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

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.com
• Chrisronzio.com
• Chris'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 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.

Today, I am excited to interview Kevin Namaky of gurulocity.com.

Kevin shows us how he used his expertise in brand management to create a business selling trainings and workshops.

Kevin Namaky Case Study 

Kevin is featured in my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Below is the case study from the book where Kevin is featured. This comes directly from the book:

This is what Kevin Namaky does. This is how he used his job to quit his job. Kevin worked for twenty years in marketing and brand management before starting his business at gurulocity.com. Kevin now works full-time hosting training workshops for corporate clients where he teaches brand management. In these trainings, Kevin and his team focus on one particular subject or skill related to brand management, depending on the needs of the client, such as “how to write a great creative brief”. In his live training, he works directly with the client’s creative team to provide constructive feedback on the company’s marketing and branding campaigns. Kevin simply took his job, and his expertise from twenty years in brand management, and turned it into a training workshop that he sells B2B.

This can be your business model. You can use your job and the skills you learn on the job to create a business selling trainings and workshops. The best part is, your professional network is your client list. Like Kevin, you can reach out to your connections on LinkedIn, tell them about your career change (not selling or being pushy) and let the clients and referrals flow in.

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)

·         Kevin’s Business: gurulocity.com

Today, I am excited to interview David Shriner-Cahn of smashingtheplateau.com.

David shows us how he used his expertise working as a finance executive in the non-profit sector to start his consulting business. David now teaches consultants how to create their own businesses in his membership community at Smashing The Plateau.

David Shriner-Cahn Case Study 

David is featured in my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job. Below is the case study from the book where David is featured. This comes directly from the book:

This is what David Shriner-Cahn did. David worked as an executive in the non-profit sector for over twenty years. When he was laid off from his job, he decided it was time to pursue his dream of entrepreneurship. Naturally, having enjoyed working in the nonprofit space in his previous career, he chose to start his business as a consultant in nonprofit management. Using his expertise, having managed nonprofits for over 20 years, and leveraging his connections, David was able to quickly book his first consulting clients. All he had to do was tell his connections that he started a consulting practice, this led to referrals, which immediately led to clients. Soon after, David used his expertise in business management and expanded into consulting private for-profit businesses. Years later, after building a profitable consulting practice that supported David’s life as a full-time entrepreneur, he started a new business at smashingtheplateau.com where he helps consultants, coaches, and professional service business owners learn how to be more successful entrepreneurs. You can see how David used his expertise in nonprofit management to start his consulting practice, which led to an expanded consulting practice, which then led to his business teaching consultants at Smashing the Plateau. Consulting is a viable and easy option for your first business. Take what you know, from your experience working in the industry and sell it. Start with consulting, use it as a stepping stone into entrepreneurship, then build your next business just like David did.

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)

·         David’s Business: smashingtheplateau.com

Today, I am excited to interview Chris Nelson of bondinvestmentmentor.com

Chris shows us how he used his expertise working as a Chief Investment Officer in the banking industry to start his online business where he now offers coaching, advising, and courses to banking executives.

Chris Nelson 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 Nelson for example. Chris was working as a Chief Investment Officer in the banking industry. He had worked in this position for over twenty years. In his time working as an executive in banking, Chris was contacted by someone in the industry and asked to present at a school providing executive training for bankers. His employer allowed it, at the time, and it probably looked good for the employer to have a representative of the bank networking and teaching other bankers. This presentation sparked Chris’s entrepreneurial spirit. He fell in love with speaking, presenting, and teaching. He started teaching at this school a few times per year. Years later, Chris leveraged this connection to build his business. Chris perfected his presentations and teachings, and partnered with this school to turn his presentation into an online course. Chris now offers coaching, advising, and courses to banking executives at bondinvestmentmentor.com. Chris quit his job in 2020. He successfully used his job, and his relationship with the banking school, 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)
• Chris’ Business: bondinvestmentmentor.com 

Want to start an online business but don't know where to start?

Want to build and scale a business that will help you achieve your dream of financial freedom and live the entrepreneurial lifestyle full time?

Use your 9-5 day job to build your online business and become financially free so that you can live the entrepreneurial lifestyle full time. It's time to use your job to quit your job.

That's what today's episode is all about. Take the expertise accumulated over years of working 40 hours per week. Take that expertise and turn it into a business that generates recurring revenue for you for the rest of your life. (just like I did).

I'm going to show you how in today's episode of The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast.

The Day Job Niche
The day job is one of my absolute favorite places to find business ideas. You are an expert at whatever you do in your day job. You are literally a professional; you are paid to do what you do every day, forty hours a week, fifty-two weeks a year. That is the definition of expertise. You spend over 2,000 hours per year focused on one particular task in one specific industry. You have an immense amount of knowledge on this subject, knowledge that other people will pay to access. If you look, you will find a topic you have mastered in your day job that you can turn into your first business. I don’t care whether you are a barista at Starbucks, the retail manager of a Dicks sporting goods, a financial analyst at KPMG, an attorney for Samsung, or the CEO of Google. That job, where you spend over 40 hours per week, every single week is a breeding ground for business ideas. 

If you want to start a side gig or build a business to support yourself financially so you can live life as you please (and not work), look to that monstrous time suck where you spend 40 hours per week. Use it to lose it. Use your job to build a business so you can quit your job and reap the financial rewards. 

So why should your day job be your first business? Well, there are three simple reasons.

• It’s easy
• It’s the quickest path to success
• It’s profitable

I'm going to show you why I love the day job niche, and show you how to utilize this niche to start your first online business, in today's episode of The Entrepreneur Ride Along Podcast.

Get The Book
Join the pre-sale team today, be part of the first group to read my newest book and learn how to use your 9-5 job to create and scale an online business. Pick up your copy of my new book Use Your Job to Quit Your Job today!

Links mentioned:

• https://theentrepreneurridealong.com/job
• https://theentrepreneurridealong.com/membership/
• https://steponebook.com/
• https://theentrepreneurridealong.com/day-job-niche/