How to Start an Online Business from Scratch with No Money in 2026

[00:02] could earn money online, not be tied to any one place, and still be financially free, I would n’t have believed it. But after building an online business that brought in over $100,000 last year, I realized one thing:

[00:14] the strategies that really work are not what most people think. experience and the approaches of industry leaders like Alex Harmozi, Ali Abdal, Imana Gadzhi, Nishi, and many others to tell you. What is the first thing you should pay

[00:29] starting a business? Second, what kind of business should beginners start? And third, the specific steps you need to take to build a highly profitable business in 2026 and become financially free. Before I start this video,

[00:42] I want to highlight two facts. First. You can't become a millionaire simply by saving, putting aside, and investing your money in the super-safe S&P 500 or other index funds. It's also impossible to do this in a regular job if you're an

[00:56] average person and not some kind of highly paid, niche expert. What I mean is that if you really want to get rich, really become a millionaire, have a lot of money, then you still need to start some kind of business.

[01:09] And the second very important fact. Many people think that business is a super quick way to get rich. But the real statistics, as you can see on the screen, show that the probability of failure is super high, especially without a clear

[01:22] plan, understanding of the market, understanding of financial management. And the odds of your small business failing are, well, super high. So please make your choice. Starting a business isn't for everyone, and not everyone wants

[01:35] to get rich, and that's okay. And this video, of course, is not for everyone either. And if you're still watching, let's get started. So, the first thing you should pay attention to before starting a business is the price. Both Harmozi and Alibdal

[01:47] often talk about the same thing. It is much easier and more profitable to sell expensive products to a small number of people than cheap ones to everyone. Because it turns out that [music] is very difficult to find a large number of people. You

[01:59] either have to be a hugely famous person, or spend a lot of money on advertising, or the product has to be something like, you know, a Market Disruptor, some kind of revolutionary product, like the iPhone was in its time. So if you're a

[02:12] beginner and you're thinking about what business to start, always ask yourself this simple thing: what can I sell for at least [music] two, at least for $2,000? At the two, at least for $2,000? At the YouTube Academy, a student came to me with

[02:25] 2 or 3,000 subscribers on her channel and said she wanted to sell a how much she [the music] will earn, uh, by selling this guide for $20. Here, the conversion rates vary, and the realistic range is from $120 to

[02:40] $800 per launch; she'll earn from selling this guide per announcement. That means, in the best case scenario, she will earn $800 per launch. And, as Alabl says, her case is one where she plays business

[02:53] in hardcore mode. Because when you're trying to sell something for $20 a month, to build a profitable business out of it, you need a ton of sales volume. If she has a lot of subscribers on YouTube, Instagram, or

[03:06] Telegram, then it becomes a viable business model. But if you're a newbie, you're probably not famous online, so it's going to be very, very hard for you to get customers and very hard to generate that kind of sales volume. Now

[03:20] businesses that operate not in hardcore mode, but in a simplified mode. For example, at our academy we have students who, after completing the course, became YouTube channel producers. They charge $2-$2,500 per month to

[03:34] produce four videos for their clients. They help launch YouTube channels from scratch with ideas, scripts, and editing. And this service, it’s called Done for you Service, a turnkey service, when all the work is done for the

[03:48] client. In this case, to earn $10,000 a month, they only need four clients, which is much easier for beginners. It's much easier to find four clients than 40 clients, yes, for a guide of 20 dollars. So

[04:03] remember this first principle: it's much easier and more profitable to sell expensive products to a small number of people than cheap ones to everyone. Especially if you are a beginner. So, principle number two: sell high to a small number of valuable

[04:16] customers, rather than trying to sell cheap to everyone. It's similar to the first principle, but there are some nuances. Let's figure it out. First, you'll learn a lot number of high-paying clients. When you are among

[04:29] such clients, you work with stronger, more developed, more adequate people. And this generally changes your idea of ​​what exists in the market in general, what opportunities there are in the market. And working with such people, you are

[04:43] exactly my case, when I started working with such people, I really Secondly, it is simply easier to work with such clients. You know, they don't throw tantrums, they don't ask for a refund, they don't ask for money back for

[04:57] every reason, they don't nitpick over small, insignificant details. And so it would seem that yes, the higher the price, the more expensive the product, the more Morocco there should be , the more demanding, yes, the client. which is something I have actually

