A single operated newsletter may be the easiest business ventures to set up:
1) Create an account
2) Import your email list (Paidletter shows you how to grow one)
3) Connect to a payment system (we prefer Stripe) to receive payments.
Readers subscribe monthly or annually, and most publications offer a discount for the annual subscription.
The $100 Startup is not reinventing the wheel, as books about setting up online businesses with a shoestring budget have been popular for quite some time now (ie: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss, and more). But to Guillebeau’s credit, he takes a slightly punchier, more example-driven approach to building a streamlined and creative SME. He also makes it clear that The $100 Startup is not a spiritual guide that suggests passive visualizations or wishful thinking to get ahead. Instead, Guillebeau claims to base his message on “planning, action, and sacrifice.”
Guillebeau highlights how being playful on the internet can also be lucrative. He writes about a woman named Nathalie Lussier who lost weight and discovered a new way of life by following a raw foods diet. Lussier set up a micro business consulting people through webinars, courses, and personal coaching on how they could do the same thing. Guillebeau writes, “One of the tipping points came when Nathalie discovered that the initial name she had chosen, Raw Foods Switch, could also be rendered Raw Foods Witch. Nathalie jumped into character, dressing up with a broom and pointed black hat […] Within a year, the business grew to more than $60,000 a year in net income.”
In addition to off-beat case studies, Guillebeau also provides some concise and comprehensive tools for entrepreneurs. These include simple documents like his one-page business plan, a one-page promotion plan, and seven steps to market testing.
The $100 Startup does not claim to be fool-proof, however, as Guillebeau stresses the importance of implementing sound business models. He notes, “Not everything that you’re good at and excited about can become a business model—but something can. This is why you need to find a convergence between those skills and passions, and what other people also value. Spend as much time as you need figuring out this part.”
Ready to launch your own startup?