Build Your Solo Business Operating System with FLO.W

The essence of a solo business isn't "one person doing all the work"—it's using leverage to amplify your unique value.

What is leverage? Naval says there are three types: capital, labor, and products with zero marginal cost of replication (code and media).

For individuals without funding or teams, the third type of leverage is the real opportunity—the articles you write, videos you record, courses you create, templates you sell. Once created, they can be infinitely replicated and sold to countless people.

This is the core logic of a solo business: Create once, earn repeatedly.

This article is the overview of the FLO.W Notion template solo business series. I'll first introduce the three forms of solo businesses, then explain FLO.W Notion template's core framework, and finally use a case study to connect all concepts.

Three Forms of Solo Business

Solo businesses come in many forms, but can be summarized into three main types:

Code Type: Let Your Product Speak

Indie developers and Indie Hackers belong to this category. They use code to build products—could be an app, a SaaS tool, a browser extension.

Once the product launches, it can continuously generate income without you spending extra time on each transaction.

Typical products: Apps, SaaS, extensions, templates, tools

Content Type: Monetize Knowledge

Creators, bloggers, and columnists belong to this category. They package knowledge and experience into content products—could be a course, a paid newsletter, an ebook.

Once content is created, it can be sold repeatedly. Your time investment is one-time, but earnings are ongoing.

Typical products: Courses, newsletters, ebooks, paid communities, templates

Service Type: Empower with Methodology

Consultants, coaches, and advisors belong to this category. They use their professional expertise to help clients solve problems.

Although services require time investment, mature solo businesses standardize and productize their services—like fixed consulting frameworks, reusable methodologies, accompanying tools and templates.

Typical products: Consulting services, coaching programs, workshops, communities

Find Your Scenario

Different forms of solo businesses have different operational focuses. Here are specific tutorials for various scenarios:

If you're not sure which form you belong to, no problem—keep reading to understand FLO.W Notion template's core framework first, then choose your specific scenario based on your situation.

FLO.W Notion template's Core Framework

No matter what type of solo business you're running, you need a system to manage the entire "idea to product" process.

FLO.W Notion template provides six core modules. Their relationships work like this:

Area (long-term direction)
  └── Milestone (stage goals)
        └── Project (deliverable campaigns)
              └── Task (daily actions)

Note (capture insights) ← spans all levels
Information Hub (external input) ← continuously feeds the system

Area: Your Long-term Battlefield

Areas are directions you continuously invest energy in—they don't easily end.

For example, "Content Creation," "Indie Development," "Consulting Business" are all Areas. There may be multiple projects under one Area, but the Area itself exists long-term.

Judgment criterion: If you'll still be doing this three years from now, it's an Area.

Milestone: Stage Anchors

Milestones are key nodes within an Area, marking important stage achievements.

For example, "Launch first paid product," "Monthly revenue hits $1,000," "10,000 followers" are all Milestones. Milestones serve to anchor direction—when you're lost in daily minutiae, look up and you'll know where you're heading.

Project: Deliverable Campaigns

Projects are work units with clear end dates and deliverables.

For example, "Develop an MVP," "Create a course," "Write an ebook" are all Projects. Projects are the concrete implementation paths for Milestones—completing projects one by one is moving toward the Milestone.

Judgment criterion: If something has a clear "finished" state, it's a Project.

Task: Daily Concrete Actions

Tasks are the smallest execution units within a project, typically completable within 1-3 days.

For example, "Research 5 competitors," "Write first chapter draft," "Record first video lesson" are all Tasks. Tasks appear on FLO.W Notion template's Homepage, arranged by date—every day you open Notion, you know what to do today.

Note: Capture Process Insights

Notes record reusable experiences and insights.

Tasks get archived after completion, but Notes remain. Market insights discovered while researching competitors, pitfalls encountered during product development, inspirations from user conversations—these are all worth writing as Notes for future reference.

Judgment criterion: If this content has value after the project ends, write it as a Note.

Information Hub: Manage External Input

Information Hub collects and manages external information—books, articles, courses, podcasts, web clippings.

A solo business can't operate in isolation—it needs continuous learning and research. Information Hub is your "input pipeline," gathering valuable external information in one place for regular digestion.

