The Most Profitable Solo Business Anyone Can Start

Business Model and Strategy

James Oakes built a local marketing and business-systems service for small businesses, especially home-service contractors. He helps businesses improve their online presence and manage customer reviews. After starting with no clients or revenue, he had nearly 60 recurring clients about 16 months later. He reported $18,000 in revenue in his best month, with most of it being profit.

His approach is deliberately local and personal, rather than focused on mass outreach. He differentiates through direct relationships, customized help, and introductions between local businesses—not by promising guaranteed leads.

Offer and Pricing

The service combines practical digital setup with ongoing tools, including:

• Website creation or redesign
• Branding and logo files in print- and web-ready formats
• Domain-based email setup
• Facebook page and Google Business Profile optimization
• Review-request systems and branded QR codes
• Business cards and other marketing materials
• Automated follow-up and review messaging

Pricing evolved as the business gained experience:

• Early projects: $300 for initial help; another early client paid $500 upfront plus $300/month.
• Standard package: approximately $999 setup plus $350/month.
• More recent clients: $2,000 setup, sometimes split between the day of sale and two weeks later, plus $349/month after 30 days.
• For some new businesses with limited budgets, James offers a smaller entry point—for example, a simple website at $30/month, later expanded to a larger service.

He adjusts the scope to a client’s budget when appropriate, but describes the core value as improving online presence and credibility—not guaranteeing a specific number of leads.

Customer Acquisition Playbook: “Cool Calling”

• Find prospects where they are actively seeking help. James gets about 90% of his call prospects from local Facebook groups: homeowners asking for contractor recommendations, contractors seeking subcontractors, and new businesses promoting their services.
• Prioritize relevance over volume. He gathers names and numbers from posts and tracks them in a spreadsheet rather than scraping large databases. He values recent posts, local connections, and evidence that the business owner is open to contact.
• Do quick research before calling. His roughly 30-second checklist includes:
  • Is there a website, and does the business own its exact-match domain?
  • Is the business using a Gmail address rather than a domain email?
  • Does its logo or branding look unfinished?
  • What do its Facebook page and Google Business Profile look like?
  • Does it have a local phone number?
• Open with context and build trust. A typical opener is: “I saw your post in the Facebook group, and I live nearby.” He asks about the business, its services, or how it got started before explaining what he does.
• Make the transition to a sales conversation gently. James calls the risk of being mistaken for a prospective customer the “tuna M&M” problem: the prospect expects one thing and then feels surprised when the caller is selling. His advice is to establish goodwill first, then ask permission to explain his work.
• Offer something useful, even if the prospect is not ready to buy. Examples include pointing out an available business domain, sharing a website issue, or connecting a contractor with a potential customer or subcontractor.
• Follow up. Prospects who are busy or not ready remain on his list. Some convert months later, particularly when they recognize his name on caller ID or have already received help.
• Build referrals through local networking. James has introduced contractors and other businesses to one another, sometimes without asking for anything in return. He says this can build trust and lead to later sales.

Sales and Positioning

The ideal prospect is generally an established business—roughly three to seven years old—that has revenue and a reputation but lacks effective online systems, a good website, or a consistent review process. Newer businesses can also become customers, but often need a lower-priced starting offer.

James avoids guaranteeing lead volume. He positions the service as a way to improve online presence so prospective customers are more likely to trust the business. His pitch includes a broad set of small improvements that owners may postpone or not know how to do themselves. He wants each client’s business to look professional enough that he is proud to represent it.

He recommends that someone starting out help their first two or three customers—for example, friends or neighbors—to gain experience and proof of work before selling a more established package.

Operations and Service Delivery

James initially did much of the website work himself, sometimes spending seven hours customizing a template. He says he would hire an effective assistant sooner.

He now uses a virtual assistant for website, SEO, and technical work. He is also training additional support for customer service and onboarding so he can reduce his role in execution.

• A virtual assistant in the Philippines costs about $800–$1,000/month.
• A graphic designer found through Upwork creates a complete set of logo files for about $50 per client.
• Software costs were roughly $300/month at the time of the interview. He started on a $297/month plan and later moved to a $497/month plan for agency features. He also mentioned smaller tools such as Loom.
• Reported profit margin: about 85–90%, though he noted that he was investing in additional tools and support.

Personal attention is central to his retention and sales approach, but it may limit scale. He is working toward delegating onboarding and customer service while preserving the personal feel.

Metrics and Targets

• Time in business: Nearly 16 months
• Current customers: Approaching 60 paying clients; about 90% are in the Phoenix area, with some in Tucson and nearby areas
• Client losses: About five or six in total; James said those losses were generally associated with businesses closing. He estimated churn at around 10% annually, but emphasized that the business is still young.
• Average recurring fee: About $349/month at current pricing
• Cold-call sourcing: Around 90% of prospects come from local Facebook groups
• Call volume: Typically about five businesses in an afternoon, rather than hundreds of dials. Conversations can last 5–30 minutes; a typical answered call is about 10–15 minutes.
• Answer rate: Roughly 50% on average, with substantial variation by day
• Sales conversion: James estimated that about 8% of the people he speaks with become clients—roughly 4% of all businesses called, using a conservative estimate. These figures are approximate; he had not tracked every call consistently.
• Growth: He had around five to seven clients in the first three months, about 17 after six months, and later began averaging roughly one new client per week. He said recurring monthly revenue approached $15,000 in the last six to eight months discussed.
• Goal: Reach at least 100 clients and build systems that allow the business to scale

Examples and Evidence of Value

• First client, a landscaper: James helped with business registration and basic branding for an initial $300. He later worked on the client’s website, business cards, QR codes, and reviews. The client now pays $200/month. Neighborhood Facebook posts helped generate around 15 local customers for the landscaper.
• Second client, an event-letter business: James rebuilt its website and set up review automation. The business gained roughly 15–30 Google reviews and began receiving organic leads. The initial arrangement was about $500 upfront plus $300/month.
• Referral through networking: After connecting an HVAC business with a contractor, James received about $500 as a thank-you. In another example, he referred work to a contractor who was not yet ready to hire him; the contractor later returned as a client.
• Review reactivation: For a pest-control business with a list of about 500 past and current customers but no Google reviews, James set up a review process that generated more than 80 five-star reviews. He said leads then began coming in gradually.
• Review workflow: Customers receive an initial review request, two reminders if they do not respond, and further follow-up messages at approximately three and six months.

Economics: Illustrative Projection, Not an Actual Result

The host modeled what might happen if someone made 25 calls per day and converted 4% of all businesses called: approximately one new customer per day. Over 84 working days—three months at 28 working days per month—that would mean 84 clients. At $349/month, those clients would represent about $29,000 in monthly recurring revenue, plus approximately $170,000 in setup fees if each paid $2,000 upfront.

This was a hypothetical calculation, not James’s reported performance. It assumes consistent call volume, conversion, pricing, and fulfillment capacity. James cautioned that growth is not linear and said he prefers a few researched, high-quality local calls to large volumes of random calls.

The host also estimated customer lifetime value at roughly $40,000, based on a $349 monthly fee and an assumed 10% annual churn rate. This is an extrapolation, not a validated LTV figure: the business had operated for only about 16 months, and the churn assumption may not hold over a longer period.

Presenters and Sources

• Chris Koerner — host and interviewer of The Koerner Office Podcast
• James Oakes — guest; describes his business and “cool calling” approach on his YouTube channel, Cool Calling