21 Startup Consulting Business Success Stories [2024]
In a world where entrepreneurial spirit is soaring, startup consulting can be the gateway to turning dreams into reality. At its core, a startup consulting business assists other budding entrepreneurs to navigate the rough waves of launching their own ventures.
As a startup consultant, you'll amass a wealth of strategic ideas, digest complex data, offer sound advice, and form step-by-step action plans that will encourage potential business owners to take their ambitious concepts off the ground. It's not only about nurturing your client's business but also honing your expertise.
This business venture requires adept judgement, a commanding understanding of business dynamics and the ability to embrace constant learning. If you're the kind of person who thrives in a challenging, ever-evolving landscape, and enjoys the satisfaction that comes with mentoring entrepreneurial enthusiasm, a startup consulting business could well be your calling. Unleash your skills in the world of startups where every day is a learning curve. You could be the catalyst for the next big idea.
In this list, you'll find real-world startup consulting business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a startup consulting business that makes money.
1. SupportNinja ($16.8M/year)
Cody started SupportNinja after facing numerous failures and obstacles in his life. He had a passion for building businesses and saw an opportunity to provide outsourcing services specifically targeted towards startups. With a focus on recruitment, training, and quality assurance, SupportNinja quickly grew to generate over $9M in annual recurring revenue and achieve a growth rate of 3,684% in the past 3 years.
How much money it makes: $16.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $400K
How many people on the team: 1021
This case study follows the founder of SupportNinja, a company that specializes in providing back-office and customer support outsourcing for tech companies, which generates over $9M ARR, has over 100 clients, and has seen a growth rate of 3,684% in the past 3 years.
2. The Smart Passive Income Blog ($1.5M/year)
Pat started the Smart Passive Income blog after being laid off from his architecture job in 2008. He created a website to help people pass the LEED exam, which unexpectedly attracted thousands of visitors daily. Encouraged by positive feedback and initial ebook sales, he launched Smart Passive Income to share his entrepreneurial journey and insights.
That first month, I made $7,008.55. That was just life-changing for me. I was so excited I wanted to share how it all happened and what I had learned, so I created SmartPassiveIncome.com that same month. — Pat Flynn (Source)
How much money it makes: $1.5M/year
Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income Blog generates $125K/month on average, with $1.5M/year in revenue since its inception in 2008, offering guidance for those seeking to transition from traditional jobs to online businesses generating passive income.
3. Minor Workshop ($1.44M/year)
Paul discovered his business idea while working at an e-commerce company in 2012, where he transformed team efficiency using Asana, leading to a validating bonus from his employer. This insight into productivity tools eventually grew into a consulting business that now generates $90,000 monthly.
How much money it makes: $1.44M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
This case study article showcases the success story of Paul, who built a profitable consulting business focused on Asana and Pipedrive, generating around $90,000 in monthly sales from consulting and subscription fees, with a margin of 80% and a customer base ranging from solo operators to big enterprise clients.
4. BrandBurp Digital ($1.2M/year)
Anshul Sharma, the founder of BrandBurp, was working at a corporate firm when he realized his true passion was entrepreneurship. He started BrandBurp in 2015 with the vision to revolutionize the functioning of websites, mobile applications, and brands. Since then, the company has grown into one of the fastest-growing digital marketing agencies, leveraging over 2,000 brands and generating over 1,000 leads and 3 billion USD ROI globally.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
How many people on the team: 175
BrandBurp, a digital marketing company founded in 2015, has leveraged over 2,000 brands to strategically market their business and boost their revenue, generating over 1,000 leads and 3 billion USD ROI globally and working with big names such as Coca-Cola and Supreme.
5. Bcombinator ($1.2M/year)
Bcombinator was co-founded by an entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience and a successful track record of creating and scaling startups. The idea for Bcombinator came from the founder's experience teaching entrepreneurship and their desire to create a comprehensive startup incubation program that combines mentoring, networking, investment, and other support services. Since its launch in 2017, Bcombinator has worked with over 100 entrepreneurs and launched approximately 25 startups.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $3K
How many people on the team: 10
Learn how Bcombinator, a startup incubator co-founded by a serial entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience, has launched around 25 startups and worked with over 100 entrepreneurs with their incubation, acceleration, mentoring, training, networking, and investment fund programs.
6. FounderBlocks ($720K/year)
Lasse, the founder of VIPERdev, came up with the idea after receiving feedback that his team was incredibly fast and innovative. They decided to focus on working with startups and helping them bring their products to market quickly, solving actual problems first before adding fancy features. Through their efficient approach, they have become a trusted accelerator program, releasing 2-5 products per month and ensuring each project is a success story.
