Stage 3
Build an asset
Software, content sites and channels, digital products, newsletters, marketplaces, or buying a small business. Slower to start and less certain, but the upside is not capped by your time.
Business ideas for this stage
| Business idea | Category | Videos | Sources | Save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fitness / wellness hotel or retreat Open or operate a fitness-themed hotel or retreat focused on training, recovery, and nutrition. | Local Services | 8 videos · 83 channels | 3 channelsThe Koerner Office, Greg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Niche curated search engine Build a curated search experience over the open web restricted to a specific vertical (academic, medical, code), monetized via subscription… | SaaS & Software | 8 videos · 82 channels | 2 channelsGreg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Niche grocery marketplace Build a marketplace that sources hard-to-find grocery items (ethnic, specialty, organic) for a specific community. | Marketplaces & Communities | 8 videos · 83 channels | 3 channelsThe Koerner Office, My First Million, Side Hustle School | |
| Reddit-to-faceless-channel automation Use Reddit or similar sources to find stories and turn them into faceless short-form or long-form content channels. | Content & Media | 8 videos · 84 channels | 4 channelsThe Koerner Office, Starter Story, Greg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Self-liquidating offer funnels Build ecommerce funnels with break-even front-end offers that fund customer acquisition for profitable back-end. | Ecommerce & Products | 8 videos · 84 channels | 4 channelsThe Koerner Office, Starter Story, Greg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Subscription fashion / styling box Run a clothing or accessories subscription that curates or styles items for members monthly. | Ecommerce & Products | 8 videos · 84 channels | 4 channelsStarter Story, Greg Isenberg, My First Million, Side Hustle School | |
| Teacher curriculum digital products Create and sell original curriculum materials, lesson plans, and teaching resources to other educators as digital downloads. | Info Products & Education | 8 videos · 81 channels | 1 channelSide Hustle School | |
| White-label courses / training content License white-label course content (compliance, sales, software) to other companies that rebrand and sell to their users. | Info Products & Education | 8 videos · 83 channels | 3 channelsThe Koerner Office, My First Million, Side Hustle School | |
| App flipping Buy under-monetized mobile apps, improve ASO and revenue, and resell at a multiple. | Buying Businesses | 7 videos · 73 channels | 3 channelsThe Koerner Office, Starter Story, Side Hustle Nation | |
| Crypto paid newsletter Run a paid email newsletter that covers crypto markets, theses, and deal flow, monetized via subscriptions. | Content & Media | 7 videos · 72 channels | 2 channelsMy First Million, Indie Hackers | |
| Faceless tutorial channel Run a faceless YouTube or TikTok tutorial channel in a niche, monetized via ads and affiliate links. | Content & Media | 7 videos · 76 channels | 6 channelsThe Koerner Office, Starter Story, Greg Isenberg, My First Million, Side Hustle School, Indie Hackers | |
| Gambling / sportsbook affiliate site Run an SEO-driven site ranking for sports betting and casino queries, monetized via rev-share with sportsbooks. | Content & Media | 7 videos · 72 channels | 2 channelsMy First Million, Side Hustle School | |
| Indie hackathon / weekend build event Organize a recurring indie hackathon or weekend build event, monetized via sponsorships and tickets. | Content & Media | 7 videos · 73 channels | 3 channelsStarter Story, Greg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Local service lead generation Build a lead-gen system that delivers exclusive local service leads to contractors and trades, billed per lead. | Agency Services | 7 videos · 73 channels | 3 channelsThe Koerner Office, Greg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Micro-SaaS for individual creator workflows Build a tiny paid tool that solves one specific workflow pain for creators (thumbnails, titles, sponsorship tracker) on monthly… | SaaS & Software | 7 videos · 73 channels | 3 channelsStarter Story, Greg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Neighborhood / hyperlocal social app Build a mobile social app scoped to one neighborhood or building for residents to share recommendations, lost-and-found, and events. | Marketplaces & Communities | 7 videos · 72 channels | 2 channelsThe Koerner Office, My First Million | |
| No-code mobile app Ship a no-code mobile app on a niche topic, monetized via subscriptions, ads, or in-app purchases. | SaaS & Software | 7 videos · 74 channels | 4 channelsStarter Story, Greg Isenberg, Side Hustle School, Indie Hackers | |
| Rank-and-rent local SEO sites Build local SEO sites that rank #1 for service keywords, then rent the leads to local operators. | Agency Services | 7 videos · 72 channels | 2 channelsThe Koerner Office, Greg Isenberg | |
| Real estate syndication Pool investor capital to acquire and operate larger multifamily or commercial real estate, returns via cash flow and sale. | Real Estate | 7 videos · 71 channels | 1 channelThe Koerner Office | |
| Vertical industry data SaaS Build a B2B SaaS that aggregates 'sawdust' data from one industry (permits, shipments, transactions) into a paid dashboard. | SaaS & Software | 7 videos · 73 channels | 3 channelsThe Koerner Office, My First Million, Indie Hackers | |
| Website flipping Buy under-monetized content sites, improve SEO and revenue, and sell at a multiple on marketplaces. | Buying Businesses | 7 videos · 74 channels | 4 channelsThe Koerner Office, Starter Story, My First Million, Side Hustle Nation | |
| AI calorie / nutrition tracker app Snap-a-photo or chat-style consumer app that estimates calories and macros from meals, monetized via freemium subscription. | SaaS & Software | 6 videos · 63 channels | 3 channelsStarter Story, Greg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Airline deals / fare aggregator Build an aggregator that surfaces cheap flights and mistake fares, monetized via affiliate booking fees. | Marketplaces & Communities | 6 videos · 65 channels | 5 channelsThe Koerner Office, Starter Story, Greg Isenberg, Side Hustle School, Indie Hackers | |
| Businesses-for-sale aggregator Build an aggregator that pulls business-for-sale listings across sources and monetizes via buyer leads. | Marketplaces & Communities | 6 videos · 65 channels | 5 channelsThe Koerner Office, Starter Story, My First Million, Side Hustle Nation, Indie Hackers | |
| Car auctions / wholesale car business Source used or salvage cars at wholesale auctions and resell to dealers or retail buyers for a margin. | Ecommerce & Products | 6 videos · 63 channels | 3 channelsThe Koerner Office, My First Million, Side Hustle School | |
| Celebrity liquor / tequila brand Launch and market a tequila, vodka, or spirits brand leveraging a celebrity or influencer partner, monetized via wholesale and DTC. | Ecommerce & Products | 6 videos · 62 channels | 2 channelsMy First Million, Noah Kagan | |
| Novelty fan apparel manufacturing Design and manufacture quirky fan-inspired apparel items (e.g., baseball sweaters) and sell them to sports fans and gift buyers online. | Ecommerce & Products | 6 videos · 61 channels | 1 channelSide Hustle School | |
| Podcast network roll-up Aggregate multiple podcasts under one ad-sales network to command higher CPMs and sell to national brands. | Content & Media | 6 videos · 63 channels | 3 channelsThe Koerner Office, Greg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Real estate content / media platform Run a real estate media site or podcast covering a local market or strategy, monetized via ads and lead-gen. | Content & Media | 6 videos · 62 channels | 2 channelsGreg Isenberg, My First Million | |
| Smart / connected vending machines Deploy vending machines with telemetry, dynamic pricing, and card readers in high-traffic locations. | Local Services | 6 videos · 62 channels | 2 channelsThe Koerner Office, My First Million |