Justin Welsh's Journey to His First $10K Month as a Solo Entrepreneur

How Justin Welsh Turned Burnout into Opportunity

After 10 years in high-growth startups, Welsh found himself suffering from burnout, overwork, and a sense of loss of control. Despite the lucrative salary, the relentless demands of corporate life pushed him to his breaking point. In December 2018, a panic attack forced him to take a hard look at his life, realize he needed to make a change, and find a healthier way to work. This experience pushed him to step away from the corporate ladder and take a chance on something different: building his own one-person business.

Step 1: Building a Business on His Own Terms 💼

For Welsh, the goal was to create a life-first business that wouldn't compromise his mental or physical health. This meant prioritizing flexibility and control over traditional markers of business success like team size or revenue growth rate.

“I wanted to build something that supported my life—not the other way around,” he shares. This meant establishing boundaries, finding a routine that worked, and creating a system to keep burnout at bay.

Takeaway: Determine the ideal business structure for your goals and lifestyle. Consider whether you want to work independently as a solopreneur or collaborate with others in a team-based environment.

Step 2: Identifying His Niche 💡

Welsh's formula for getting started was simple but powerful. He combined his professional skills, passion for helping others, and past experiences to identify his niche. His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs:

1. Identify transferable skills from previous roles.

2. Pinpoint topics you're passionate about and can talk about endlessly.

3. Leverage what people often ask you for help with—this shows where others see your expertise.

4. Reflect on challenges you've overcome personally and look to help others solve the same issues.

This four-part framework allowed Welsh to zero in on the skills and experiences he could bring to the online space, eventually landing him in the fields of content creation, solopreneurship, and social media strategy.

Takeaway: To identify your niche, combine your transferable skills, passions, and areas of expertise.

Step 3: Showing Up Consistently 📅

Justin started building his online presence on LinkedIn and X (Twitter) by talking about the challenges and lessons from his own career, offering insights he wished he had known. He didn’t focus on being perfect; he focused on showing up consistently. By posting regularly, he learned quickly what worked and what didn’t. Initially, his goal was to attract consulting clients. However, as his following grew, people became curious about his LinkedIn strategy. This shift in audience interest led him to develop a product focused on LinkedIn growth.

This iterative approach allowed him to refine his message, engage an audience, and build authority in his niche.

Takeaway: Consistent, authentic sharing is key to building an online presence. By regularly engaging with your audience, you can identify opportunities and adapt your content to their needs.

Step 4: Launching His First Digital Product 💻

To make a scalable income, Welsh created digital products on Gumroad, starting with online courses and guides. He also posted a newsletter to share his "build in public" journey of creating digital products. These products packaged his knowledge in a way that was both accessible and valuable to his audience, allowing him to reach many people without additional workload. This move, combined with his dedication to building a loyal audience, allowed him to reach that $10K milestone in digital product revenue.

In the last five years, Justin Welsh has generated over $7 million in revenue with a 90% profit margin, thanks to his digital products and consulting services.

Takeaway: Creating digital products like online courses and guides can be a highly effective way to generate passive income.

Wrapping It Up: The Power of Consistency 📈

That's a wrap on this week's newsletter! We hope you found these insights from Justin Welsh's journey inspiring and actionable. And remember: Stay consistent, be patient, and always keep learning.

Have any questions or feedback? Just reply to this email!

Until next time, keep building! 🚀