How much money it makes: $720K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 12
VIPERdev is an accelerator program that helps founders turn their digital business ideas into products and bring them to market within 8-12 weeks, releasing an average of 2-5 products per month.
7. Byldd ($600K/year)
Ayush, the founder of Byldd, came up with the idea for his business after seeing the struggle that founders, especially non-technical ones, face when building their first product. He wanted to solve this problem by helping founders build revenue-generating minimum viable products (MVPs) that are just good enough to solve a problem and get customers to pay for it. Since starting as a side project in 2019, Byldd has grown to a team of 35 people and is now making over $50K MRR.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 35
Byldd is a startup that democratizes software entrepreneurship by making it easier and less capital-intensive for non-technical founders to start software businesses, building very focused revenue-generating MVPs for bootstrapping founders, growing from a side project to a team of 35 people and making over $50K MRR.
8. Trust Insights ($480K/year)
Katie, the CEO of Trust Insights, co-founded the company in 2017 after noticing a lack of transparency and understanding in the marketing industry when it came to data analysis. She wanted to change the culture and be a voice for those intimidated by advanced technology, focusing on marrying data analysis with change management. Through their services and customer relationships, Trust Insights has been successful in retaining long-term clients and building a community through their Free Slack Community, Analytics for Marketers.
How much money it makes: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
How many people on the team: 0
Trust Insights is a digital marketing consultancy that focuses on data analysis, utilizing Artificial Intelligence to solve problems and help businesses understand how to use their data to their advantage, with a free Slack community that boasts over 2,500 members and a weekly email with over 20,000 subscribers.
9. moonwater ($363K/year)
After taking a 40% pay cut to escape management consulting, Mike spent a decade in startups before founding moonwater, now averaging $30K+/month in revenue with a 93% margin by helping high-potential startups grow faster and more efficiently.
How much money it makes: $363K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
Case study: How a former management consultant started his own growth studio, moonwater, and achieved average monthly revenue of $30K+ with a 93% margin by offering growth audits, advisory services, and fractional operating to 7 & 8-figure startups.
10. Pixels for Humans ($290K/year)
After closing her first business, Heather ONeill launched Pixels for Humans just nine days later. Guided by a coach’s advice, she shifted focus to build a values-driven consultancy, maintaining a 4-day work week and selective client roster, showing that profitability and purpose can coexist.
How much money it makes: $290K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
This case study article follows the journey of Heather O'Neill, founder of Pixels for Humans, as she builds intentional businesses that prioritize social impact and values while achieving impressive results, such as maintaining a profitable company with a 4-day work week and supporting her team's livelihood.
11. Mylance ($216K/year)
Bradley Jacobs, founder of Mylance, came up with the idea for his business after experiencing the freedom and financial success of working as an independent consultant. He saw a growing market of individuals who wanted to monetize their expertise and work flexibly, so he started Mylance to provide a comprehensive platform for self-employed professionals. Through organic social media marketing and customer word of mouth, Mylance has attracted and retained customers, growing to $40k/month in revenue.
How much money it makes: $216K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 0
Mylance, founded by Bradley Jacobs, is an end-to-end software platform for self-employed individuals and independent consultants, growing to ~$40k/month in revenue with 3 main value-adds: actionable guides, a vetted community, and lead generation software.
12. The Profit Finder ($168K/year)
Disillusioned by repeated failures from hired marketing experts, Brian Carmody tripled his company's revenue and expanded from 1 to 48 states by employing his own strategies. This sparked the idea for The Profit Finders, now generating up to $15k monthly.
How much money it makes: $168K/year
How much did it cost to start: $3K
How many people on the team: 1
Case Study: Founder of The Profit Finders tripled revenue, expanded to 48 states, and lowered break-even by 70%, using specific strategies and a proprietary software built on 1 billion weighted algorithms.
13. Argona Partners ($120K/year)
Jeremy Imlach, CoFounder and CEO of Argona Partners, came up with the idea for the business while working alongside his brilliant CoFounder, Amadin Agho, and Argona Founder, Richard Anderson III. They noticed a problem in the higher education system, where scientists and engineers struggled to scale their impactful technologies as businesses. They received positive feedback from the market and landed deals with entrepreneurs, leading them to create Argona Partners to help early-stage impact technology companies scale and make a difference.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $200
How many people on the team: 3
Argona Partners, a consulting and startup development firm focused on early-stage impact technology companies, has achieved over 100% YoY revenue growth since its inception in 2017, and has been recognized as a National and Global Top Startup Consulting Firm for its targeted approach to Growth Strategy and Fundraising Readiness in the clean tech industry.
