4 perfect business models for first-time entrepreneurs

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4 perfect business models for first-time entrepreneurs

If you read this newsletter regularly, you already know it, but starting a business has tons of upsides:

Pursue your passions
Set your own schedule
Make decisions that align with your values
Create something that is truly your own

And most importantly, it also has greater earning potential in the long term than any job.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a business for a while, I wrote this post thinking about you. I’ve selected the 4 perfect business models for anyone starting a business for the first time. Optimized for:

Easy to start
Low working hours
Minimal investment required
No technical skills needed
Potential revenue

#1. Affiliate

When mentioning “affiliate,” most people think about websites stuffed with Amazon links.

But the affiliate model is broader than that.

The truth is, almost every business in the world that sells online has an affiliate program. This is great because it allows you to find products to sell that match your interests.

You don’t need to struggle writing 1,000-word articles to sell gardening tools that you don’t care about at all but have a great commission on Amazon.

Think about Instagram / TikTok / YouTube, deals, info websites, Chrome extensions, perks sites, etc.

By now, you’ve probably figured it out, but these business models will require that you can develop your audience-building skills. It doesn’t have to be a website, but you have to be able to drive people to one.

👉 This website generates $30K/month by sharing discount codes and coupons

👉 This marketer quit his 8 to 5 job and now makes $40K/month reviewing wellness products

👉 From hobby to $25K/month: How a cybersecurity YouTube channel hit 100K subscribers

#2. E-commerce

I like this one because you can enter this space by selling your own product, buying a bunch of stock from someone else and reselling it, or relying on dropshipping. It depends on your budget and experience.

The cheapest route is dropshipping, but margins are lower. Creating your own product requires the biggest investment, and is the riskier option, but also the most lucrative if you succeed.

See how some first-time starters launched and grew their e-commerce businesses:

👉 This guy built a $1.5M/year premium goggles and helmets brand for skiers and snowboarders

👉 A blue light filter blocking for smartphones became a $3.6M/year business

👉 Left his company to start a $12M/year competitor (100% bootstrapped)

#3. Ads

You know what display ads are. They’re everywhere. It’s what supports many websites (including yours truly, partially).

The thing is, to make money with this business model, you need a lot of traffic and a lot of content published. It’s critical to find a cheap way to produce content. OpenAI’s chat tool can play a huge role if you don’t have any budget for writers.

Is the World Cup happening? Let’s pump those articles and hope a couple of them go viral.

Focus on a specific city / country and write about what’s happening, places to eat, activities perfect for kids, etc.

Low traffic? Instead of relying on ad networks, find companies and close sponsorship deals, or create sponsored content.

👉 This website focused on information for military and veterans makes $21K/month through ads

👉 This super niche blog makes $72K/year thanks to ads

👉 This blogger has made over $5M (many of it with ads)

#4. Newsletter

Building an email list is possibly the most valuable digital asset you can own.

Start off with your personal contacts. Ask them to recommend your newsletter to friends, followers, etc., to the point of being annoying. Nobody became successful by staying quiet about what they were working on.

Make it about anything you want. There will be an audience for it. 100% guaranteed. And working on something you're passionate about will prevent you from dropping the project when facing an obstacle.

See some examples of niche newsletters making thousands of dollars:

👉 How a newsletter that shares travel deals became a $140K/month revenue stream

👉 This newsletter for sneakers lovers makes $48K/year

👉 These founders make $54K/year with an email with the best stocks

👉 How this side hustle newsletter went from 0 to $3K/month (no ads, no previous experience, no big social media)

The best part?

You can start off with one of these models and expand to another. Use affiliate links in a newsletter. Build an email newsletter from your site, etc.

Once you get started, you can combine them to grow your revenues exponentially.

Build a profitable business in 5 weeks

In the new year, we are launching Starter Story Campfire.

Campfire is a 5-week intensive online program where you will turn an idea into a launched product designed to start replacing your full-time income.

Work alongside mentors, successful founders, and a network of like-minded people. Plus, access creative workshops, 1:1 sessions, and more.

It'll start on January 16th, and we will be accepting a very limited number of students to maintain the highest level of quality for our members.

Apply before December 22nd.

Quick hitters

🍳 Reaching $1M in sales by focusing on low-hanging fruit. It’s always tempting to chase the biggest possible prize. But let’s be honest, winning Google’s top spot for “cheap holiday” it’s impossible. Instead, this business focused on collecting as many small prizes as possible. Also, these longer-tail searches usually have higher buying intent.

🧮 This founder raised $12M+ to help small businesses stop making major tax mistakes. In business, boring is good. Taxes are a huge market, but they’re boring. That’s why you don’t see dozens of startups launching tax solutions on Product Hunt. Find a boring niche.

📈 The perfect playbook to build an online tool and grow it to $500K/year. This team shared with great detail their whole process and strategies. This is a must-read if you’re working on a SaaS or anything digital.

Discover ideas that make money

There is no secret to building a profitable business. All of the systems and strategies can be learned, so why not learn them from others who have already done it?

Join Starter Story to access our database of 4,000+ business case studies. See the exact timelines of how founders took their businesses from idea to thousands of customers.

Get real answers to questions like:

👉 How do people find great business opportunities?

👉 What did they do to get their 10 first clients?

👉 What challenges do they face at every stage and how to overcome them?

Join Starter Story Premium for $2.58/week. A no-brainer investment for your business.

Starter Story Shorts

Each week, we share the story behind some of our most exciting business ideas in a short video format.

Today, a founder living in a $1,500 van came up with one of the craziest business ideas I’ve ever seen. And it’s making millions per year. I don’t know why there isn’t a movie about this story yet.

Check it out and subscribe!