6 Online Courses Business Success Stories [2023]

Updated: April 14th, 2023
Start An Online Courses Business

Here are some real life success stories of starting a online courses business:

1. Afford Anything ($126K/year)

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Paula Pant (from New York, NY, USA) started Afford Anything over 12 years ago.

Revenue
$10.5K / month
Team
2 founders / 14 employees

Case Study
  • Paula quit her job in 2008 and went backpacking around Asia and Australia for the next two years.
  • When she returned to the US in 2010 she wanted to do something independently and chose a career as a self-employed writer which brought her a six-figure income.
  • She used this money to buy a three-unit house and put two of the units on rent.
  • Paula saved money and kept investing in real estate for the next few years.
  • Now, she lives her life, and travels the world while her real estate properties are earning money for her.

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Learn more about starting an online courses business:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start an online courses business?
-> Pros and cons of an online courses business

Need inspiration?

-> Examples of established online courses business
-> Marketing ideas for an online courses business

Other resources

4. Just Ninety ($54K/year)

Andrew Lawson (from Canberra ACT, Australia) started Just Ninety 7 months ago.

Revenue
$4.5K / month
Team
1 founders / 1 employees

Case Study

Hello, my name is Andrew Lawson! I am the founder of Just Ninety. I help professional trainers shorten the time taken to design and develop live virtual courses, by providing ready-to-go corporate training materials.

“It’s come back“ said my doctor; my cancer had come back for a third time in a year. Then I realized I needed to escape the time-for-money hamster wheel.

how-i-made-4-5k-in-30-days-with-a-business-that-sells-templates-for-course-creators

5. Oki Doki Digital Inc ($480K/year)

Marie Poulin (from Vancouver, BC, Canada) started Oki Doki Digital Inc almost 4 years ago.

Revenue
$40K / month
Team
2 founders / 2 employees

Case Study

Hey! I’m Marie Poulin, and in 2014 I teamed up with my husband Ben Borowski under the brand Oki Doki to deliver consulting, design, and digital strategy services. Previously we’d both been running our freelance operations for several years, and our skillset had such a complementary overlap that we decided to unify our services together under one company.

Today we are 4 full-time team members, and the majority of our revenue and efforts come from our signature course, Notion Mastery. This course now generates an average of about $40k/month for the company.

how-this-couple-created-an-online-course-that-generates-40k-month

6. Justin Welsh ($2.1M/year)

Justin Welsh (from Accord, NY, USA) started Justin Welsh almost 4 years ago.

Revenue
$175K / month
Team
1 founders / 0 employees

Case Study

Hi, my name is Justin Welsh and I am the founder of well…Justin Welsh. Clever name, I know.

All in all, my business did a little more than $1.7M in 2022, and I expect it to do closer to $2.5M in 2023.

how-justin-welsh-built-a-2m-solopreneur-empire

Pat Walls,  Founder of Starter Story
Want to find more ideas that make money?

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