18 Business Growth Service Success Stories [2024]
A business growth service helps companies scale efficiently and strategically. Essentially, it involves providing expertise and tailored support to businesses aiming to expand their market presence, streamline operations, and boost revenue. You assist clients by analyzing their current performance, crafting growth strategies, and implementing marketing, sales, and operational improvements.
Considering the increasing complexities of today’s business environment, firms are eager to invest in specialized growth services. Whether it’s through enhancing digital marketing efforts, optimizing customer acquisition, or refining business models, your role is to guide businesses through transformative change. This venture is compelling for those with a knack for strategic thinking and a passion for helping companies succeed. If you possess the expertise and ambition, starting a business growth service could be a fulfilling and lucrative endeavor.
In this list, you'll find real-world business growth service success stories and very profitable examples of starting a business growth service that makes money.
1. Dezan Shira & Associates ($18M/year)
Chris Devonshire-Ellis started Dezan Shira & Associates in Hong Kong in 1992 with very little capital. Despite warnings not to go to China, he saw its potential and moved there to explore business opportunities. Through hard work, strategic networking, and innovative marketing techniques such as distributing pamphlets and utilizing the internet, the business grew to become one of the most influential consulting practices in Asia with 28 offices across the region and a turnover of approximately $20 million per annum.
How much money it makes: $18M/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
How many people on the team: 300
Asian-focused consulting firm Dezan Shira & Associates, founded in Hong Kong in 1992, has expanded to include 28 offices and a client base of several thousand companies with US$20 million in annual turnover, handling about US$8 billion in foreign investment into Asia, by determined hard work and creativity in marketing, billing structure and hiring equity-dependent staff.
2. Assuras ($5.2M/year)
Tyler King, the serial entrepreneur and CEO of Assuras, came up with the idea for his consulting firm through his previous ventures in technology and executive coaching. He combined his learnings from engaging with leaders in his prior venture and his education from leading institutions to form Assuras, a global management consulting firm that takes on complex challenges and provides impactful solutions for its clients. With a focus on cross-functional teams and innovative approaches, Assuras has tripled its market share within its first two years.
How much money it makes: $5.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $1.2M
How many people on the team: 27
Assuras, a global management consulting firm that focuses on solving impactful challenges for growth-stage companies with 500-2000 employees, successfully tripled their market share in their initial two years from inception by building cross-functional, diverse teams that provide alternative ways of looking at problems and offering risk-free consulting and action plans with clients who commit to implementing their recommendations.
3. COO Alliance ($2.5M/year)
Cameron grew up in an entrepreneurial family and learned early on to embrace business. His passion for entrepreneurship, coupled with his personal challenges like severe ADD, led him to carve his path by building companies rather than fitting into conventional educational molds. As COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, he experienced firsthand how crucial the COO role is for a company's success and execution of the CEO's vision.
I launched the COO Alliance because I recognized the critical role that the chief operating officer (COO) position plays for the chief executive officer (CEO). A COO will produce a powerful and positive impact on your business. [Cameron Herold]
After leaving 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and receiving feedback from others needing similar operational leadership, Cameron recognized a gap in support networks for COOs. He observed that while CEOs had various peer groups, COOs lacked a dedicated space to collaborate and grow. To validate his idea, he spoke with many industry professionals and saw a consistent need for such a platform.
From these experiences and initial validations, Cameron conceptualized the COO Alliance. Since its inception, he has refined the idea through member feedback and ongoing observations in the business environment. This purposeful approach allowed him to create a valuable resource tailored specifically for second-in-command leaders.
How much money it makes: $2.5M/year
4. STRYDE ($2.16M/year)
Founder Greg Shuey got his start in affiliate marketing and became interested in search engine optimization (SEO) after seeing affiliates boost their website traffic and revenue. After working at multiple agencies, he decided to start Stryde to offer custom digital marketing strategies, focusing on SEO, paid search, paid social, email marketing, and conversion rate optimization. Stryde has been in business for almost 9 years and has generated over $2 million in revenue.
How much money it makes: $2.16M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 13
Stryde is a women-owned eCommerce digital marketing agency that has been in business for almost 9 years, focusing on creating custom digital marketing strategies that generated just over $2 million in revenue, with a growth strategy of bringing on the right clients and specializing early.
5. Spencer Patterson ($1.68M/year)
Spencer Patterson, an ex-financial broker turned product developer, launched a paywall platform in 2019 initially to streamline his own content operations. Seeing its potential as an alternative to Patreon, he monetized the bootstrapped SaaS to $125,000 - $142,000 MRR, ultimately selling it for $3.5M on Flippa.
