People ask me which business model is fastest to $100K a month. SMMA, dropshipping, crypto, coaching, communities, video editing. None of them are bad.
They are all just vehicles. The driver matters more than the car.
At a high level, success comes down to three things: skills, characteristics and beliefs. Most people only work on skills, and that is exactly why they stall. Here is the order I would build in if I had to start over.
Businesses do not fail, people do
Almost any business can make money. When one fails, it is usually the operator.
The pattern is predictable. Someone tries something, gets no results, loses confidence and jumps to a new business. Then they repeat it, and blame the business every time.
I went from zero to $25M a year in four years. In the first six months I hired six coaches. Some of their programs ran four months, and people asked why I would hire someone new before the program was even over. My answer was simple. If the coaching was not working, waiting made no sense.
Blaming others gives your control away. Even when someone else really is at fault, the only thing you can change is yourself. I do not blame other people because I cannot control them.
Build characteristics before skills
When I look back at what shaped me, it was door to door sales, Boy Scouts, calculus, basketball and football.
The value was not the specific skills. It was the traits they built:
- Doing hard things.
- Perseverance.
- Discipline.
- Acting even when you do not feel like it.
I believe people are made in God’s image, which means we have real creative capacity. Most people limit themselves by deciding ahead of time that they cannot do something. If you believed you were a billionaire and acted like one, your results would start to follow.
Here is a practical way to do it:
- Pick someone who has the success you want.
- Identify their characteristics, like patience, perseverance and discipline.
- Build those traits into your daily routine on purpose.
It can be as simple as waking early, going to bed on time and working out. Changed actions lead to changed results.
Age is not the issue
A 25 year old and a 40 year old can both be complete beginners in business. Business maturity and human maturity are different things.
Some people were pushed through hard experiences as kids, and that gave them an edge. If your childhood was easier, you can still build those traits. You just have to do it deliberately as an adult.
Skills come after
I can teach anyone writing, sales, Facebook ads or YouTube ads. Those skills will not produce $100K a month without the right characteristics and beliefs underneath them.
The order I recommend:
- Beliefs and characteristics. Decide who you need to become.
- Skills.
- Value creation.
- Keep leveling up.
As you grow, you pick up new skills and develop the traits you need for the next level. It compounds.
Value means removing pain
Value is created when you remove pain from someone’s life. The biggest pain areas are health, wealth and relationships.
Alex Hormozi’s value equation from $100M Offers breaks it into four factors: the dream outcome, the perceived likelihood of getting it, the time delay and the effort and sacrifice. A better outcome, higher likelihood, shorter time and less effort all mean more value.
For a beginner, coaching and consulting are the fastest way to deliver that value. Building a tech product can take a year and put your savings, loans and even your mortgage at risk. With coaching, you go straight at the result the client wants. If someone wants to get in shape, I tell them my routine. There is nothing to build first.
How I actually did it
Fitness coaching: zero to $1M in 12 months
I played football and basketball from 12 to 22, including Division I football. When I realized I was not going pro, a mentor pointed out that I had years of experience with nutrition, calories, macros, eating plans and training.
So I started helping people lose fat, build muscle and get in shape. I got clients by reaching out on social media, sending cold DMs to strangers and paying for Instagram shoutouts.
My online programs averaged about $3,200 for a multi month package, roughly $800 a month. I worked 16 to 18 hours a day.
Selling to trainers: $1M to $10M in 12 months
Most trainers earn very little, and they started asking how I built my business. I resisted at first, then named a price I did not think they would pay: $10,000. They paid it.
Referrals and paid ads grew it from there. The big insight was that for many men, wealth is a bigger pain than health. People will pay more to make money than to get in shape.
Expanding: $10M to $25M
Clients then asked for help beyond fitness. That led to new divisions. Elite Ads runs ads for clients. Elite Closers provides setters and closers.
I did not plan any of it. Success simply brought new requests, and I said yes to the ones that fit. If you want to go deeper on this kind of thinking, read Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson.
Expect it to take time
Most people will need one to three years to reach $100K a month. That is fast, as long as you focus on beliefs first.
When business gets hard, I treat it the way I treated sports. Difficulty is expected. Persistence eventually pays. I built an eight figure net worth before 30, starting at 25, by holding that line.
The takeaway
Adopt the characteristics and beliefs of someone who has what you want. Learn the skills. Create value in health, wealth or relationships. Then keep climbing by creating more value.
Most people skip straight to skills. Do it in the right order and the business model you pick matters a lot less.
Want to know what’s capping your business right now? Take my free 90 Day Ceiling Plan. Answer 18 questions and get a written plan, built on your own numbers, that names the one thing holding you back and what to fix first.
