How To Start A $1,000,000 Business With 0 Employees

1)Pat Flynn – Smart Passive Income: Pat Flynn started a blog and podcast called Smart Passive Income, where he shares his experiences and strategies for generating passive income online. He monetized his platform through affiliate marketing, advertising, and selling his own digital products. Today, his business generates seven-figure revenue annually, and he continues to inspire and educate aspiring online entrepreneurs.

2)Timothy Sykes – Profit.ly: Timothy Sykes is a stock trader who built an online business around teaching others how to trade penny stocks. He developed Profit.ly, a platform that offers educational materials, trading tools, and a community for aspiring traders. Through his online courses, mentorship programs, and stock alerts, he has generated millions of dollars in revenue with no employees.

3)Michelle Schroeder-Gardner – Making Sense of Cents: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner started a blog called Making Sense of Cents, where she shares her journey of paying off debt and achieving financial freedom. She monetizes her blog through affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and her own online course about personal finance and blogging. Her business consistently generates seven-figure annual revenue, and she manages it on her own.

4)Matt Frazier – No Meat Athlete: Matt Frazier created No Meat Athlete, a blog and brand dedicated to plant-based nutrition for athletes. Through his platform, he offers resources, meal plans, and training advice to the growing community of plant-based athletes. He generates revenue through affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and selling his own products. His business has reached the million-dollar mark without any employees.

5)Brian Dean – Backlinko: Brian Dean is an SEO expert who built Backlinko, a blog and resource hub that provides actionable SEO tips and strategies. He attracts a large audience through his high-quality content and ranks highly on search engines. Brian monetizes his blog through affiliate marketing and selling his own SEO training course. Backlinko has become a highly successful online business without the need for employees.

6)Tim Ferriss – “The 4-Hour Workweek”: Tim Ferriss is an author, entrepreneur, and public speaker who built a successful online business by selling digital products and leveraging affiliate marketing. He started with a simple WordPress blog and utilized Google AdWords to drive traffic to his website, where he promoted products and earned affiliate commissions. His book “The 4-Hour Workweek” became a bestseller, further boosting his online business success.

7)Nathan Barry – “ConvertKit”: Nathan Barry launched “ConvertKit,” an email marketing platform specifically designed for creators and bloggers. He began by developing the software himself and handling customer support on his own. As the platform gained popularity, he reinvested profits into hiring a small team to help with customer support and development. ConvertKit grew rapidly and became a successful email marketing tool.

8)Steve Pavlina – Personal Development Blog: Steve Pavlina started a personal development blog where he shared his insights and experiences. Over time, the blog gained a large following and generated income through advertising and affiliate marketing. He managed the blog single-handedly and monetized it without hiring any employees.

9)Crazy Egg: Crazy Egg is a website optimization and user behavior analytics tool co-founded by Neil Patel. While Crazy Egg eventually grew and hired employees, it initially started as a self-funded project by Neil Patel and Hiten Shah. They built the tool themselves and marketed it online, targeting website owners and marketers. Through their marketing efforts and the quality of their product, Crazy Egg gained traction and generated significant revenue. It became a million-dollar online business without having any employees in its early stages.

10)Markus Frind – “Plenty of Fish”: Markus Frind created the online dating website “Plenty of Fish” (POF) with no employees. He developed the website himself and managed to attract millions of users through word-of-mouth marketing and organic search traffic. POF gained significant popularity and became one of the largest online dating platforms, generating millions of dollars in revenue. While Frind eventually hired some employees to handle customer support and other tasks, the initial success of the business was achieved with minimal workforce.

11)AppSumo: AppSumo is an online platform that offers daily deals on software products and digital tools for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Founded by Noah Kagan, AppSumo started as a one-person operation. Noah utilized his marketing skills and network to negotiate deals with software developers and promote the products through his email list and online platforms. The business gained traction, and Noah was able to generate significant revenue without hiring employees.

12)Buffer: Buffer is a social media management platform that started with just two co-founders, Joel Gascoigne and Leo Widrich. They initially managed the business on their own and gradually hired a small team as the company grew. Buffer is now a successful multi-million dollar company.

13)Basecamp: Basecamp, a project management and team collaboration software, was created by Jason Fried, Carlos Segura, and Ernest Kim as a web design firm called 37signals. They eventually shifted their focus to developing software products and grew their team as the company achieved significant success.

14)Craigslist: While the exact number of employees at the early stages of Craigslist is not widely known, it’s believed that the founder, Craig Newmark, initially managed the website on his own. Craigslist grew to become a widely-used online classifieds platform with significant revenue.

Again, it’s crucial to understand that even though these businesses started with a limited number of employees or as solopreneurs, they eventually expanded their workforce to support their growth and success. As companies become more successful, the need for employees or contractors becomes inevitable to handle increased demand and sustain the business’s growth trajectory.

15)Andrew Reifman – “How I Quit My Job”: Andrew Reifman is a software engineer who started a blog called “How I Quit My Job” to document his journey of leaving his corporate job and building an online business. Through his blog, he shared his experiences, insights, and strategies for generating passive income online. Andrew monetized his blog through various means, including affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and selling his own digital products. While he didn’t have full-time employees, he occasionally hired freelancers to assist with specific tasks. His blog generated substantial revenue and allowed him to achieve financial independence.

16)Udemy: Udemy is an online learning platform that offers courses on a wide range of subjects. The platform was founded by Eren Bali, Oktay Caglar, and Gagan Biyani. While Udemy started with a small team, it eventually grew significantly to support its expanding user base and course offerings. The success of Udemy was driven by its ability to attract instructors to create courses and provide valuable content to learners worldwide.

17)Apps Without Code: Apps Without Code is an online education platform founded by Tara Reed. The platform teaches individuals how to build and launch their own mobile apps without having to write code. Reed started the business by creating and selling online courses, webinars, and coaching services. She managed the entire operation herself, including course creation, marketing, customer support, and administration. Through her expertise and the value she provided, Apps Without Code generated significant revenue, reaching the million-dollar mark without hiring any employees.

18)Mark Manson – MarkManson.net: Mark Manson is a bestselling author and blogger who has built a significant online following through his personal development and self-help content. He initially managed his online business by himself, but as his reach and impact grew, he enlisted the support of a small team.

These examples highlight the achievements of individuals who started their online businesses with limited or no employees. However, it’s important to note that as these businesses grew, they eventually needed to scale their operations and bring on additional help to sustain and manage their success.