How much money it makes: $1.68M/year
How much did it cost to start: $6K
How many people on the team: 1
This case study is about a founder who launched a paywall platform for content creators in 2019, bootstrapping it from $0 and eventually selling it for $3.5M on Flippa, with the platform generating between $125,000 - $142,000 in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) on 95% margins.
6. Hubbub Labs ($720K/year)
George Chilton, the co-founder and Creative Director of Hubbub Labs, had a background in teaching and editing. He realized that startups and companies struggle with communications and decided to start a content marketing agency to help them express their ideas and brand clearly. With a mission to provide value through journalistic-quality content, Hubbub Labs has grown to a 10+ person team and is profitable, experiencing a 40% year-on-year growth rate.
How much money it makes: $720K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 8
Find out how a creative content marketing agency grew from a team of two with only €500 in the bank, to a 10+ person team generating €720k a year, by prioritizing a niche market, providing excellent service, word of mouth, and consistent quality work.
7. 10k Customers ($720K/year)
After walking away from her previous company, Lucy wanted the capital to fund another venture, which led to freelancing, and then consulting her skills that she had learned in the past. From there on, Lucy had begun building her program.
How much money it makes: $720K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 0
10k Customers CEO Lucy Bloomfield shares her process of building profitable, leveraged product companies and turning their focus to helping non-product-based companies build self-liquidating front-ends, resulting in $1 million in revenue through phone sales and 17.5% net profit in the previous year.
8. Stackmatix ($720K/year)
Matt Pru and his business partner James Critelli founded Stackmatix in 2018 after working together at MightyHive, a successful marketing services company that was acquired for $150 million. They wanted to provide a more holistic and consultative approach to marketing services, starting from the ground up with businesses to avoid scaling challenges later on. Today, Stackmatix has grown to over $20K in monthly recurring revenue and is aiming for $50K in the next 6 to 12 months.
How much money it makes: $720K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 4
Stackmatix achieved $20k MRR in under two years by providing integrated digital marketing solutions for businesses, from start-ups to Enterprises, with a holistic, consultative approach, and currently they're pacing towards their goal of $50k MRR in another six to twelve months.
9. Instoo ($360K/year)
Rohan Arun, the Founder of Instoo, came up with the idea for his social automation service after writing a viral article in 2017 about building Instagram bot farms. The article gained a lot of traction and ranked #1 on Google, giving him insight into the automation market. Inspired by this, he launched Instoo to automate business growth on social platforms, which now has thousands of global active users and generates an average monthly revenue of $30,000.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 3
Instoo Founder Rohan Arun raised $3.9 million through his previous startups before launching Instoo, which now has thousands of global active users and generates $30,000 in average monthly revenue through its social automation service.
10. MagicSpace SEO ($240K/year)
Ilias Ism and his co-founder Sasha launched MagicSpace SEO, leveraging their skills as ex-SaaS founders to help startups save on ballooning ad budgets. In just six months, they grew to $20K MRR, showing the power of targeted SEO and growth marketing.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0
MagicSpace SEO, an SEO agency founded by Ilias Ism and Sasha, has grown to $20K MRR in just 6 months, primarily through affiliate partnerships and growth partnerships, while focusing on pay-per-lead models or revenue-share agreements, rather than charging for time or using poor-quality spammy backlinks.
11. Juicy Pickles ($240K/year)
Giulia Cian Seren, founder of Juicy Pickles, started her business after moving from Europe to Southeast Asia and seeing the favorable business climate in Singapore. With a passion for technology and a desire to help small businesses succeed, Giulia offers digital marketing consulting and coaching through her flagship coaching membership, The Pickling Club. Her dedication to her clients and focus on long-term relationships has helped her grow her business to an average monthly revenue of $20,000.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 1
Giulia Cian Seren, founder of Juicy Pickles, offers digital marketing consulting, training, and coaching to small businesses and has grown her monthly revenue to an average of $20,000 by focusing on long-term relationships over short-term gains and helping small, traditional businesses transition into the digital world.