14. StartupTalky ($120K/year)
Shubham Kumar, the founder of StartupTalky, came up with the idea for his business after realizing there was a lack of community and resources for entrepreneurs in India. He started a Facebook group and began posting valuable content for aspiring startup founders, which quickly gained traction and grew to over 100K members. To monetize the community, he started a blog featuring stories and challenges faced by founders, which eventually led to a profitable media platform making $10K/month.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $99
How many people on the team: 13
Indian startup founder Shubham Kumar shared his story of how he founded Startuptalky, a community and media platform for entrepreneurs; the platform currently focuses on content and the Indian region, with notable achievements including a Facebook group for entrepreneurs with 100k members, a media company startuptalky.com with over a million page views per month, which also has a Digital PR service, a lead-capturing tool called Seizelead, and profits collectively from blog and the PR agency of $10k per month, serving startups including unicorns from across the globe.
15. Steers Consulting Group ($108K/year)
He ventured into the coaching and consulting business after a series of pivotal moments in his career, learning the ins and outs of sales and realizing the need for effective sales coaching in the startup world.
How much money it makes: $108K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
Learn how Stephen Steers, a sales consultant and coach, used his near-death experience in the construction industry to fuel his passion for storytelling and sales, eventually leading him to develop a method called Context selling, earning him about $9k per month part-time.
16. Startups of London ($72K/year)
Startups of London was founded by an entrepreneur who noticed a lack of rich media content about the startup scene in London. With a background in understanding human behavior and previous experience in startups, the founder launched the business in September 2019 as a documentary company profiling startups with video and rich content. The pandemic shifted their focus to SEO and discovering niche areas of need, resulting in impressive growth with over 100,000 people reached and becoming the number one organic result for key search terms in their audience.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How many people on the team: 4
Startups of London is a media company profiling startups in the UK with a focus on high-value content creation that has seen over 100,000 people reached and is the number one organic result for many key search terms, since their launch in September 2019.
17. No-Code MVP ($72K/year)
Bram had extensive experience working and coaching with early-stage startups, and No-Code MVP became an outlet to let all that knowledge into a product.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How many people on the team: 0
A stay-at-home father created No-Code MVP course, which teaches people the mindset, process, and tools they can use to build and validate their startup and business ideas without any knowledge or learning how to code, generating $8,000 in a pre-sale over 3 weeks and is on track to make $6,000/month.
18. Startup Story Private Limited ($60K/year)
Anil Bakshi and Animesh Shukla founded Startup Story to help aspiring entrepreneurs gain credibility and visibility in the market. Recognizing that 90% of startups fail due to a lack of team credibility, they provide startup support services and media promotion through brand stories, podcasts, and video interviews. With over 150 inspiring stories and 50k monthly unique visitors, Startup Story is empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 10
Startup Story is a media platform that promotes startups and small businesses through podcasts, live interviews, and real-life stories, with over 150 stories covered and a monthly traffic of 50k unique visitors.
19. Miventure ($60K/year)
Jason Crystal and Luiggi Pera founded Miventure based on their passion for democratizing investing and supporting early-stage startups. Initially focused on small business debt, they discovered a stronger market in investment crowdfunding, particularly in the friends and family round. Since launching their equity crowdfunding mobile app, Miventure has attracted over 2,000 potential investors and has 7 active campaigns with over $500,000 in funding capacity.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1M
How many people on the team: 3
Miventure, an equity crowdfunding app, has raised over $500,000 in funding from 2,000 potential investors since launching a month ago, with one campaign already reaching its minimum funding goal and six campaigns remaining active.
20. AYH Consulting Ltd ($60K/year)
Founder Sami Abid came up with the idea for AYH Consulting Ltd while working in various jobs where he implemented technology systems to streamline operations. After gaining recognition for his work, he began offering his services on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, eventually earning enough to quit his day job and focus on running his automation business full-time.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 1
AYH Consulting Ltd is a service-based business that helps automate businesses using low-code applications, bringing in an average of $6k/month, with a stable retainer income, offering a good customer experience, and considering diversifying its income stream in the future through digital products.
21. Startupily ($18K/year)
Safwan Khan, founder of Startupily, came up with the idea for his blog when he was struggling to find a job and needed to earn an income. Inspired by the trend of blogging for side income, he started interviewing entrepreneurs and publishing their interviews on Startupily. Over time, he expanded the blog by adding business articles, templates, and documents, attracting traffic and positive response from entrepreneurs worldwide.
How much money it makes: $18K/year
How much did it cost to start: $50
How many people on the team: 0
Founder Safwan Khan started Startupily, a blog for entrepreneurs seeking business articles and resources, after being inspired by Pat Flynn's podcast and networking app DUST, providing free PR services for small business owners, before expanding into publishing business articles and selling business plan templates and documents, resulting in partnerships with global sites Influencive and Thrive Global.
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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.
