Easiest Business to Start

Key Points

• Mismatch in Scaling: The easiest business to start, particularly in education and coaching, is also the hardest to scale to $100M per year.

• Experience-Based Insight: The speaker has extensive experience in the education space, having done over $100M in sales and sold a business for $46.2M.

Target Audiences

1. People looking to start a business.
2. Existing business owners considering switching to an education or coaching business.

Business Model Comparison

Speed and Scalability

• Coaching/Education/Digital Course: Quick to $100k/year to $3M/year
  • Provides high value quickly with minimal operational infrastructure.
  • Requires personal involvement for continued growth, making it hard to scale.
• Traditional Business: Slower but Higher Potential
  • Initially slower to grow but easier to scale.
  • Often results in a more sustainable, sellable asset.

Key Considerations

Goals

• Short-Term Income vs. Long-Term Asset Value
  • Digital/education businesses are great for making $1-3M per year quickly but aren't ideal for building high-value, sellable assets.
• Traditional businesses: Slower growth initially but can lead to significant exits ($10M to $100M+).

Problems to Solve

• Digital Courses
  • Key Man Risk: Difficulty transferring skills and responsibilities without creating new dependencies.
  • Brand Building: Critical to create a lasting brand for sustained growth.
• Traditional Business
  • More initial capital required.
  • Slower start, but easier to scale and build a valuable asset.

Business Lifecycle Examples

• Phase One: Digital Business
  • Fast revenue but limited scalability.
• Phase Two: Traditional Business
  • Slower start but long-term scalability.

Selling and Exiting

• Digital Business
  • Difficult to sell due to key man risks and lack of recurring revenue.
• Traditional Business
  • Easier to sell as it becomes less dependent on the founder.

Decision-Making

• Focus and Commitment: Essential to choose one path and eliminate alternatives.
  • Example: Alex Becker (Consulting to SaaS), Sam Ovens (Consulting to SaaS).

Scenarios and Recommendations

Beginners

• For those starting out, digital and educational businesses offer the quickest path to revenue.

Established Business Owners

• If already in a traditional business and nearing a growth phase, sticking with it can yield high returns.

Transitioning

• Pick one and commit: Either move entirely from digital to traditional or vice versa. Avoid straddling both.

Practical Steps

• If moving from traditional to digital:
  • Sell or cut the traditional business entirely.
• If moving from digital to traditional:
  • Stop the digital business and go all-in on the new venture.