A one-person company used to mean one person doing everything. Now it can mean one person managing a short list of agents that do the repeat work.
That is the setup. Here is the free stuff, the paperwork, and the roles to start with.
Free stuff to grab first
- The open source AI Employees. Eight roles, MIT licensed. The page says every plan, Free included, opens the repo and an install prompt. Get the AI Employees
- The SBA business structure guide. Sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, corporation, cooperative, explained in plain terms. Choose a business structure
- Stripe Atlas. If you want a Delaware company without a lawyer, the page lists a $500 one-time setup fee and $100 a year after the first year for the registered agent. Stripe Atlas
I only link pages I opened today. Indie Hackers returned a 403, so it is not here.
Step 1: pick the paperwork
From the SBA page:
| Structure | What the page says |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietorship | You are one automatically if you do not register as anything else. No separate entity, so you can be personally liable. Fits low-risk businesses and testing an idea. |
| LLC | Generally protects personal assets from business lawsuits. Profit passes to your personal income. Members pay self-employment tax. Suggested for medium or higher risk. |
Selling a service that touches a client's inbox or website is not zero risk. I would look hard at the LLC.
Test the idea as a sole proprietor. Form the company when someone pays you.
That is my read, not legal advice. Talk to a professional.
Step 2: pick the first role
The AI Employees page lists eight roles. For a one-person shop, three stand out:
- Social Media Employee: daily platform-specific posts in your voice.
- Sales Employee: prospecting and follow-up.
- Customer Satisfaction Employee: answers support tickets and flags churn risk early.
There is also a Chief of Staff role that oversees the other employees and flags what needs attention. You will want that once you run more than two.
Start with one. Run it on your own work for a week.
Step 3: know what you can sell
This part trips people up. The page says the eight roles are MIT licensed. Premium employees fall under a separate member license, and you cannot hand the premium kit itself to a client or list it as a product.
The club page puts it plainly: "You sell deployments, not source."
So the business is setup, tuning and keeping it running for one client. Not reselling a download.
Where I come in
I'm a solo founder. I started as a domain reseller and blogger, and I build tools for people I know need them. Not everything I make is something I use myself.
The Agent Ops Club is where I put the AI Employees. The live page shows Free at $0, Pro at $349 a year (or $99 a month), and Lifetime at $499 until November 15 at 11:59 PM Eastern. Pro and Lifetime include resale licenses on premium systems. Start on Free. The roles above cost nothing.
This week
- Read the SBA structure page once.
- Install one AI Employee and run it on your own work.
- Write one sentence: who pays for this, and for what result.
- Offer it to one person you know.
- Form the company when money arrives.
Come say hi
I run the Vibe Coding is Life community. Join the Facebook group or the Skool community. Tell me which role you would run first.
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