[05:10] noticed myself and hear many people talking about. Those who pay less often demand more, worry more, and want to squeeze absolutely everything out of what they paid, because for them this amount is more significant. And thirdly, with those who

[05:23] faster and easier, because such clients usually have a higher level of knowledge, difference, you know, between teaching a completely inexperienced person to swim from scratch and helping an athlete improve their technique. In the first

[05:39] case, you spend time there on basic security, on fears, and in the second, you immediately work on speed and quality, so progress, cases, and your expertise grow much faster. Principle number three: solve

[05:52] painful problems. Here it is important to remember that the more pain a person is in, the stronger his motivation to solve the problem. And when your business positions itself as a solution to this pain, for example, you say: "Look, you've been filming a video for weeks

[06:04] and in the end you get 50 views, you don't know how to film, package a video, you don't even know how to edit a video, you're wasting a ton of time, and there's still no result." When you package pain in this way, a person

[06:17] instantly understands that it is indeed their pain. And Alex Harmozii emphasizes this principle. The more pain and frustration a problem causes, the higher the price you can ask for. And as Alibdal says, the more accurately and deeply you

[06:30] can describe the problem, sometimes even better than the client can formulate it in their head, the easier it will be for them to believe that your product really does solve their pain, and that it is exactly what they need. Principle number

[06:43] four: solve a problem that helps people either earn more or save more. These services are the easiest to sell because the client immediately sees a clear financial return. Either he will earn more or he will save more. If

[06:56] your product or service saves a business $100,000, then you can easily charge $10,000 to $40,000 for that service

[07:08] your price. And there is such a problem on the market now. Everyone wants to become a coach, a mentor, work with thinking, or help people overcome impostor syndrome, right? And here it is much more difficult to make money . And here's why. Because you

[07:22] are solving intangible, abstract problems, the value of which is difficult for a person to estimate in monetary terms. Here the result is impossible to touch, but there you can improve your thinking, find your purpose, become more productive, and overcome

[07:35] anxiety. It's all too blurry. Especially if you want to charge $2,000 or $20,000 for such a service. But there is a solution to this. Alibdal says that if you tie an intangible problem to a

[07:47] specific, measurable result, for example, I help specialists get rid of impostor syndrome in order to get a promotion and increase their income. Then the value becomes more obvious because the person sees a direct connection

[07:59] between your work and the growth of his income. And such an offer can easily be sold at a high price. Since people usually don't want to pay for internal changes, they want to pay for external results, for changes that can be measured,

[08:13] seen, felt in real life and that others will notice. So, we've sorted out the principles. Let's move on to what kind of business should beginners start. Here I would like to say that there are only two types of business. This is a

[08:25] service and product one. A service is when you provide some kind of service to a client, such as video editing, website creation, consultations, coaching, or helping them get into studying abroad. A product is when you sell

[08:37] some kind of ready-made product, like a bag, a microphone, a computer, a table, and so on. And all the market leaders, uh, in the online business sphere say the same thing again: that uh, in the online business sphere say the same thing again: that

[08:52] product business. And this is another huge thing that all newbies stumble over. Because when you think about what kind of business to start, you imagine that you are starting some kind of cool product. When we think about business, about some

[09:06] company, we always imagine, like Sony, yes, that sells cameras, Apple, that makes, uh, MacBooks, iPhones, Starbucks,

[09:18] Most of the businesses we encounter every day sell products, physical products. And that's why it seems to us that this is a normal model. But what we do n't notice is that product

[09:32] businesses are actually super hard to start. They are super difficult to launch because the products are usually cheap and you need to sell them in huge volumes to make money. Again, yes, to make a huge volume of sales, you need to have a

[09:47] lot of money for advertising or be very well known there. But the most interesting thing is that we hardly see a huge number of businesses that sell services. It turns out that a large part of the economy, especially in developed

[10:01] countries, is based on services. These are financial services, legal services, accounting, consulting, there are countless service areas, which, in total, it turns out, earn much more than

[10:14] product companies. And here are some interesting statistics. In developed countries, the share of services in GDP often reaches 70-80%. But food businesses are the ones that look cool, yeah, like Apple, Starbucks, brands, gadgets, their advertising is