Framework Overview

The complete relationship between the six modules:

Area: Content Creation
└── sub-Area: Paid Courses
    │
    ├── Milestone: Launch first paid course by end of March
    │
    ├── Project 1: Course Research & Positioning
    │   ├── Task: Research 5 competitor courses
    │   ├── Task: Launch user survey
    │   └── Task: Write course positioning document
    │   └── Output Note: "Course Positioning Insights"
    │
    ├── Project 2: Course Content Production
    │   ├── Task: Write scripts for each module
    │   ├── Task: Record videos
    │   └── Task: Create supplementary materials
    │   └── Output Note: "Recording SOP"
    │
    └── Project 3: Course Launch & Promotion
        ├── Task: Build sales page
        ├── Task: Publish teaser content
        └── Task: Official launch
        └── Output Note: "Course Launch Retrospective"

Information Hub (continuous input)
├── Books: "Knowledge Monetization," "Course Design Handbook"
├── Clippings: Competitor analysis, user feedback
└── Courses: Study competitors' structure design

This is the solo business operating system:

• Areas define your long-term battlefield
• Milestones anchor stage goals
• Projects break goals into deliverable campaigns
• Tasks are concrete actions to advance daily
• Notes capture process experiences and insights
• Information Hub manages continuous input

Case Study: From Idea to Product

Understanding the framework, let's use a concrete case to connect all concepts.

Suppose you're a heavy Notion user wanting to turn three years of experience into a paid course. How do you make this idea happen?

Step One: Define the Area

First ask yourself: What role does making courses play in my long-term plan?

After thinking it through: You don't just want to make "one course"—you want to continuously output content and build products around "productivity tools."

Create the Area structure in FLO.W Notion template:

Area: Content Creation
├── sub-Area: Xiaohongshu (daily content output)
├── sub-Area: Paid Courses (knowledge products)
└── sub-Area: Newsletter (deep content + user retention)

Step Two: Set Milestones

Set an anchor for yourself: "Launch first paid course by end of March"

Milestones anchor direction—when you're lost in daily minutiae, look up and you'll know where you're heading.

Step Three: Break Down Projects

Break the Milestone into three deliverable Projects:

Why break it down? Because "make a course" is too big—you don't know where to start. But "complete course positioning document" is clear—either done or not done.

Step Four: Decompose Tasks

Using "Course Research & Positioning" project as an example, break into specific tasks:

• Research 5 competitor courses' content structure and pricing
• Launch a poll on social media to understand what followers most want to learn
• Organize your own 3 years of Notion usage experience
• Define target user persona
• Write course positioning document
• Complete course outline draft

These tasks appear on FLO.W Notion template's Homepage, arranged by date. Every day you open Notion, you know what to do today.

Step Five: Capture Notes

While researching competitors, you discover:

This insight is very valuable. Write it as a Note "Course Positioning Insights," associating it with the Area and Project. When making the second course in the future, these insights will still be useful.

Step Six: Continuous Input

You can't make courses in isolation. Use Information Hub to manage external input:

• Books: "Knowledge Monetization," "Course Design Handbook"
• Clippings: Competitor sales pages, user comment screenshots
• Courses: Study competitors' structure design

Information Hub isn't a "bookmark graveyard." Regularly organize and convert valuable content into Notes.

Three "Counter-Intuitive" Principles

Finally, here are three common pitfalls when managing a solo business:

1. Don't Wait Until "Figured Out" to Start

Many people think: I need to have the course outline perfectly planned before starting.

But the truth is: Ideas become clear through action.

Course positioning takes shape gradually during competitor research and user conversations—it's not "figured out" by sitting there thinking.

So don't plan too far ahead in your system. Start with the first project, adjust as you go.

2. The System Serves "Doing," Not "Organizing"

If you find yourself spending more time "organizing Notion" than "making courses," that's putting the cart before the horse.

Some practical principles:

• Spend no more than 1 hour per week "organizing the system"
• Only create new structures when needed, don't design in advance
• If you're agonizing over "where should this go," the structure is too complex

3. Compound Returns Come from "Reuse," Not "Collecting"

The articles you clip, the notes you make, have no value if they just sit there unread.

Real value comes from reuse:

• Competitor research notes → reused for subsequent course iterations
• Recording SOP → reused for the next course
• User feedback organization → reused for content topic selection

This is what Naval calls "compound interest"—today's accumulation produces returns in the future.

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