3 Business Ideas For You To Steal
IMO, these are some of the most robust business models with the lowest risk and the highest probability of success.
It’s been a few months since I stepped down as CEO. I have more time on my hands than I expected. It’s making me realize how overworked I was.
As a result, I am struggling to manage my thoughts.
Recently, my mind has been FLOODED with new ideas. I am constantly reminding myself not to act on these ideas, because that would defeat the entire purpose of stepping down in the first place.
I have some important projects in the works, which I will share with you later. There’s plenty going on. Yet, these endless ideas keep coming to me.
I need to put these ideas somewhere. So this week, I am giving you a list of great business ideas that you should take advantage of. Hopefully one of these ideas will resonate with you and you can take it and run with it.
Steal my ideas. LFG. 🔥
1. Start A Job Board
I love job boards. I love them for the same reason that I love directories. It’s one of the few businesses where the marketing and the product are the same thing.
I’ve been thinking a lot about putting a job board on The Census.
In the last few months, we’ve grown The Census to almost 6000 subscribers. People love the newsletter and we clearly found an opening in the market.
A job board is a perfect addition and a great way to monetize.
Job Boards And Newsletters
The other day, I discovered a newsletter called Link In Bio. The newsletter is written by Rachel Karten and I think she does a great job.
One of the first things I noticed is that she monetizes through a job board.
I LOVE THIS!
In my view, one of the best ways to monetize an industry specific newsletter is through job boards. The job market (at least in the United States) is white hot right now, and employers are looking to fill positions with qualified employees.
For Link In Bio, she writes about social media. As such, her job board is focused around social media marketing positions.
It’s a great model and it’s one that would fit perfectly into The Census.
(Note* – Job boards also work really well on hyper local sites. My buddy Randy created a job board for his hyper local site and it’s successful.)
The Census is a weekly newsletter focused on the behavioral health industry, and behavioral health facilities are ALWAYS looking for talented employees. A typical behavioral healthcare facility has multiple departments and many of these positions are difficult to fill.
Some examples include …
nurses
therapists
insurance verification
business development reps
digital marketing specialists
claims collections
documentation
… and many more
It makes perfect sense to put a job board on The Census. I think I could sell job postings for $250 and sell at least one a day.
NNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
My focus is to keep closing deals and continue working on the projects I already have in the works. In the last two weeks, the team has booked 5 pitch meetings for potential clients and new business relationships.
In addition, I’ve grown the MRR for Recovery Local by $5000 in the two months since we’ve launched the product. I show you the entire system and the revenue numbers in this video.
It’s working. I need to stay the course.
The Plan For The Census …
The plan was always to focus on building the best newsletter in the space. That’s what’s most important. Professionals in this industry are thirsty for good content and if we focus on being the best, the business will build itself.
I’m feeling restless with the extra time on my hands, but that is no reason to start new projects and make life more complicated than it needs to be. I know what I need to do, so my priority is to stay focused and keep my eye on the prize.
2. Starting A Fund
A few weeks ago, I started working on an article called “Climbing The Wealth Latter".” (Will publish soon).
In that article, I make the argument that investing is actually the top tier of the wealth ladder. When you invest, you are deploying maximum leverage, because you don’t have to trade any of your time in exchange for the potential return.
As of right now, the biggest limiting factor for me to make more investments is the capital itself. I’ve built my entire investment portfolio with my own money. I’ve never taken on outside capital. I recently bought another house, and made a significant investment into Hey Creator.
In addition, we are investing heavily into Stodzy and Recovery Local.
That’s a lot of my own money to be reinvesting. If I were to start a fund, I could take advantage of more opportunities and could hedge my personal risk.
Scratching The Itch
My personal brand acts as a deal flow mechanism. I use my newsletter to gain access to entrepreneurs who might want to work with me.