[10:27] everywhere. This is why the illusion is created that you need to start with products, although starting with services is much easier and more profitable, and there are fewer risks. In general, there are three levels of service business. Let's start with the first one. The first one is

[10:42] called Done for you Service. We do everything for the client or on a turnkey basis. This is the most expensive and easiest format to start . The client pays you for taking on the work entirely. For example, you edit videos, you do

[10:55] marketing, you manage the YouTube channel, you make the website, the advertising there, or the packaging, everything yourself. And it is precisely for this format that a newbie can most often charge the most money, because you literally do all the work yourself. Next,

[11:07] we work together to a lower level and a slightly more scalable one, and then there’s the Done with you format, where, essentially, for the same task, you sell a support and joint [music] implementation. That is, you don’t do everything

[11:21] for them, but help them improve themselves, for example, by improving conversions on their website, guiding them, giving feedback and leading them through the process. And one level lower, even more scalable, is the Do it yourself format, where you

[11:35] sell, say, a course or an app. The client does the work themselves, but your product helps them, essentially providing a system, tools, and steps that they can take on their own. Here, in essence, you are selling information, and here you

[11:47] are selling the implementation itself, because you are actually doing the work for the person. If you're a newbie looking to launch a business and achieve financial freedom, all market leaders 100% recommend starting with the "done for you" format,

[12:02] where you provide a turnkey service and can charge the highest specific steps you need to take to build a highly profitable service business in 2026. And first, how

[12:15] to choose which service to sell. There are only four steps here. The first is pain analysis. First, analyze the pain points, look for everything there that irritates people, what works slowly, what causes them frustration, what

[12:28] people constantly complain about. As we have already said, the higher this emotion of pain, the higher the demand for a solution. There is a direct connection here. Second. Assess the cost of the problem. How much time a person loses, how much money he

[12:41] accumulates because of this situation. Because the greater the impact of a problem on life, the, again, this motivation to pay is stronger, in order to finally fix it, right? Next comes filtration by purity. Problems that

[12:55] arise every day are much more valuable than those that happen there once a year. Recurring pain, remember, recurring pain is a recurring need, which is an equally powerful offer. And finally, check the intention. If

[13:09] mediocre solutions, it means they are already willing to pay for something promising services for beginners is turnkey setup and assistants for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs face the same pain:

[13:24] automate processes, and them money. Therefore, the demand for this is huge, and people are already paying for earphone templates, for some automated personal assistants, and for GPT chat agents

[13:38] could, as an example, yes, set up agents who respond to clients, help with sales, write texts, generate ideas, and complete half of the daily tasks. You can automate your business there through Notion or

[13:53] some other services, creating a system where the EII actually leads 30 or 50%. EII actually leads 30 or 50%. obvious: less routine, less stress, and more income. And this already works in

[14:07] reality. The same Jasper AI Automation or Ocean consultants earn $1,000 on such projects. Or, for example, what we do at YouTube Academy, we have the Done with you model, uh, where we do it together,

[14:21] YouTube channel and complete all the most difficult stages. The pain here is as Instagram, but they don’t have time, they don’t have ideas, they don’t have structure, and they don’t even understand how to do it regularly. And this is just a severe pain. I see it myself, and there are

[14:35] many expert channels that don't earn enough because they don't have the right funnel, they don't know how to package videos, in general, they don't get enough money and traffic. And this model has already proven its effectiveness. Agencies sell

[14:47] production services for between $1,000 and $3,000 a month, and some of our academy's graduates become producers and easily charge around $2,000 to $2,500 for producing four videos a month. And if you can give

[15:01] clients a clear, measurable result in the form of views and applications for your path. That's why I love this niche and this production so much. And that's why we built YouTube Academy around this model. This is the most realistic

[15:17] way to quickly enter an online business and start earning money without risking money and spending months creating physical products. Essentially, everything you hear in this video—the principles, strategies, and system offers—is exactly what

[15:30] we practice at the academy, but step-by-step, with analysis of your videos and personalized feedback. If you liked what I'm giving now, then the academy is simply an in-depth version, brought to the result. If

[15:42] you feel like you want to develop in this field, either as a producer or as a channel creator, now is the time to submit an application. Our managers will provide you with a free consultation, help you understand whether the academy is right for you, and

