Starter Story - This guy sold $10M in CBD...

Dear starters,

Pat Walls here, creator of Starter Story. 

As you know, every Thursday I send you an email highlighting the best case studies that we've published on our platform. This is a bite-sized summary of the most interesting experiences that starters have shared with us.

I hope you enjoy it!

And remember that as a newsletter subscriber, you are eligible for our limited time offer to enjoy unlimited access to our Ideas database. Join us now and get Starter Story Premium for $79/year, a 45% discount from our regular price. That’s just $1.71 per week - an absolute no-brainer investment in your business.

From coding in his dorm room to 30 million users

Oleksandr is the creator of CleanMyMac, Setapp and many other macOS and iOS apps. He started programming in high school and during his time in the university, he started developing apps as a side hustle.

He went from making $150/month working as a developer in Ukraine to creating several apps that are installed in 1 of every 5 Apple computers in the world.

My take: Try to be early. Every new device, OS, platform, etc. will eventually open to developers to build apps for it. Being early gives you an incredible advantage.

Read the full story here.

Other stories of people making money with apps:

• My timer app generates $66k/year in profit
• I built a $28k/month tax app in only 8 months

This solo founder bootstrapped a $600k/year wine cooler ecommerce

Sarah’s salary was drastically cut down due to COVID-19 and with a baby on the way, the choices were to find another low paid job or go after her dream of working for herself and start a business. She of course, chose the latter.

Being a big fan of all things wine and the friend that everybody texts with questions and asking for recommendations, starting a wine coolers ecommerce seemed like a no-brainer. And she wasn’t wrong, the first month she made $50k on a Shopify basic package.

Read the full story here.

E-commerce is a phenomenal way to enter the entrepreneurship world. You can do it part-time and you can start selling even if your budget is low. And these founders can prove it:

• A 7 figure business selling handkerchiefs
• From $0 to $200k/mo selling water and air filters
• $4.6M matcha green tea ecommerce brand

💰 Start a profitable business today

Learn from real people sharing real stories. The struggles, the wins, the good and the bad. 

How do people get inspired and find great business opportunities? How do they get their 10 first clients? What challenges do they face at every stage and how to overcome them?

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100 profitable one-person business ideas

Can't find a business partner? Want to start something on your own?

Although starting a business on your own can be challenging, there are always benefits to going at it alone, such as:

1. It’s just you starting out with no dependents, no complexity.
2. You can start with little or no money, and even while you have a full-time job.
3. You make the rules, the culture, the hours, everything — it’s just you.
4. 100% equity – The startup is 100% yours.

We went through our database of successful businesses and found the best examples of solo founders.

See the full list here.

I launched a stress-diffusing mints brand after building a $10M CBD business

Brandon was working for 8+ years doing marketing for a CBD brand selling over $10M worth of products. He would often help entrepreneurs trying to learn about the industry and after one of those calls, he felt that it was time to try to brainstorm himself and launch something on his own.

After a $350K investment, he’s now working with companies that are open to writing sponsored or branded content to get the word out. Remember, no ads allowed for CBD products on Google or Facebook and you can’t either sell on Amazon.

Read the full story here.

The CBD space is HOT, its global market has been estimated to reach $2,740M in 2021. That’s why many people are jumping on it to start businesses creating awesome and innovative products with it (and making lots of money):

• Pain relief balm ($10K/month)
• Superfoods ($50K/month)
• Oil tinctures ($220K/month)
• Dog treats ($30K/month)

From $20K in debt to $1M in a year

We just interviewed Steve who started Rockstar Mind, a platform focused on helping guitarists and songwriters. But he still ended with $20K in debt. And he wasn’t going to get out of it giving lessons for $15 per hour.

Transitioning from traditional lessons to selling online courses was possible in part thanks to a successful launch strategy: finding partners with large audiences and offering aggressive commissions.

Steve also did something brilliant: he created a 'physical' version of the course, which allowed him to open a huge sales channel: Amazon. Check the full interview to find about his great selling strategies.

Online courses are a great way of making money with very little (or zero) investment:

• Case study #1: $300k/year writing courses business
• Case study #2: $120k/year MS Excel courses business

This week’s most read stories

1. I built an $816k/year online business while living out of a van
2. 71+ email subject lines for saying goodbye to colleagues
3. How I started a $1M/year moving company at 19 years old
4. Starting a bed sheet business making $600k in first 8 months
5. We built a virtual community to 2k members [#1 on Product Hunt]
6. 45 best healthcare business ideas for aspiring entrepreneurs
7. I started a $48k/year newsletter for sneaker heads
8. 48 low cost business ideas with high profits
9. How to start a sex toys business
10. How I created a $1.2M/month crime scene cleanup business

Looking for a job, or some work on the side?

Get your feet wet before you take the plunge into founder life.

Many of the companies we interview are hiring in operations, design, marketing, engineering, and more...

Check out our jobs portal for all new opportunities - new jobs are added every day!

Thanks for reading!

Pat

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