Online Course Sales Business

5 Online Course Sales Business Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: October 7th, 2024

Do you know you can make money selling what you are passionate about? People are making money creating courses and selling them online. Common online courses include music, cooking, coding, web design, dropshipping, etc.

Thus, you can turn it into a passive income by launching online classes if you have a skill. All you need is to choose a target audience, create the online course and choose an online learning platform where you can sell the course.

The e-learning market is expected to be worth over $645 Billion in the next few years.

In this list, you'll find real-world online course sales business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a online course sales business that makes money.

1. Custom Creatives ($3.6M/year)

Rahul Alim, the founder of Custom Creatives, initially started his career in sales, but after leaving Realtor.com, he started his own company offering marketing services to real estate agents. However, it wasn't until a client requested a banner ad that he pivoted to focus on digital marketing, and CustomCreatives.com was born. Since then, the agency has grown to serve a wide range of industries, and their emphasis on providing value and superior service has helped them retain clients for over a decade and achieve consistent seven-figure revenue.

How much money it makes: $3.6M/year
How many people on the team: 10

How I Started A $100K/Month Digital Marketing Agency

Digital marketing agency founder Rahul Alim shares how he grew his business to consistently generate over 7-figures in revenue year-over-year and retain clients for many years through affordable digital marketing strategies that employ the CAP method (Customer Acquisition Program).

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Read by 10,686 founders

2. Taro ($600K/year)

Rahul Pandey came up with the idea for Taro through a combination of his personal experience and feedback from the community he built. Initially, he created a YouTube channel to share career growth advice based on his experiences moving up the ranks in tech companies like Facebook and Pinterest. As his channel grew to 100,000 subscribers, he noticed a significant demand for this type of content, revealing a gap in resources for helping software engineers navigate their careers.

This realization was further validated through seminars he hosted with his co-founder, attracting thousands of engineers and confirming the need for more focused career development resources. Before fully committing to Taro, they refined their concept through the Tech Career Growth community, adjusting their content based on user feedback and the specific concerns raised during events. Despite the challenges of narrowing down a broad idea into a coherent product, Pandey's commitment to addressing a well-defined problem eventually led to Taro’s focused mission of providing insider career growth advice for software engineers.

How much money it makes: $600K/year
How many people on the team: 3

How 2 Ex-FAANG Engineers Built Taro to $50K MRR in 2 Years

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3. Piano In 21 Days ($360K/year)

Jacques Hopkins, creator of Piano In 21 Days, came up with the idea for his online piano course after realizing he could turn his piano hobby into a business. Inspired by books like The 4-Hour Workweek, he decided to create a course that would help adults learn to play piano quickly and conveniently. With the power of YouTube, a strong sales funnel, and a focus on student success, Piano In 21 Days has become a profitable business that allows Jacques to work on his own terms.

How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 1

I Created A $480K/Year Online Piano Lessons Business With $100

Piano In 21 Days built a low pressure and flexible online piano course, bringing in 5 figures every month while allowing the founder to spend time on other interests and family while its profitable business runs itself.

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Read by 6,161 founders

4. Cinquanta Cox-Smith ($120K/year)

Cinquanta Cox-Smith, a Multipreneur from South Carolina, stumbled upon the Print On Demand industry 12 years ago when she wanted to create a unique shirt and discovered Spreadshirt.com. Through her creativity and networking skills, she found success in designing and selling catchy, conversation-starting shirts. This eventually led her to create multiple POD brands on various platforms, generating an impressive $120k per year in revenue.

How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 1

I Make $120K/Year With My Print On Demand T-Shirt Side Hustle

A multipreneur shares how she built a successful print on demand side hustle, generating $120,000 per year through multiple brands spread over various platforms.

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Read by 12,070 founders

5. bestcourses ($1.2K/year)

Janosch came up with the idea for bestcourses while searching for online courses to enhance his web development skills. He wanted to create a platform that made it easier to find and compare courses from different platforms. The idea was inspired by similar platforms in other niches, and by leveraging his experience in creating and selling online courses, Janosch saw an opportunity to make online education more accessible and transparent.

How much money it makes: $1.2K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0

How We Grew Our Online Course Search Platform To 600K Monthly Impressions

Bestcourses.io is an online course comparison platform that aggregates courses from major online learning platforms and enables users to easily find deals, with an impressive 500k+ monthly impressions and making $100/month from affiliate commissions.

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Read by 2,624 founders