[15:54] new cohort is starting soon, so if you'd like to join the next intake, simply submit your request and we'll contact you shortly. Link in the description. Let's move on. You need to understand one key thing: how your product or

[16:08] customer. Not in theory, but in practice. Let me show you a simplified process for testing an idea. Step one. State the result clearly. What specific problem does your product solve and what clear result does it lead to? It doesn’t

[16:22] improve life, but what exactly changes in a person after using it? This is how you shouldn't formulate a result. I help businesses grow. I am improving marketing. I'm pumping up YouTube, I'm automating processes, it's all about nothing

[16:35] . And here is what the correct formulation of the result looks like. I launch a YouTube channel for experts and within 60 days I 've built it up to regular videos, stable views, and the first applications for their product. In the second case, it is immediately

[16:48] clear what exactly is happening, how long it takes, and what result the person gets. Second example. I edit short videos. Yes, it is a poorly formulated offer and a good one. I turn your long videos and zoom recordings into 15-30 res per month

[17:02] that you simply publish and get reach without wasting any extra time. Again , here the result is obvious and measurable. In general, the market is full of editors who simply cut videos. You can, for example, make an offer that you

[17:15] don’t just edit, but immediately create videos for retention and reach. The hook there is in the scenario yourself, you create a viral structure there. This way, the client receives not just a video, but a result. And this makes your offer much stronger than those already on the

[17:29] market. Step three. Remove all unnecessary things. If some part of the product does not affect the final result, it is not needed in the first version at all. The fewer steps between a person and the result, the higher the value. Step four. Make the product

[17:42] as simple as possible. One goal, one process, one result. Without process, one result. Without any complicated interfaces, uh, explanations, uh , and also look at this, also look at this, yes, no need to complicate things. Here's a

[17:54] super simple result. And step five. Ask yourself this honest question. If I used this myself today, I would say, "Yes, this really solved my problem." If the answer is yes, then create a service. Let's take a service for

[18:08] website optimization and conversion rate increase. Result: more applications with the same traffic. It's because you're making money off of something that already exists. The problem occurs every day while the site is not working properly. And the company is ready to pay $1,000-5,000 for such projects

[18:22] , because the return on investment is obvious. Or a freelancers and experts. Result: clear figures: control over expenses, no chaos in money. The process is simple. You set up turnkey advertising and

[18:36] tables. This pain returns every month when it is time to calculate income and taxes. And people are already paying 300 there 1.00 dollars for such services, because it saves nerves and time. Next, before investing time and resources into

[18:49] creating a product, use this simple and very honest checklist to yourself a few key questions. Is it clear to your target audience what problem you are solving? Is the outcome of your offer concrete and

[19:02] tangible, or is it vague? Does your decision make the path to the result shorter, easier and faster? Would a person pay real money to avoid this pain or speed up the achievement of this result? And finally, does your

[19:16] product work intuitively, without long explanations and complicated instructions? If you most of these questions, then you have already found a real opportunity. In that case, don't hesitate and bring the product to market. We've sorted out the offer. Let's

[19:30] talk about traffic now. You can create the best, most expert service on the market, but if you can't get it in front of the right people, the people who are actually burning with desire to buy it, then everything we've done is

[19:43] worth absolutely nothing. So in this part of the video, now that the service is ready, we'll talk about where to find the right clients. Every business needs traffic that it, sales are impossible. And we won't

[19:56] only talk about free ways to attract traffic. Since this video is again for beginners, I don’t want you to waste your money on advertising, even before you start your business, even before you start earning money. Therefore,

[20:09] we will analyze the safest methods of attracting traffic, those that do not require costs, in order to minimize risks as much as possible . After analyzing the market, I realized that there are only two free ways to attract traffic. The first is through

[20:21] personal branding. Let's figure it out. This is my case. Here I have a YouTube channel. I create the end content on my own behalf. And the plus of a personal brand. There is a high level of trust here, so you can sell products at high prices . And the conversion is great

[20:35] too, high, because the leads are warm, pre-warmed, people watch my long videos, they warm up well, they trust well and, uh, accordingly, you can

[20:47] sell some products and services for a high check. And the second plus is that you are the main asset. You don't need money for advertising to get started. But there are also some downsides, of course. First of all, you're, um, such a

