Solo, Not SmallOne-person businessMy AI setup
How I run a one-person business with AI: my exact setup.
You don't need ten AI tools. You need one that knows your business.
I'm Bhavik Sarkhedi. I do thirteen jobs alone, all in Claude. My whole setup is six things: a rule file, a memory, skill files, numbered drawers, a status file for every project and a to-do folder for me.
The short answer
One AI, six files, thirteen jobs.
Most advice for solopreneurs is a list of tools. I tried that, and every tool started from zero each morning. What works for me is the opposite: one AI, and a small set of files that tell it who I am, how I work and where every project stands.
A one-person business has every job a company has. I counted thirteen in mine, and the full list is here. This page is the setup underneath all thirteen.
Only on this page
Every quoted line below is copied from my own rule file, as it stood on 14 November 2026. The counts are from my working folder on the same day.
- More than 70 skill files
- More than 250 memory notes
- More than 50 project status files
- 11 numbered drawers
The setup
The six files and folders I work from.
01 / 06 · CLAUDE.md
The rule file
Claude reads this file before every session. It holds how I want the work done: my voice, my limits, and what it must never do without asking me.
From my rule file, word for word
If ANYTHING needed for a task is missing, say so immediately in ONE line and ask Bhavik for it.
Real data only, no hallucinated numbers.
Nothing, however small, is deleted or trashed until it has been listed and he has said yes in chat.
Start here. One page of rules is enough on day one.
02 / 06 · MEMORY.md
The memory
A list of short notes, one fact each, that Claude reads at the start of a session. I had more than 250 notes on 14 November 2026, and an index that stays under 150 lines.
From my rule file, word for word
Memory entries are 1-2 sentences max. Root MEMORY.md ceiling: 150 lines.
Never write SOLVED or DONE to any memory file unless the fix was verified in the SAME session.
It saves me from explaining my business again every morning.
03 / 06 · skills/
The skill files
A skill file is my way of doing one job, written down once. I have more than seventy. Each one wakes up on its own words: say proposal, and the proposal skill loads.
From my rule file, word for word
At the START of any non-trivial task, before doing the work, name the skills that match the request in ONE line.
Skills for this: X, Y, Z. Using them unless you say otherwise.
This is what I hand you in Solo, Not Small: the file, so Claude does the job your way.
04 / 06 · 00 to 99
The drawers
Eleven numbered folders, from 00 System to 99 Archive: agency, books, content, websites, film, research, legal and finance, personal. Every file has one home.
From my rule file, word for word
Never create a folder at the root: put it in the matching drawer.
Numbers keep the order fixed, so I find a file by habit.
05 / 06 · STATE.md
The status file
Every live project keeps one. I type a hint, such as newsletter, and Claude reads that project's status file first. I had more than fifty on 14 November 2026.
From my rule file, word for word
Sessions do not remember conversations, they remember files.
Every live project keeps one STATE.md that says what is decided, what is pending and the next step.
A new session picks up where the last one stopped, from one read.
06 / 06 · Do This/
My to-do folder
One folder on my desktop, with a folder inside for each day. Anything only I can do lands there: a file to send, a click list, text to paste.
From my rule file, word for word
LEFT TO DO and DONE sections, one numbered line per action with the file to open, minutes it takes and what to tell Claude after.
I open one folder in the morning and I know my part.
One working day
What a day looks like on this setup.
- 1
I type a hint.
One word is enough: newsletter, proposal, the name of a client. I never explain the project again.
- 2
Claude reads before it answers.
The rule file, the memory, then that project's status file. It tells me in one line where we left off.
- 3
It names the skills it will use.
One line, before any work. If it picked the wrong skill, I say so, and we have lost ten seconds.
- 4
I write the first draft, or make the call.
My words and my judgement come first. The skill file handles the steps that repeat.
- 5
Every answer ends the same way.
Three headings, in this order: You need to do, Already handled, Critical. I read for decisions, and I always know if I have a job.
What stays with me
I'm a writer first. AI is the partner.
I write the first draft myself. Then I hand that draft to Claude to sharpen, check and structure. It never starts from a blank page, and neither do I.
Two more things stay with me. Nothing goes live until I say yes. And nothing is deleted until I have seen the list and said yes to it. Both are written in the rule file, so I don't have to remember to ask.
That is the idea behind Solo, Not Small for solopreneurs: you keep the judgement, the system keeps the routine. Learn AI. But also live.
The honest part
What broke, and the rule each failure left behind.
| What broke | What it cost | The rule I added |
|---|---|---|
| A memory note said a problem was solved. It wasn't. | Every new session trusted the note, so the same problem came back for weeks. | A note can say done only when the fix was checked in the same session. |
| A long build ran with nobody checking on it. | About ten hours of work, on 10 November 2026. | Any long job gets a check-in within the hour and a hard stop time. |
| I moved to a new to-do list and one open item didn't come across. | It sat untouched for five days, until I checked the old list against the new one. | Before an old list is retired, it is compared line by line with the new one. |
All three are from my own notes, autumn 2026.
Your turn
Build the same setup this week.
- 1
Write one page of rules.
Who you are, who you serve, how you write, and three things the AI must never do without asking you.
- 2
Start a memory file.
One line per fact. Add a line whenever you catch yourself explaining something twice.
- 3
Write your first skill file.
Take the job you repeat most. Write the steps the way you'd explain them to a new hire. Now it is a system.
- 4
Give every project a status file.
Three parts: what is decided, what is pending, the next step. Update it before you close the laptop.
- 5
Make one folder for your own to-dos.
Everything only you can do goes there, dated. The AI fills it. You empty it.
Questions
About running a business alone with AI.
Which AI do you use for your one-person business?
Claude, for all thirteen jobs. I use one tool so that everything it learns about my business stays in one place.
Do I need to know how to code?
If you can write an email, you can do this. The rule file, the memory and the skill files are plain English.
Does Claude remember what I told it yesterday?
It remembers files. That is why I keep a memory file and one status file per project, and why every session starts by reading them.
How many skill files do I need to start?
One. Pick the job you repeat most, write down how you do it, and let Claude follow that file. Add the next one when the first one works.
Is this only for solopreneurs?
I built it as a solo founder, for the work of a one-person business. A small business owner with a team of three can use the same six pieces.
What is Solo, Not Small?
My initiative for solopreneurs and small business owners. In each video lesson I do one real job inside Claude, start to finish, and hand you the system file so Claude does that job your way.
- From 75 people to oneWhat replaced the team I hired.
- My proposal deskA proposal that leaves the same day.
- Websites with ClaudeMy sites, built with no developer.
- All thirteen jobsThe one-person business, job by job.
I give this as a talk too: AI talks for solopreneurs. More about me on the About page.