12. Catalyst Growth Advisors ($240K/year)
Bill Flynn, a serial entrepreneur and former VP and GM of a division of a $100MM IT services company, came up with the idea for his business coaching venture after successfully leading a turnaround during the 2008 financial crisis. He realized his passion for teaching and guiding others to achieve growth and impact, leading him to start Catalyst Growth Advisors. With his revenue doubling every year and a book published, Flynn has positioned himself as an expert in helping business owners predict and plan for the future.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 1
Bill Flynn's coaching business, Catalyst Growth Advisors, has doubled its revenue every year since starting (until COVID), with Flynn earning $250k last year and set to reach a seven-figure practice within three years through his focus on being exceptional and providing like-minded, thoughtful content.
13. Blue Surge Marketing Agency ($168K/year)
Godson Michel founded Blue Surge Marketing Agency after running a successful sneaker marketplace business, KickBackz. When the sneaker market shifted, he recognized his marketing skills were in high demand and decided to start his own agency. With a strong brand name, a clean logo, and a well-designed website, Blue Surge has become one of the most sought-after multicultural marketing agencies in the US.
How much money it makes: $168K/year
How much did it cost to start: $150
How many people on the team: 3
Blue Surge Marketing Agency is a successful Black-owned marketing and website design firm specializing in e-commerce brands and nonprofit organizations and has been voted as a Top 20 Web Design Agency two years ago with over $1M in revenue and an average rating of five stars.
14. GrowthMentor ($120K/year)
Fotis Panagiotakopoulos came up with the idea for GrowthMentor after realizing that hiring freelancers for mini-consultations on Skype calls was a more efficient and productive way to learn and get feedback. He saw the potential to create a platform where marketers and founders could easily book mentorship sessions with experienced growth practitioners, and thus, GrowthMentor was born.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How many people on the team: 1
GrowthMentor, a platform connecting vetted growth mentors for one-on-one calls, founded by Fotis Panagiotakopoulos, has had over 2,500 mentorship calls booked to date and has seen success in using word of mouth, content marketing, and leveraging other people's networks as the primary drivers of customer acquisition.
15. 7 Eagles ($120K/year)
Ashkar Gomez, Founder & CEO of 7 Eagles, came up with the idea for his growth marketing agency after realizing that there was a lack of holistic SEO services in the market. He noticed that many agencies focused more on ads and social media marketing, while SEO took a backseat. With a passion for SEO and a desire to help brands reach their marketing goals, Gomez started 7 Eagles as a side hustle, offering SEO and WordPress services initially. As the agency grew, it expanded its services to include content writing, social media, emails, and website development, with a focus on delivering outstanding SEO results for clients. Now, with a team of 25 marketing experts and a revenue of $100,000 in 2022, 7 Eagles has plans to launch offices in global locations by 2023 and aims to become a leading growth marketing agency.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 10
7 Eagles is a growth marketing agency that offers low-priced holistic SEO services with a team of professionals who have helped over 100 brands in 10+ countries, and has earned $100,000 in revenue as of the 2022 annual calendar with plans to expand its offices to global locations by 2023.
16. Gabriel Neuman ($72K/year)
Gabriel Neuman, a successful WordPress developer, realized the need for individuals and enterprises to create and monetize their personal brands. He decided to productize his expertise and create a Personal Brand OS, aiming to double his monthly recurring revenue and grow his consulting and affiliate income. With his innovative approach, Gabriel plans to attract more customers by providing value-added services and content.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 3
Gabriel Neuman founded a Personal Brand Marketing Agency in 2020, earning around $15k per month at present, with plans to double the MRR in 2021 through the creation of his new product “Personal Brand OS,” having validated his idea by creating small examples for 3 actual customers.
17. Let's Reach Success ($60K/year)
Lidiya started her blog as a hobby in 2013, combining her passion for personal development and writing. Over the years, she gained traffic, learned about SEO and monetization, and turned her blog into a 5-figure online business. Inspired by other bloggers, she created her signature course, "Financial Freedom Through Blogging," to help others achieve the same success.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 0
How a full-time blogger created a 5-figure online business from a hobby, and now helps people start a side hustle and earn passive income with a signature program that teaches how to start and grow a blog, reach 100K page views and $5,000/month, and live life on their own terms.
18. Content Spotlight ($12K/year)
Somnath, the founder of Content Spotlight, started the business after mastering SEO techniques through his travel blog. Seeing the potential in the digital space, he decided to become an SEO consultant and launch his own venture. With their clear goals, focus on organic traffic, and a high client satisfaction rate, Content Spotlight is expanding and looking to hire new team members.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How many people on the team: 2
Content Spotlight, a Kolkata-based SEO company, averaging $1k per month and counting, discusses their innovative strategies for attracting and retaining customers and their plans for future growth.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
