Most of the professional solo businesses that I am aware of have followed a very traditional model in how the business is set up and operated.
Most attorneys, doctors, counselors, and accountants design their practices around the way their predecessors did business before them.
They may decide to locate in a single office or they might opt for a group setting where several others of their practice get together to take advantage of a single building with a common reception area, staff of office assistants, and shared billing system, parking lot, and rest rooms.
Each professional is in business for himself, but his business only thrives as he is able to apply his trade.
He bills at an hourly rate, sees whom he chooses, and sets his own schedule, although his assistants really handle the appointments and flow of work throughout the day.
Like a freelancer, the professional can set his own fees, but he is limited to whatever amounts he agrees to.
The only time a professional earns money is when he is working for his clients. Turn off the customer tap and the professional is out of work.
There is some owner leverage in this model - the professional can hire assistants that may do part of the work. The nurse on the staff does some of the doctor's routine.
A paralegal might help her attorney by doing background research. Some professionals can't afford the help or prefer to handle everything themselves.
The point is, this business model is not unlike that of the freelancer.
The owner only gets paid as he finds clients and spends his own time in their service. He is not usually paid beyond the hours he works.
Professionals tend to be some of the highest paid self-employed workers. Their time comes at a premium because they have acquired some very special and unique knowledge and skills.
Still, the professional business model tends to be one where salaries are limited to competitive rates (even though they are high.)
Professionals, like freelancers, only have so many hours during the day that they can apply their expertise; hence, their earnings are limited to the numbers of hours in the day they choose to devote to their practice.
Professionals also have relatively high operating costs. Many maintain new and nicely furnished offices in "class A" office space.
Some choose to have office staff that performs many or nearly all of the business operations.
These assistants need to be paid so the professional must share his fee based upon his sometimes substantial operating overhead.
An Internet independent professional works in a solo business environment much the same as the offline professional service giver. However, he/she leverages his time to the max by outsourcing what would normally be considered the work of office staff and assistants, and by creating recurring income in a host of different ways -- both in products and services.
The online operator seeks to leverage his personal time as much as possible. He understands ways to produce products and services that he will be paid for over and over again.
He calls all the shots, keeps the business profits, and applies his trade in a repeatable cycle so that he does the work once but profits many times over by selling that work to many people.
Unlike the old service professional, the online Internet business owner operates his business at the time of his choosing and in the location that he desires.
He doesn't get paid by the hour, but instead opens up his potential paycheck to receiving as many individual purchases as he can collect.
What an outstanding way to run a small business!
