Do it yourself
You need a logo, a track, a promo video, a small game, a set of ad creatives, a release on the stores — and the first search result is an agency, a freelancer marketplace, or a "10 best AI tools" list. This section is the third option: the recipe to make it yourself, with what it actually costs, how long it takes, and where it breaks.
Every recipe here was run for real before it was written — the same production line that makes my own projects. Prices are what I paid, tools are named by what they do, and the step that failed the first time is in the text. At the end of each recipe there are two doors: the same skill sold to others, or the next thing you can also do alone.
The recipe I use for every new channel and project: a name test, a one-paragraph visual doctrine, a logo and avatar from an image model, a banner and a cover template, and the file that keeps every future asset on-brand. Cost in cents, where it breaks, and when you still need a designer.
The recipe I use for article covers, game store shots and channel thumbnails: one style sentence, a seed per asset, a grey plate for anything with a screen, text added afterwards, and a QA pass before anything ships. Forty covers cost me $1.30. Where it breaks and how to keep it from looking generated.
The recipe behind my one-person music label, scaled down to one track: which plan gives you commercial rights, how to write a prompt the model obeys, how to structure lyrics so the vocal lands, how to pick and export, and where a generated track is allowed to go — and where it gets you banned.
The exact production line behind my video channels, applied to one 20–30-second promo: generate the frames, animate only the seconds that matter, record or synthesise the voice, time the captions to the words, assemble with free tools. Real per-clip costs, the hook rule, and the four places it breaks.
The three publishing paths I run alone, as one recipe: who legally owns the thing, what each gate actually asks for (developer account and closed test, distributor and disclosure, channel setup and the first 48 hours), what it costs, and the mistakes that cost me weeks. No gatekeeper required — but the paperwork is real.
The assembly line that produced nineteen playable prototypes for my game studio, cut to one game: pick one mechanic, describe it as a spec, have the assistant build it in plain HTML and JavaScript, play it on your phone every hour, add generated art and your own track, ship it as a web page. Real costs, the timing bug that silently freezes games, and what to leave out.
Why this section exists
Nobody wakes up wanting to be a solopreneur. They wake up with a problem — a product that needs a cover, a channel that needs a jingle, an app that needs to be on a store — and the reflex is to look for someone to pay. Solve one of those alone and two things tend to happen: you notice that other people would pay you to do it, and you notice that the next problem can probably be solved the same way. That is the whole path, and it starts with one recipe.
When you are ready for the paperwork side — invoicing, VAT, contracts — the free tools and the EU Clean-Start Kit pick up where the recipes stop.
Everything here is free. If something saved you time, you can support the author — no product, no signup.