Micro Tutorial
How to Make $500,000 Online
You even have three different ways to make it happen
Half a million dollars may seem like a lot, far-fetched even when you are first starting online ventures.
The reality is there are countless people out there crossing $500,000 in earnings from their business. We sell businesses in this range every day, so we are here to say — it’s possible.
Here’s some even better news: you have multiple ways to reach $500,000. You can build $500K online through building a business yourself, flipping, or investing in online assets.
Let’s explore how it’s done.
What kind of businesses can help you get your first $500K?
Like those in the $100K range, you’ll see the same monetizations — SaaS, Amazon FBA, e-commerce, and large content businesses — frequently in the $500,000+ range.
The only difference is that these businesses will be operating on a much larger scale and likely be earning through multiple monetizations at once.
How much start-up capital might you need?
This one is a bit hard to narrow down, so we’ll approach it from a few different scenarios.
Could you start a $500,000 online business with little capital? Sure. Is it likely? Not so much.
For a high-performing content business, you could start with negligible investment but in order to scale it to the high six-figures, you would have to pour some serious capital into writers, SEO specialists, a virtual team, etc., to support operations. For the e-commerce options, you’d have to buy inventory upfront, not to mention figuring out the logistics (and cost) of getting that inventory into your warehouse.
The short explanation here is it takes capital to start, but how much capital differs widely between businesses.
The good news is, at this level, you have options for how much capital to invest to grow a business to $500,000.
In the $500,000 and up range, more investors are deploying capital and buying businesses at a rapid pace. If you are looking to make $500,000 but don’t have the initial startup capital or additional capital to push operations to this level, a partnership with outside investors can give you more options.
(P.S. We just launched a new program to bring investors and operators together. Check it out)
You could have an investor inject your current business with a $100K investment that could propel your business to your $500,000 goal. Or you could come to the table with the experience needed to run the business and minimal capital, using a larger investment from private equity to support the business. You may have to settle for a smaller share of equity or profits in this case, but it would allow you to play in the $500,000 space where you were unable to before.
How Much Time Will It Take?
Again, the time to reach this amount of profit will differ between monetizations. You could be profitable with FBA within your first year of launching and make $500K or slowly build a content site for seven years before making an exit for $500K.
The time varies to get there, but keep in mind the amount of time needed to run a business at this level.
Running a business earning 500,000 is no small task. This would likely be your full-time job, unless you have a team in place helping you.
In fact, most businesses at this level have to have a team in place to handle all the different aspects of operations. Considering most entrepreneurs get into online business to escape being tied to a 9–5 job, they tend to focus on having a great team and great systems in place to minimize their workload. Oftentimes, they can step away from major operations and contribute less than 10 hours per week to running the business.
So if there is a silver lining here, it may be an undefined amount of time needed to reach $500K online, but once you reach that level, you can outsource most of the work.
That’s a massive difference from trying to earn $500,000 through traditional 9–5 work, with the online option rewarding you with freedom of time AND money.
Real Deal Examples
Making $500,000 online takes time and capital investment if you’re planning to do so through just one business. Thinking like an investor can help you here.
By approaching online assets as a series of investments, you can create a portfolio of businesses that, together, make you $500K or you could have equity in different businesses that would allow you to reach your goal.
Online investor Lucas Carlson has mastered the online portfolio strategy and his story can help you learn about online investments if you’re new to the game.
Private equity and other online investors are a force to be reckoned with if you want to play in the $500,000 online space. To better understand investing at this level, we’ve explored the online business models investors love, building portfolio investments, and how to go out and raise capital from investors.
Hopefully, this has given you a bit of inspirational vision to make your own $500,000 online. If you’d like to buy and flip a business check out our marketplace for options or you can make $500K through selling your online business.
