Development Sector

Since resigning to start my business in March 2025, I have developed six bullet screen games in one year, with total revenue nearing 20 million yuan and personal net income around 800,000 to 1 million yuan. Among them, the most successful game has accumulated over 8 million yuan in revenue.

Platforms like Douyin take a high commission rate: 50% platform fee, 42% to the streamer, leaving the developer with only about 8% of the total revenue.

The game industry commonly suffers from "high costs and long cycles." The "Solo Company" model perfectly addresses these pain points. The production cost for a single game can be controlled between 1,000 and 1,500 yuan, mainly covering AI tool subscriptions and asset pack purchases. Compared to the traditional team cost of often 2 million yuan, this achieves extreme cost compression.

Compared to traditional mobile or Steam games, bullet screen interactive games rely on platform traffic, requiring almost no additional marketing investment. This zero-marketing advantage lowers the entrepreneurial barrier.

AI tools replace traditional art and programming teams, enabling highly efficient production. In game development, AI handles about 70% of the art workload. I've established a complete pipeline: "Doubao (Keywords) -> Banana (Concept Art) -> Triple3D/Premium 3D (Modeling) -> Blender (Optimization) -> Mixamo (Rigging)."

AI also assists in code development. Using AI to write Java code achieves about 99% accuracy, significantly lowering the barrier to programming. Besides AI, I am personally responsible for final assembly, UI interface adjustments, and engine adaptation.

Regarding development cycles, AI effectively compresses the production timeline. A traditional team (around 10 people) would need 2-4 months to develop a similar game. Using the AI toolchain, a solo developer can shorten the cycle to around 15 days. Moreover, the final product quality is nearly comparable to that of large studios, indistinguishable from the output of traditional game company teams; average players and streamers can hardly tell if it's AI-made.

Of course, solo game development entrepreneurship requires certain core competencies: the solo company model suits practitioners who have "channels (client resources)" or "understand the process and have ideas." AI cannot replace creativity and project management skills. Experience is the best entrepreneurial barrier. While AI lowers the technical threshold, those with "zero foundation" and lacking industry experience struggle because they cannot judge the correctness of AI-generated content for effective correction.

Currently, layoffs in the game industry are severe, making traditional job hunting difficult. The application of AI tools empowers individuals with productivity comparable to teams,反而 providing a window for experienced practitioners to start independent businesses.

Personally, besides self-developed games, I also undertake outsourcing projects using the mature AI production process. Single orders are quoted at 30,000-50,000 yuan with a timeline of about one week, mainly to achieve stable cash flow for "drought and flood protection."

Work Inseparable from AI, Income 3 Times That of Peers in White-Collar Jobs

Entrepreneur: October, Materials R&D Sector

I am an entrepreneur running a solo company in Japan, holding Japanese permanent residency. I previously worked in the traditional materials R&D industry. I established my solo company last July, engaged in deep processing + retail (custom services). The company has been operating for less than a year.

My current monthly income is about three times the average for Japanese white-collar workers of the same age, with an annual income of around 15 million yen, which is much higher than before.

Regarding the entrepreneurial契机, it was the emergence of generative AI that prompted my decision to start a business. Ordinary individuals, empowered by AI, gained the ability to start independent businesses; 90% of problems can be solved by querying AI tools. Now, in my daily work, I almost constantly rely on AI tools: customer service translation, chatting, image creation, order processing, programming, legal consultation, etc.

Currently, my costs for AI tools are not high, requiring only about 3,400 yen per month in subscription fees. My work doesn't involve high-cost API calls; the main use cases are:

1. Language Localization: Using ChatGPT for proofreading, polishing, and localized translation of professional vocabulary to address differences between Chinese and Japanese.

2. Knowledge Acquisition and Learning: For new domain knowledge encountered in entrepreneurship (e.g., tax, regulations, processing knowledge, business decisions), quickly querying and summarizing information via AI to辅助决策.

Compared to the "Solo Company" trend in China, there aren't many people starting solo companies in Japan, but the number is increasing compared to before; the number of Japanese starting solo companies is multiplying. The门槛 for foreigners starting businesses in Japan is relatively high: they need to apply for a business management visa, requiring an initial investment of at least 30 million yen; without permanent residency or a stable work visa, the创业门槛 is extremely high. Qualification requirements vary greatly across industries in Japan. Sectors like餐饮,医美, and二手买卖 all require specific business licenses. My industry has relatively宽松资质要求.

Industry barriers are high in Japan. In the Japanese market, establishing personal or corporate credit rating is a key prerequisite for obtaining supplier resources. The Japanese market is extremely exclusionary. Entering an industry usually requires an internal introduction from a "guide," otherwise, it's difficult to build trust. Obtaining supplier resources requires going through strict信用审查 procedures. Business推进 was very slow in the initial stages. Through口碑 accumulation over the past six months, I achieved exponential growth, and operations are now趋于稳定.

