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- How we made 50k in 2 months (Free Finance Tracker)
How we made 50k in 2 months (Free Finance Tracker)
If You're Young, Start This New Type Of Business
Hi friends,
We're Benji and Gabriele. As college students exploring entrepreneurship, we've built 10 AI apps in the last two months and are on our path to building a $1M company. We have beeb thinking deeply about what makes a fulfilling business.
The conclusion we keep coming back to? The best business model isn't really a business model at all. It's simply a way of life.
When we first started, we weren't thinking this deeply. Like most beginners, we were focused on:
Learning whatever skills would pay well
Making enough money to have freedom
Having control over our schedule
Maybe impressing our friends and family a little (we can admit it!)
We didn't start with lofty ideas about "life's work" or "purpose." And honestly, that's normal. That's how most journeys begin.
The Blindspot We Discovered
What we didn't realize at first was that we were approaching business with the same mindset we used in school and traditional jobs. We were looking for someone to tell us exactly what to do, what niche to pick, what business model to follow.
We tried:
Freelancing (but it felt like trading hours for dollars)
Social media marketing (but managing client expectations was exhausting)
eCommerce ideas (but the upfront costs and logistics were daunting)
Before we knew it, we had built ourselves new 9-5 jobs that we controlled but didn't love. The worst part? If we stopped working those long hours, the money stopped too. We had no leverage.
A Different Approach We're Trying
What's changed for us recently is thinking about business differently:
Instead of choosing a niche, we're becoming the niche. Instead of inventing a customer avatar, we're helping our past selves. Instead of picking the "hottest" business model, we're building something that evolves as we grow.
This feels more sustainable. When you build a business around who you are and what genuinely interests you, work and life start to blend together in the best way. You get paid for being yourself and solving problems you understand.
The Path That's Working For Us
We've found that if you want to build a business around yourself, you need:
A way to get better at your craft every day
A method to share what you're learning with others
Products or services that can evolve as you do
The beautiful thing about this approach is that it doesn't require much upfront investment. You don't need to be an expert already—the business becomes the way you gain that expertise.
Building An Audience Changed Everything.
One of the most valuable things we've done is focus on building an audience around our journey. It's taught us so much about:
What resonates with people like us
How to communicate ideas clearly
Which problems are worth solving
Each time we share our work, we learn faster because explaining forces us to understand topics more deeply. And unlike paid ads where you're constantly renting attention, an audience stays with you.
Starting With Services, Moving To Products.
When your audience is small, we've found it makes sense to offer services first. With just 3-5 clients paying $1,000-3,000 per month, you can make a decent living while building your foundation.
As you grow, you can gradually shift:
Turn your service process into a digital product
Transform your expertise into courses or templates
Create software that solves problems you've encountered
Each evolution gives you more leverage and freedom.
Creating Content That Feels Natural
We used to cringe at being called "content creators" too. But we've realized that sharing what we're learning is just teaching, and teaching has always been valuable.
What works for us is the 80/20 approach:
80% focused on our main expertise
20% showing our personality and wider interests
This feels authentic rather than forced.
Simple Ways We're Getting Started
Here are a few practical things that have helped us:
Learning from others: We save examples of work we admire, analyze what makes them effective, and incorporate elements into our own style.
Understanding persuasion: We study basic marketing principles (without the sleazy tactics) because being able to communicate value clearly helps everyone.
Showing up consistently: When nobody knows who you are yet, consistency matters more than perfection. We focus on building a small body of work that demonstrates our value.
What We're Working On Now
As we continue this journey, we've created a few resources that help us stay on track:
If any of these would be helpful to you, just let us know. We're happy to share what we've learned so far, though we're still figuring things out ourselves!
Thanks for being part of our journey. We're curious to hear what you're building too.
Reply to this email to connect with us. We read all of them.
B&G