[20:59] , because everything depends on you. You shoot videos, you write scripts. Secondly, regularity and discipline are needed. The content machine demands [music] consistency, right? And thirdly, you need to show your face. And it doesn't

[21:12] suit everyone. Not everyone feels comfortable on camera and so on. Now let's figure out how to build an audience based on your personal brand. When we talk about personal branding, it is important to understand one simple thing. There

[21:24] is an unspoken question like this in every person’s head. Yes, and Alex Harmozi was always saying this: "Why should I even listen to you?" And until this issue is audience doesn’t grow and trust doesn’t

[21:36] develop. Again, harmoziya often repeats that before you sell, influence, or teach something, you, uh, must give people a reason to trust you. If you look at the biggest creators in expert niches—business, marketing,

[21:50] formula. And this is the foundation on which any strong personal brand is built . The formula is simple. Firstly, they do something cool, that is, they show competence. And you don't have to be a super millionaire to get there. You just need to have a

[22:06] real path, a real skill, a real transformation. Secondly, they talk about how they got to this point , how they did it, they share strategies, mistakes, thoughts, insights, because people like to look

[22:18] story behind it. And third, they create a product or replicate the same result. It makes sense that if you can do something yourself, you faster. If you look at how my personal brand developed, it’s exactly the same

[22:34] formula. I started making good money on YouTube and content. I, uh, now have a real path, real numbers, real cases. I started sharing this for free on my YouTube channel. And it’s not just about showing off the beautiful

[22:47] beautiful life at all, I just show the mechanics, there are super-expert videos about how I got to 200,000 subscribers there, how I started making money from YouTube academy where we help launch channels, get views,

[23:03] monetize end content, that is, do the same thing that I have achieved. That is, a person sees my result, sees my process and receives a tool to building your personal brand, ask yourself that fundamental question: "Why

[23:16] should anyone listen to me?" And when you can answer it, this model will work. personal brand strategy is based on. And now you probably have a question in your head : “Well, Saulya, I’m not an expert in anything, I don’t understand anything, what should

[23:29] news here is that you can become an expert in a narrow niche when you're not trying to preach about how to become a millionaire. Yes, there are such great creators here, like Harmozi, Grebenyuk and some other great creators, giants, they

[23:44] can talk about such topics, yes, but you can’t. Therefore, you need to move from some huge, vague, broad topic to something specific and narrower. For example, I help fitness trainers there launch subscriptions

[23:57] dentists there launch YouTube channels and get their first patients through videos. In this little pond you can become a king because you don't have any competitors there, right? There you

[24:10] don’t have millions of competitors and some giants like Harmozi, but there are 20 people, say, for example, Harmozi. There was a lot of talk about him today, and now he already teaches large, broad topics, yes, about how to make money, how to grow an

[24:23] audience, how to build a business. Well, actually, if you look at history, he started with a super-narrow topic, how to get rid of fat, he sold

[24:35] personal training, how to lose weight, yes, he talked, ah, about these fitness tests. Then he started talking about the inside workings of the gym business. And about the inside workings of the gym business. And since he started to understand

[24:51] businesses, he started talking about how to scale halls. And later, uh, after that he became such a business guru. That is, he has come such a long way, a very

[25:03] long way, from some narrow topic to a super-broad topic. Now he is the number one business guru there, right? That is, he did something in some narrow niche, achieved something, and then talked about it . And so he came to the

[25:17] life that he lives now, to the status that he now possesses. How did my channel even start? Again , it started from a super-Russian niche. I was generally talking about meditation, about vipassana. I told about how I

[25:30] went through vipassana. Then I went to study in Korea. And I told about it. Then I grew to 200,000 subscribers on YouTube. I told about it. I earned 100k on content and told everyone about it. And

[25:44] you can see a lot of comments under my videos , where people are like, uh, that is, they followed my strategy and say: “Damn, this really works.” And I know it myself. That's how you become an expert and gain, uh,

[26:00] traffic, you know, for your product. I wo n't go into too much detail in this video, because it's still about online business, but I explained in more detail about traffic and how to organically build a [music] audience in this

[26:14] or this lecture. I always get confused. In general, follow the link and watch further. The second way to get traffic for free will work, and for those, and if you think: "I don't want to show my face at all , a personal brand is not for me. I don't

[26:27] want to be known. I don't want to be on camera. I don't want this audience at all to be on camera. I don't want this audience at all and I don't want any of this. I have good news for you. But in fact, the market is full of people. Uh, it's not

[26:41] just one person, yes, but there are dozens, hundreds, thousands of people who already have hundreds, thousands of people who already have that very ideal audience, aa, who need your service. And you can connect to their audience.

