The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast - Online Business and Niche Site Ideas for Entrepreneurs Jake Lang

Today, I am excited to interview Chris Ronzio of Trainual.com. Chris talks through the process of validating, launching, and scaling Trainual, a software program that helps companies build out their “business playbook” to document and organize company processes, people, onboarding, training, and operations. Chris provides a blueprint breaking down how to start a SAAS company, talking through exactly what he did to start and grow Trainual. Trainual is now a fully-developed SAAS product with over 10,000 customers, 100 employees, operating in 183 different countries, with $33 million in funding. In this episode, Chris show's us how he got there. Chris Ronzio Case Study Chris is featured in my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Below is the case study from the book where Chris is featured. This comes directly from the book: Take Chris Ronzio for example. Chris started a video production business in high school at fourteen years old. Over the next decade, he grew this business to three separate offices, with 300 camera operators across the country, and netted over $3 million in revenue before selling the business in 2013. This was just the start of Chris’s entrepreneurial journey. Chris took his expertise in managing a business and founded Organize Chaos, a consulting agency focused on business efficiency. Chris worked with small and mid-sized businesses, helping the leadership team scale through the process of organizing and mapping company workflows, procedures, responsibilities, and roles. In his consulting practice, Chris noticed a trend. These small businesses did not have a tool or process in place for organizing company operations, and it was hindering the company's ability to grow. So, Chris created and launched Trainual in 2015, a software program that helps companies build out their “business playbook” to document and organize company processes, people, onboarding, training, and operations. With this tool, the owner of the business can essentially hand off their “playbook” as a manual to operate the business. Chris understood the pain point and created the solution. Now, Trainual is a fully-developed SAAS product with over 10,000 customers, 100 employees, operating in 183 different countries, with $33 million in funding. This is what you can do. This is your start, your first stepping stone. You can see, Chris took one step after another. Starting back in high school with a video production business. One business stepping stone after another, learning more and more with each step until he founded Trainual. This Interview This interview is part of a series of case studies that I will be publishing to The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast over the coming weeks as I interview successful entrepreneurs in the online business space. These interviews and case studies will be featured in my newest book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Resources Mentioned Resources mentioned in this podcast episode:Use Your Job to Quit Your Job (the book)Trainual.comChrisronzio.comChris's book: The Business Playbook

Today, I am excited to interview Karthik Vijayakumar of designyourthinking.com. Karthik shows us how he used his expertise working in product marketing and product management to start his business. Karthik Vijayakumar Case Study  Karthik is featured in my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Below is the case study from the book where Karthik is featured. This comes directly from the book: Karthik Vijayakumar spent 15 years working in product marketing and product management for some of the largest technology companies in the world. In 2016 Karthik quit his job and started publishing content at designyourthinking.com, a blog and podcast about product design where he discusses the product mindset and which led to eBooks, speaking gigs, and cooperate trainings before he branched out into teaching podcasting and copywriting. Karthik took the brain dump question “When people ask you for help at work, what do they need help with?” and turned it into his first business. He took his expertise in managing products and turned that into a business. Now he has once again taken his expertise, this time in podcasting and copywriting, and turned that into a business helping startups and small businesses fix their messaging and make more sales. Karthik used his day job and his expertise from 15 years of mastering that job and turned it into a business. This Interview  This interview is part of a series of case studies that I will be publishing to The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast over the coming weeks as I interview successful entrepreneurs in the online business space. These interviews and case studies will be featured in my newest book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Resources Mentioned Resources mentioned in this podcast episode:Use Your Job to Quit Your Job (the book)Karthik ’s Business: designyourthinking.com.

Today, I am excited to interview Steven Foust of ncosupport.com and cutoffscores.com.  Steven shows us how he used his past job, even though he had retired from the military over twenty years ago, and built the business that has now allowed him to leave his corporate day job and pursue entrepreneurship full-time.  Steven Foust Case Study  Steven is featured in my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Below is the case study from the book where Steven is featured. This comes directly from the book: Steven Foust owns a portfolio of businesses in the military niche, including ncosupport.com and cutoffscores.com. In just two years, he has signed up more than 100 members, generating over $5,000 a month in profit. He took his experiences from serving in the military and his knowledge of its promotion points system and shows military personnel how he was able to leverage this system to be promoted quickly and climb the ranks in the US Army. He used his past job—even though he had retired from the military over 20 years earlier—to build the business that has now allowed him to leave his corporate day job and pursue entrepreneurship full time. Steven followed the blueprint and used his job to quit his job. This Interview  This interview is part of a series of case studies that I will be publishing to The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast over the coming weeks as I interview successful entrepreneurs in the online business space. These interviews and case studies will be featured in my newest book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Resources Mentioned Resources mentioned in this podcast episode: ·         Use Your Job to Quit Your Job (the book) ·         Steven’s Business: ncosupport.com. ·         Steven’s Business: cutoffscores.com.

