At Zoho’s 2025 SMZ event, Small Business Trends’ Leland McFarland sat down with Tamilselvan Sadhasivam from the Zoho Solo team to discuss how the platform is designed to support freelancers, consultants, and self-employed professionals. Their conversation highlighted the practical realities solopreneurs face and how Zoho Solo aims to simplify daily operations while providing room for long-term growth.
A Tool Built for Solopreneurs
Zoho Solo is tailored to individuals running businesses on their own. As Sadhasivam explained, “Zoho Solo is the product for solopreneur or self-employed person. It simplifies the business operations from client management to work management to finance management. It compains all everything in a single application.”
The goal is to remove the need for juggling multiple apps and tools. Whether you’re a consultant, painter, personal trainer, or freelance developer, Zoho Solo centralizes essential functions into one mobile-first platform.
Getting Started: From Signup to First Invoice
McFarland asked what the initial journey looks like for a solopreneur. Sadhasivam broke it down step by step:
“Once you sign up Zoho Solo, there is a very minimum information that needed for Solo like your organization name and which country you’re operates in. So once that is done, you have to set up a payment gateway like if you are using any payment gateway. PayPal. So you’ll set up the payment PayPal in the system. So that’s it.”
The process eliminates friction. After work is completed, invoices can be generated directly within the platform and shared with clients, with payments collected instantly via integrated links. For someone new to business software, this simplicity makes it possible to get paid quickly without hours of setup.
Simplicity With Enterprise Power
McFarland pointed out the advantage of receiving enterprise-level functionality without the complexity. Sadhasivam emphasized this as Zoho Solo’s core philosophy: “We have a technology already in the back end and we are providing simple solution to the customers using the enterprise technologies in the back end.” He summed it up with a phrase he uses often: “Complexity in the back end, simplicity in the front end.”
Mobile-First Design for Modern Workflows
Most solopreneurs run their businesses from their phones. Trainers, consultants, and service providers don’t always have laptops with them. That reality is why Zoho Solo was developed as a mobile-first application.
“Mobile is not just a device, it’s a business device,” Sadhasivam explained. He noted that trainers, for example, can issue invoices and collect payments on the spot. The app supports these workflows seamlessly.
For larger reporting needs, Zoho Solo supports tablets like the iPad. “Sometimes they need to see the reports. So how much they have earned from the customer. So for reports and all the small device doesn’t it will not give overview. But bigger screen will give you the bigger insights.” A web application is also planned to expand access further.
Data remains consistent across devices thanks to real-time syncing. “Whatever data you create from one device that will be available in the second device in seconds,” Sadhasivam confirmed.
Tackling Taxes and Compliance
Taxes are one of the most intimidating aspects of running a solo business. McFarland raised this concern, and Sadhasivam clarified how Zoho Solo assists:
“Zoho Solo supports taxation in US and Canada and taxation like you can configure the taxation while creating the invoice. At the end of the year you can generate a report and you know how much you have earned and how much expenses you have done. So you can consolidate the revenue part and you can file the tax.”
On compliance, Zoho relies on its company-wide emphasis on privacy and standards. “Zoho is already a privacy focused company and we already encrypt every data and in the back end so we the products focus and compliance are in already In Sync.”
Looking ahead, the roadmap includes multi-currency support, allowing solopreneurs working internationally to bill clients in their own currencies. “That will be very helpful for the customers who are doing the international businesses,” Sadhasivam said.
Preparing for Growth
One of the biggest questions small business owners face is whether the software they start with will grow alongside them. McFarland asked directly about moving from Zoho Solo to more robust tools like Bigin, Books, or Commerce.
Sadhasivam assured that Zoho has a clear path: “When solopreneur grows, you know. He needs a better solution. He need a deeper integration with CRM or follow-ups. Or he needed deeper workflows… he can easily migrate to Zoho One in a single click. So Zoho Solo to Zoho One, it’s a long plane plan. Long term plan for the solopreneur to grow their businesses.”
That seamless migration means business owners won’t lose historical data when expanding their teams. “I bet you that no other company does this from the solopreneur to the small business. The data migration will be very smoother and no other company does this.”
Why Zoho Solo Matters for Small Business Owners
For freelancers and solopreneurs, time is the most valuable resource. Every hour spent switching between apps or troubleshooting tech is an hour not spent serving clients. Zoho Solo’s design recognizes this by bundling core needs—client management, invoicing, payments, reporting—into a single streamlined app.
The mobile-first focus matches the reality of how modern solopreneurs work. Real-time syncing ensures flexibility across devices. Tax-ready reporting reduces stress at year-end. And a clear migration path prevents the risk of outgrowing the platform.
For those who want enterprise reliability without enterprise-level overhead, Zoho Solo offers an affordable, practical option.
Where to Learn More
For solopreneurs interested in exploring the app, Zoho Solo is available in both the App Store and Google Play. More information can be found at zoho.com/solo.
As McFarland wrapped up the conversation, it was clear Zoho Solo represents more than another software release. It’s a commitment to empowering the growing community of freelancers and self-employed professionals with tools that make running a one-person business not only manageable, but scalable.