Every day I am meeting talented entrepreneurs and discovering new businesses that you are all creating. I would LOVE to get involved on the ground floor with many of these projects. There’s one project in particular that I love and fully believe in. If I had a fund, I could jump on this opportunity immediately.
But since I am making all my investments with my own personal money, I have to be extra careful and never over extend myself. It sucks because I have to pass on opportunities I would love to be involved in, but that’s probably what is best for me right now.
I’m learning how to manage FOMO.
Starting A Fund Is A Bad Idea
As intriguing as it sounds to pull together a few million dollars and start deploying capital for a living, there are some major downsides.
For instance …
I don’t want the pressure of managing other people’s money. I’m too high strung and too anxious for that.
Managing a fund is not a side project, it’s a full time job. That’s a job I don’t want.
I have plenty of opportunities right in front of me. I don’t need more opportunities, but rather, I need to make the most of what I already have.
The reality is that if I start a fund, I can scale much faster than I am currently able to as a solo investor. The long game for me has always been to build my personal holdings company, but do I need to raise money in order to do that?
Even if I could, should I? Would it make me happy?
Probably not.
I want to go faster, but my higher power is serving life to me at exactly the right pace. Now is a time for stillness, mindfulness, and patience. I must have faith that my path is being laid out in front of me in exactly the right way.
3. Starting A Paid Newsletter
As you know, I have in fact started a paid newsletter. You know this because you’re reading a premium issue of my newsletter right now.
I am so surprised at how many people are willing to pay for my premium content. The experience has made me bullish on the idea, but it’s also made me realize that in order to get paid subscribers, you need to showcase your personality.
There’s nothing in my paid newsletter that is particularly unique. You can find the information anywhere.
What people want is my personal insights and perspective. You read this because you like me. Your likeness is your it factor when it comes to a paid newsletter.
Paid Newsletters
If you are a great writer, then paid newsletters are awesome businesses. I did a breakdown of Brian Clark’s paid newsletter and broke down the process to make $10,000 a month.
Watch the video below to see the full breakdown.
Brian gives away a curated newsletter for free and charges for the higher level marketing lessons.
Personally, I give my personal insights away for free and charge for the “behind the scenes access” to my companies.
Shaan Puri did this some time back and it was a great success for him. So I stile his idea and I am running with it.
This model is great.
It’s simple.
Start a Substack
Send a weekly curated newsletter in whatever industry is exciting to you
Write a weekly essay or high value piece and charge a subscription fee for premier content
It’s a no brainer model. If you’re a good story teller, it’s a model that has a high probability of success.
2024 Is The Year Of Doing Less, But Doing It Better
I heard a great quote once that says “we need to be reminded more than we need to be taught.”
The last few months has been a prime example of this for me. I am constantly reminding myself not to act on every idea or impulse that comes into my mind.
Recently, Shân gave me the reminder I needed, which inspired me to write this week’s issue.
At this particular place in my life, I am fully focused on my newsletter and creating new investing opportunities through my writing.
I suppose it is this endless paranoia that helps me be effective. I never rest on my laurels. I’m never comfortable, and as such, I am always seeking growth and areas of improvement.
However, it’s counter productive for me to put that energy towards starting new projects. That is a form of fear, more than anything else. Instead, I should focus on doing more of what I am already doing, and making my products and services better.
“Less but better.”
Steal These Ideas
I can’t start a fund and I can’t create a job board, but I highly recommend you give them a shot.
If you want to attempt an even lower risk (lower reward) business, than absolutely start a paid newsletter as well.
I learned everything I know by watching and copying other people I admire. Recently, I see people creating products and brands that I know were inspired by something I wrote or a video I made.
That makes me happy. Life is coming around full circle.
My goal is to be of service. I hope that my thoughts and musings give you insight into opportunities you may not have seen otherwise. All 3 of these ideas are reasonable, profitable, and pragmatic.
If you get started now, and if you go all in, I am fully confident you will find success.
So what’s stopping you? Go.