Compared to China, the Japanese consumer market is slower to adopt new things like smart tools and technology. Scanning codes for ordering only became popular in recent years. This provides opportunities for Chinese entrepreneurs to fill market gaps. There are also differences in competitive environments. The Japanese market isn't as "inwardly卷" as China's. The population base is smaller, and industry competition is relatively缓和, allowing some生存空间 for solo companies. Low-price competition doesn't work well in Japan. Japanese consumers are skeptical of低价 products; adopting a high客单价 strategy反而更容易建立信任.

AI Handles 80% of Repetitive Work, Income Doubles

Entrepreneur: Xiao Tao, Biotechnology Sector

I started my business last August. A solo company doesn't create clients; I was introduced to client needs in the biotech field through former colleagues. I had the clients first, then decided to establish a solo company to take on the business.

The industry has certain barriers. I mainly provide biotech cell culture and development services for B2B clients. The core is using algorithms to optimize biological culture media formulations, improving prediction efficiency. I previously accumulated some AI algorithm experience at a biotech company. That company focused on the niche field of biological culture media development, which only a few global institutions can do. Using AI to predict formulas created a high technical threshold.

Compared to full-time employment, my solo company model has achieved doubled income growth (about twice) and significantly improved time freedom, realizing a higher return on investment.

My daily work核心 uses the DeepSeek model, combined with the Claude model to build an AI Agent. The development environment is based on VS Code, achieving automated tasks through the Agent.

Actually, computing power costs aren't high. Currently, the Token fees consumed by using DeepSeek are less than 30 yuan. Hardware投入 is just a personal computer, so the overall startup cost is extremely low. The AI Agent handles about 80% of the basic repetitive work (e.g., data analysis, report generation). The remaining 20% of core judgment, framework design, and client communication are handled manually.

20% of the work cannot be replaced by AI. Although AI handles a lot of work, the entrepreneur needs to monitor the Agent's progress and output direction in real-time to prevent deviation from goals and ensure delivery quality.

Personally, I think positions like data analysts, outsourced product managers, and administrative roles that rely on电子化重复劳动 face a relatively high risk of being directly replaced by AI Agents. Simultaneously, these groups are also suitable for entrepreneurship: professionals with technical backgrounds, business understanding, and client resources are the best candidates for transitioning to solo companies. If they can master AI technology and have client resources, they can尝试一人创业.

Having been in business for less than a year, I've also faced many challenges and have certain operational短板. Entrepreneurs need to补足 non-technical短板, such as interpreting government policies, company registration procedures, and financial/tax compliance. These通常需借助 external resources. I advise against blindly jumping into "solo company" entrepreneurship. Introverted personalities (I-types) have天然劣势 in client acquisition and funding pitches. Before starting, one must ensure stable client resources.

Income Shrinks 90% Compared to Big Tech Job, Advises Against Blindly Following the Trend

Entrepreneur: AYuan's Free Voyage, Cross-border E-commerce Sector

I previously worked in operations at a large internet company. With slowing industry growth and facing an invisible career ceiling, I decided to resign and start a business. My创业方向 is cross-border e-commerce targeting the Latin American market.

Due to previous work assignments, I was stationed in Latin America and am familiar with the market. Also, current trade往来 with Latin America is growing rapidly with巨大潜力, so I chose this market. Initially, due to lack of experience, I joined a startup team. I officially went independent this April, adopting the "solo company"轻资产 model, controlling all aspects from product selection to after-sales.

For me, the startup capital门槛 for a solo company isn't high. Company registration is free, accounting services cost around 2,000 yuan/year, e-commerce platform入驻 is basically free. Depending on the chosen business model, purchasing a Mexican local tax ID costs under 10,000 yuan.

Currently, I focus on the Mexican market, adopting the "overseas warehouse" model—pre-stocking goods in the platform's official warehouse to reduce logistics costs and improve fulfillment efficiency.

AI replaces about 60% of manual workload. For轻体量 cross-border e-commerce, product selection and product page optimization/display are most important. And this part of the work can almost all be done by AI. AI tools cover market selection, graphic/video content generation, product detail page optimization, and financial data analysis.

Personally, I mainly use GPT, Gemini, and Doubao video generation tools. The average monthly subscription cost is around 200+ yuan, significantly reducing operational costs compared to traditional manual design. Typically, manual design for a single product's images alone can cost up to 500 yuan.

Of course, I don't建议盲目辞职创业. There's excessive hype about "solo companies" online; one shouldn't blindly follow the trend. The性价比 of working at a big tech company is still very high. Previously, my annual salary at a big tech company was around 600,000 yuan. Currently, after two months of entrepreneurship, sales are just over 10,000 yuan, profit over 1,000 yuan. Even with part-time代运营, there's a huge income落差,直接缩水90%.

However, the成长价值 brought by entrepreneurship indeed far exceeds the experience of working for years. There's a Western saying: "Get your hands dirty." Entrepreneurship has allowed me to truly learn and understand the business from the ground up, shifting from a platform perspective to hands-on operations. I deeply appreciate the hardships of entrepreneurship, gained a more down-to-earth understanding of business essence, and have become more grounded as a person.

This article is from WeChat public account "Tech Planet" (ID: tech618), author: Zhai Yuanyuan