$840K/year selling ski goggles, $6M/year brand built in a basement, & how to start a biz w/ $100

Hey starters - happy Thursday!

This week, we're featuring 4 inspiring stories + business ideas every small town needs!

New: Our Database of 1,000+ Business Ideas

We've put together the most extensive database of business ideas on the internet.

For each idea, we give you all the data for expected revenue, starting costs, and growth methods. 

Sort and filter thousands of data points to find your next idea.

#1: This solo-founder makes $840K/year selling ski goggles:

Curt started Glade Optics - premium goggles and helmets for skiers and snowboarders. 

He started the business with $5K and has now grown the brand close to $1M in annual sales with zero employees. 

His growth secret? A targeted email list - Curt has grown his list to 25k subscribers through on-site popups, co-branded giveaways and plain-text emails. 

Check out Curt's full interview here!

Pat @ Starter Story: Want to learn how to grow your email list and make money through your newsletter? We put together a full guide for you here!

#2: Dianna started a candle brand with $100 in 30 days:

Dianna started TERRA - an eco-friendly candle business that initially started as a twitter challenge.

She validated the idea by investing $100 into the business and collecting $180 in pre-orders in just 30 days.

8 months later, she's approaching $20K in revenue and partnering with big brands like Greetabl and KinderBeauty.

TERRA Jan-July Revenue Numbers

Dianna's story is amazing - I urge you to read it here.

Pat @ Starter Story: Want to start a candle business? We put together a full step by step guide for you here!

#3: Two friends started a $20M/year sushi restaurant group:

We just caught up with Jimmy from JP Fuji Group - a wildly successful Japanese restaurant group.

The two friends started out as a 119 seat sushi restaurant in 1998 have now grown into a restaurant group with 9 locations.

• $20M/year in revenue
• 500+ employees
• Growth strategy: word of mouth 

​Check out Jimmy's story here!

Pat @ Starter Story: Want to start a foodie business? We put together a list of 43 business ideas for food lovers here!

(for premium members)

#4: This husband-wife duo built a $6M/year clothing brand from their basement:

We just published our interview with Jason & Brigitte, founders of Sexy Modest.

What started as a side hustle in their basement is now a $6M/year business selling over 150K pieces of clothing a year.

Their secret? Landing a deal with Costco - within 10 days of their Costco launch, they became the #1 clothing roadshow of all time making $330K in sales in 10 days.

Check out their story + tips on how to work with a big retailer like Costco here!

Pat @ Starter Story: Want to start a women's clothing brand? Check out this $5M/year women's clothing line and this online clothing boutique making $120K/year with zero employees.

#5: 42 Business Ideas Every Small Town Needs

Starting a business in a small town comes with its advantages, but it's important you check all the right boxes before going all in.

We put together a list of 42 business ideas that every small town should have.

Check out the full list here!

#6: Are you ready to boost your revenue?

I want to give a shoutout to our long-time sponsor Klaviyo.

Using Klaviyo will open up a massive, untapped sales channel and bring you closer to your customers!

I'm a huge fan of the product (I use it for Starter Story and love the segmentation/drip features). I've also been able to collect so many emails using their website form integration - my list growing over 3k/month now 😲

Here are just some of the impressive businesses we've interviewed that use Klaviyo for email marketing and are raving about the product - all great interviews you should check out as well!

• Brumate ($1.1M/mo at 23 years old)
• Sheets & Giggles ($76k/mo in just 6 months)
• Beardbrand ($100k+/mo - 1.5M YouTube subscribers)
• Abs Protein Pancakes ($25k/mo passive income business)
• Xero Shoes ($460k/mo - featured on Shark Tank)
• The Longhairs ($30k/mo)
• Framed Tweets ($25k/mo)

Level up your email marketing with 👉 Klaviyo!

(And thank you for your support 🙏)

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Thanks for reading! See you next week.

- Pat Walls, Founder @ Starter Story

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