Today, I am excited to interview Rose Griffin of abaspeech.org.  Rose shows us how she used her expertise as a speech-language pathologist and turned it into a full-time business dedicated to helping, teaching, and training speech language pathologists. Rose Griffin Case Study  Rose is featured in my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Below is the case study from the book where Rose is featured. This comes directly from the book: This is how Rose Griffin built her business and quit her job. Rose is a speech language pathologist and board-certified behavior analyst. She worked in a public school system for 20 years, specializing in helping autistic learners find their voice and a way to communicate with the world. Rose started the business ABA Speech, an online business dedicated to helping, teaching, and training speech language pathologists. She started by selling a physical product called Action Builder Cards, a set of 100 flashcards for autistic learners and those with language delays. The cards are used by speech language pathologists to work with learners and help students generalize their language skills. Rose worked with a designer to produce her flashcards, which she sells through Amazon and other retail distributors in her niche. These flashcards are sold directly to school districts and speech language pathologists. She has since grown the product offerings at ABA Speech to include digital products that help parents and therapists work more effectively with students with autism, along with a suite of online courses for speech language pathologists to earn continuing education credits. Rose successfully took what she had learned in her career as a speech language pathologist and turned it into a full-time business with physical and digital products teaching speech language pathologists. This Interview  This interview is part of a series of case studies that I will be publishing to The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast over the coming weeks as I interview successful entrepreneurs in the online business space. These interviews and case studies will be featured in my newest book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Resources Mentioned Resources mentioned in this podcast episode: ·         Use Your Job to Quit Your Job (the book) ·         Rose’s Business: abaspeech.org.

Today, I am excited to interview Allison Strickland of ATStudybuddy.com. Allison shows us how she used her expertise working as an athletic trainer, passing the BOC Exam, to build her business ATStudyBuddy. Allison Strickland Case Study  Allison is featured in my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Below is the case study from the book where Allison is featured. This comes directly from the book: Take Allison Strickland for example. Allison worked as an athletic trainer before switching careers to work at a company developing neurocognitive testing software. In 2020, Allison combined her years of expertise and education in athletic training, along with her knowledge of building learning management systems, and launched the business ATStudybuddy.com, a website dedicated to helping athletic training students pass the BOC Exam, the certification program for entry-level Athletic Trainers (the same one Allison had passed). Allison now sells a membership-based course with a full suite of study guides, flashcards, study games, and practice exams to help students pass the BOC exam. She licenses this product to universities and also sells directly to students. She is now branching out to develop professional-level courses, which can be used by athletic trainers for continuing education credits. You can see how Allison has successfully used her job to quit her job, taking her experience passing the BOC exam along with her experience building learning management systems, to build out her own profitable business that supports her financially as a full-time entrepreneur. This is how you can use your job to quit your job. This Interview  This interview is part of a series of case studies that I will be publishing to The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast over the coming weeks as I interview successful entrepreneurs in the online business space. These interviews and case studies will be featured in my newest book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Resources Mentioned Resources mentioned in this podcast episode:Use Your Job to Quit Your Job (the book)Allison’s Businesses: ATStudybuddy.com and Sheahawksolutions.com

Today, I am excited to interview Vickie Velasquez. Vickie shows us how she used the skills she learned working in project management to build a portfolio of successful businesses. Vickie Velasquez Case Study  Vickie is featured in my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Below is the case study from the book where Vickie is featured. This comes directly from the book: Vickie Velasquez is another great example. Vickie worked for twenty years in project management as a business analyst manager. Rather than starting a business about project management, she has started a portfolio of online businesses on various topics including  vegetarianzen.com, a website that shares resources for living a more compassionate plant-based lifestyle, cheerybirdvintage.com selling vintage products, and firsttofinal.com a copywriting agency. Vickie took the tangential skills she learned on the job including communicating, presenting, and most importantly her project management skills to build her successful businesses. She uses the project management skills she learned to bring a project from start to finish, asking important questions such as “why am I doing this project?” and “is this in line with my ultimate goals?” to keep herself and her business on track, to avoid wasting time.  These skills were necessary for Vickie to learn, in her career, to ensure her success as an entrepreneur. Now, Vickie is taking her skills and joining forces with her wife Larissa to build out a successful copywriting practice. Larissa has a background in professional copy editing and Vickie has grown into an expert copywriter. Combining Vickie’s project management and writing skills along with Larissa’s professional copy-editing background, they started the copywriting agency at firsttofinal.com. See how you can take your tangential skills, like Vickie did in project management, and build out a successful business? This Interview  This interview is part of a series of case studies that I will be publishing to The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast over the coming weeks as I interview successful entrepreneurs in the online business space. These interviews and case studies will be featured in my newest book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Resources Mentioned Resources mentioned in this podcast episode: ·         Use Your Job to Quit Your Job (the book) ·         Vickie’s Business: cheerybirdvintage.com. ·         Vickie’s Business: vegetarianzen.com. ·         Vickie’s Business: firsttofinal.com.