Backpacker starts $1M/month hemp biz, 180K tiny home blog, & business ideas for introverts?

Hey starters - happy Thursday!

This week, we feature 4 inspiring stories + 20 low investment business ideas for introverts:

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#1: This backpacker started a $12M/year hemp products business:

Paul started Elixinol Global - a publicly traded hemp products company in Australia.

He bootstrapped his business in the early 90's selling hemp ice cream out of a van - he's now doing $12M/year with 50 employees.

His secret? Viral press & a unique story - He supplied the first hemp snack bar to Princess Diana's Chef, which resulted in a ton of PR and free advertising.

Paul's original “Mr. Trippy” hemp ice cream van

Paul's story is incredible - I urge you to read it here.

Pat @ Starter Story: Want to check out 39 successful cannabis business ideas? We put together a full list for you here!

#2: Linda bought her aunt's baking business and grew it to 240K/year:

Linda owns and operates Gloria's Cake & Candy Supplies - a third generation family owned baking supplies business. 

Within 6 months of owning the business, she's increased revenues by 60% and is now doing $240K/year with one employee. 

Her secret? Yelp & Google Reviews - within a few months of buying the business, she went from 1 star reviews to 4-5 star reviews.

Check out Linda's story here!

Pat @ Starter Story: Want to check out 50+ fun business ideas you can start with your family? We put together a full list (with examples) here!

#3: Dan started a blog about tiny homes that attracts 6K unique visitors/day

Dan started TIny Home Builders - a wildly successful blog that helps people build their own tiny house. 

• Under $10K to start the business
• 30K newsletter subscribers
• 6,000 unique visitors per day
• Sold over 30,000 copies of his book about construction

Tiny Home Builders unique visitors per day

Check out Dan's full interview here!

#4: Mukund started a $660K/year chain of cycling gear stores: 

We just caught up with Mukund with Mastermind Bicycle Studio - a high-end retail chain in India. 

Since launching six years ago, revenue has grown at a rate of 55-65% Year Over Year. 

His secret? NOT selling on Amazon - he identified that his products are too niche and premium, and this was the biggest (and best) decision he ever made. 

Pat @ Starter Story: Want to read more successful bicycle case studies? Check out these two guys that did $10M in sales for their online bicycle business.

#5: 20 low investment business ideas for introverts:

Contrary to what some may think, introverts make for remarkable business leaders and entrepreneurs.

We went through our database and found 20 low investment business ideas for introverts.

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)

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(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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