I Ranked the Best Businesses to Start Before 2026

The video ranks 15 business models to start before 2026 based on four criteria:

• Speed to first dollar
• Ease of learning
• Long-term profitability
• Whether the business is sellable in the future

Business Rankings and Key Insights:

S Tier (No-brainer: high profits, fast cash, sustainable)

• Real Estate: Top choice; generates monthly cash flow, tax advantages, asset appreciation, and high leverage. Most wealth in the US is built on Real Estate.
• Software (not originally listed): Extremely profitable with recurring subscription revenue and high margins (~97%). AI and no-code tools make development accessible. Highly sellable business model.

A Tier (Worth it, but requires business knowledge)

• Coaching and Online Courses: Very fast to start, easy to learn, extremely profitable due to near-zero incremental costs, though less sellable long term. A valuable meta skill.
• AI Automation Agency: Fastest to first dollar, easy to learn, highly profitable currently. Risk exists as AI evolves, but developing AI skills is crucial. More valuable than coaching as a skill.
• Vending Machine Business: Moderate speed to first dollar, easy to learn, profitable with the right location, and sellable.
• Affiliate Marketing: Quick and easy to start, profitable, and evergreen, but not very sellable.

B Tier (Decent, but not for everyone)

• Paid Ads Agency: Quick to start, easy to learn, profitable, but uncertain long-term relevance due to AI-driven advertising platforms. Limited sellability unless contracts and recurring revenue are established.
• Social Media Marketing Agency (SMMA): Quick and easy to start, profitable with good margins, more defensible with organic content than paid ads, sellable if productized.
• YouTube Channel: Slow to monetize, requires unique entertaining content, but long-term valuable and sellable at scale.
• Web Design Agency: Easy to start and learn, but AI may reduce demand. Service-based, so less sellable.

C Tier (You could, but should you?)

• Drop Shipping: Slow to first dollar, hard to differentiate, moderate profitability if a winning product is found, somewhat sellable but gimmicky and unstable.
• Ghostwriting: Quick to start, harder to master, low profitability (time-for-money), not typically sellable. Genuine profession, not a scam.
• Day Trading and Stocks: Immediate potential income but high risk of loss, difficult to master, unsellable business model.
• Virtual Assistant Agency: Fast to start, low profitability, client management difficult, likely to be replaced by AI, not very sellable.
• Print on Demand: Quick and easy, low long-term profitability, not sellable.

F Tier (Scammy or not recommended)

• NFTs and Crypto Projects: Difficult to profit long-term, many scams, unregulated, not recommended.
• Network Marketing (not on list but mentioned): Often scammy with many bad actors, legal issues, generally negative reputation.
• Franchise (not on list but discussed): Seen as reselling someone else’s business model, not true business ownership, less appealing for long-term wealth creation.

Methodology for Ranking Businesses:

• How fast can you make your first dollar?
• How hard is it to learn the business?
• How profitable is it in the long run?
• Is it a business that someone would want to buy in the future?

Additional Key Points:

• Meta skills like copywriting, paid ads, and AI are valuable even if the business itself doesn’t succeed, as they compound entrepreneurial success.
• Building a business that requires your constant presence is less valuable than building an asset that can be sold or run independently.
• The presenter stresses the importance of creating businesses that generate recurring revenue and have high profit margins.

Presenter:

• The video is presented by an experienced entrepreneur who has built seven multi-million dollar companies and coaches hundreds of business owners (name not provided in the subtitles).