Introduction
When people hear that I’ve made over $115 million in my career, they assume I had some kind of head start—maybe I had a rich family, a massive following, or an unfair advantage. The truth? I had none of that.
No social media presence.
No business background.
No team.
No capital.
What I did have was a $47 fitness program, ClickFunnels, and the determination to win.
This blog is the complete, raw breakdown of how I went from a broke 25-year-old in my parents’ 300 sq. ft. spare bedroom… to running multiple eight-figure businesses—without running ads in the beginning, without a website, and without any special skills. This is the blueprint.
“How I Made $115 Million from a Spare Bedroom (With No Experience, No Following, and No Capital)”
From Failure to First Breakthrough
I spent my early 20s chasing a dream of becoming a professional athlete—playing basketball, football, and pushing myself in every sport. After that chapter closed, I tried to start an online fitness business… and for 3 years, I made a total of $2,000.
That $47 “Rapid Muscle System” flopped. I spent a year building the entire funnel, sales pages, emails—only to find out no one was buying. It crushed my confidence. I lived at home, couldn’t afford a car or dates, and was the guy people laughed at.
But at 25, I made one critical shift: I stopped selling low-ticket and switched to high-ticket coaching.
Within a year of charging $1,500+ for 3-4 month fitness programs, I’d made my first million—and earned a ClickFunnels Two Comma Club award. That was the start.
Why Coaching Is the Best Business for Beginners
If you’re new and trying to build a business, coaching (or selling a digital product with a support element) is the best possible starting point. Here’s why:
- You don’t need any capital
- You don’t need a big following
- You don’t need to build it first
- You can sell your knowledge—no inventory, no overhead
You’re simply teaching others something you’ve already done or overcome—fitness, ads, relationships, health, anxiety, you name it.
How to Find Your Coaching Niche
Here’s a list of prompts to help you find what to sell:
- What skills have you developed over the last 5 years?
- What comes easy to you but hard to others?
- What do people already come to you for advice on?
- What problem have you solved for yourself?
- If you could go back in time, what would you teach your younger self?
If you seriously feel like you don’t have any skills, that’s fine too—go to Udemy or Allison, learn Facebook ads, copywriting, or marketing for $100 or less… and teach that.
Packaging Your Offer: The Blue Ocean Strategy
Want to stand out? Your offer must be unique.
Every personal trainer says “I’ll help you lose 20 lbs in 4 months.” That’s boring.
Instead, create a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). For example:
- Fitness: “How to eat whatever you want without sabotaging results.”
- Business: “Book 70% more calls using Conversion Conversations.”
- Dating: “Get 50% more dates without cold DMs or swiping apps.”
That’s the difference between being seen as a commodity vs. being irresistible.
The 4 Components of an Irresistible Offer
Borrowed from my buddy Alex Hormozi’s book, $100M Offers, here’s the framework for pricing your product high and selling it fast:
- Desired Outcome – What do they want? (Lose 20 lbs, make $10K/month, etc.)
- Perceived Likelihood of Achievement – Do they believe your method will work for them?
- Time Delay – How quickly will they see results?
- Effort & Sacrifice – How hard will it be for them to follow through?
The easier and faster your solution appears, the more people will buy.
Sell It First. Build It Later.
Don’t waste time building out your product before you make a single sale.
- Sell the idea first.
- Coach live via Zoom.
- Get feedback.
- Build your curriculum as you go.
This allows you to avoid wasting months on something no one buys. Real money loves speed and simplicity.
The $0 Ad Strategy That Got Me My First Sales
I didn’t run ads at first. I had no followers. Here’s exactly what I did:
- Sent 100 DMs a day to strangers and followers.
- Got a 10% response rate.
- Booked 3 sales calls.
- Closed 1 deal at $1,500.
That’s $200/hour… without posting content or running a single ad. Once I built cash flow this way, I reinvested into paid ads to scale up faster.
From DMs to Paid Ads: The Scaling Phase
Once I had proof of concept, I ran Facebook and IG ads. Example:
- Spend $1,000 → Get 100 leads at $10/lead
- 10 book calls → Close 1 at $2,000
- Net profit: $1,000
- Rinse and repeat
This is how you go from $0 to $10K to $100K+ months—without relying on virality or content that takes forever.
Final Thoughts: If I Can Do It, So Can You
No fancy degree. No rich parents. No followers. Just grit, high-ticket pricing, and a refusal to quit.
If you want to dive deeper, grab the $3 Infinite Income Playbook (linked below) with my templates, scripts, and step-by-step plan. Or just keep learning from my content.
Whatever path you choose—remember this:
Start simple. Sell what you know. And always bet on yourself.
Tanner Chidester
CEO, Elite CEOs
From Spare Bedroom to $115M+