[26:53] Instead of wasting money there on paid advertising and wasting a ton of time trying there from scratch to pump up your social networks and organics, yes, all you need to do is, in fact, use someone else's audience.

[27:06] There are a lot, millions of microbloggers there, people there with an audience from 10 to 100,000 subscribers. And what's most interesting is that they are often the most valuable, because they have built up a huge trust with the audience. They

[27:20] really have a more Engaged and loyal. They've been running their accounts there for years , communicating with people, sharing their lives, and they're truly trusted. But at the same time, most of them—I see this every day—they don't sell anything at

[27:35] best, well, because they're not entrepreneurs. At best, they make any money from their blog. And there are a lot of such bloggers . And that's where it gets really interesting, because these bloggers have already done all the hard

[27:48] work for you. They've gathered followers, built trust, and now they're keeping their audience engaged. What you can do is simply partner with them; they become your distribution channel, and you give them a

[28:02] percentage of the sales. The process is actually super simple. You find someone whose audience perfectly matches the product or service you've created some kind of fitness product, a training program, or a meal plan

[28:15] with guidance, right? You You go to some fitness influencer with 50,000 followers and cool service that would be perfect for your audience, and instead of paying him a fixed fee for advertising, yeah, you offer him a percentage of sales. And

[28:30] more often than not, it's much more pleasant and profitable for them, because they understand that they can sell their audience and earn more than with a one-time advertising integration. This works especially well with digital products

[28:42] because they have no cost price, no logistics, and the margin can essentially be 100%. Therefore, you can easily give him 20, 30, 40, even 50% and still remain in the black . Let's break this down into

[28:56] numbers. Let's say you go to a fitness influencer with a ton of followers and say, "I have a digital fitness product that's perfect for your audience, and I'll give you 20% of every sale." What happens next? He makes a post or

[29:09] a story, warms up his audience, and, let's say, only 0.1% of his subscribers, 01, let's even say, a, his subscribers, a, buy your product. 0.1% of 50,000 That's only five people, which is a pretty conservative estimate, yes,

[29:25] the price of your management, fitness management, let 's say, is $697, since we are high, although this is not considered a super-high check, an average check. Five people at $697 is almost $3,500 in revenue. Of these, 20% - that's

[29:39] about $700 - you give to the blogger. The remaining 80% - about $2,800 - remains yours. And the coolest thing about all of this, what I like the most, is that you didn’t spend a penny in advance. You simply paid the blogger

[29:53] in advance. You simply paid the blogger after the fact, after the fact of earning money, after you had already earned your checks. You didn't run ads there, didn't risk your budget, didn't launch traffic blindly, didn't do any creative work there.

[30:05] And this is much smarter than pouring $2,000 into Facebook Ads at Target from the very start. M. I don’t understand what you’re doing at all. Yes, with this model you only spend money after you have made a profit. And this is

[30:19] win-win for both the blogger and you, because you earn money as a producer, essentially, and the blogger earns money for distribution. His audience receives a useful service, a useful product. And what's great is that microbloggers are usually happy with such

[30:33] partnerships because they're constantly looking for good products for their audience, but they themselves often don't know—they're not entrepreneurs, they don't know how to create a product, how to do CVS, how to design it, how to manage it,

[30:46] what kind of funnel is needed. So that's a lot of work that they don't have to do, right? They can simply focus on filming content, and then communicate with subscribers, hold their attention, and

[30:59] focus on traffic. And you bring them a finished service or a finished product, and they do what they really love, and you do this entrepreneurial business part. If we summarize everything we've

[31:11] covered today, it becomes clear that in 2026, you can start a business from scratch, without investment, without an audience. And the service business remains the fastest and most reliable way

[31:23] for newcomers to get started online. If you'd like me to help you navigate this path faster, more clearly, and with support, please submit a request to the YouTube Academy using the link in the whether the program is suitable for you and help you choose the best format. Well, if

[31:36] and start applying them today. Thanks for being with me and today. Thanks for being with me and see you in the next video. M.