How I Run a $3.2M Business With 0 Employees

The exact process I use to run my SaaS startup with zero full-time employees.

[@BrianDean]

What topic should I cover in my next video?

[@thesubtlebodies4220]

Email marketing tools and strategies

[@thesubtlebodies4220]

best passive products to create for SEO

[@danbuffington75]

7:47 I like how you talked about the compounding effect of the work while the customers are passively(from the business-owner perspective) using the product. If you can teach more about that, I would love to hear more about it.

[@danbuffington75]

Minimum viable product. How little do I need to get started? That will help a lot of us.

[@BostonSpeaks]

"how I would grow___ this business" - for me it's a public speaking coaching biz or a live q/a

[@EcomADcreatives]

U r giving a ton of free value ,idk why your videos aren't getting millions of views

[@danbuffington75]

7:47 I like this. It makes so much sense when you say it out loud. I like the part about it compounding over time while the customers get passive value. I learned a lot from this video. Thank you for putting things in perspective.

[@BrianDean]

Boom!

[@DigitalUncovered]

You're amazing; so much to learn from you @Brian Dean!

[@niteshkanojia]

Very valuable video love you from India. Following you the past two years. Learn a lot of things from you

[@aydincakir]

One of your best videos so far! As a real estate business owner managing over 20 employees i also figured out hiring experts who knows what to do from day 1 is way better than trying to figure out on your own... Watching videos or reading articles from people who doesn't even have the experience steals a lot of your time and at the end you get stressed and end up quitting... And you are right with shiny object thing 😅 Keep up the great content 👌

[@EcomADcreatives]

Being impressed by your previous video, i randomly clicked on this video and i found it Tobe so much insightful ❤❤❤❤

[@captureyouradventures]

Been with you since before Backlinko and love the growth brother very happy for you and thanks for helping everyone and giving value! The true way forwards

[@captureyouradventures]

@Official_BrianDean What's up Parasite?

[@daniellock4585]

Love it, Brian! Hiring experts - I like the book, "who not how" - same concept. Loving the new video style, too!

[@BrianDean]

Thanks Daniel!

[@MFJLabs]

Thanks for the reminders Brian. no truer words have ever been spoken. 100% remote ... No meetings. 😄 --Frank

[@mohdjibly6184]

Great video sharing Brian....thanks for sharing :)

[@sergicheishvili6082]

It is weird that the title says "How I Run a $3.2M Business With 0 Employees" but you always say "we" when referring to your company's achievements.

[@whiteswordwarrior9995]

Thats normal. Business always uses we.

[@theaisolopreneur]

What would you prefer pitching when trying to close a client for suppose an ad service under the label of your company? 'I' guarantee a 3x ROAS or 'We' Guarantee a 3x ROAS? A collective effort sounds more authentic than an individual trying to claim his expertise in an area.

[@yitto4965]

yeah. also where he says if someone wants to join my team the no meeting policy attracts what i'm looking for

[@enio1111]

maybe he has a cofounder?

[@FutureWealthCircle]

Super helpful for us thank you!!

[@MysticKnotwork]

Great advice, thank you!

[@jamesscott1711]

Thanks for sharing this valuable information, Mr Brian. Threads is going to be the next big thing! oh, wait, that was Dead on Arrival 😆

[@EcomADcreatives]

Im glad i found your channel ❤

[@amoltolbande2348]

very true brian, your creating the product is the final destination of scaling the business.

[@stardot2]

Awesome content as always 👍 learnt a lot from Brian.

[@BrianDean]

Thanks!

[@JesusLeadershipTraining]

thanks brian great,advice...thanks greg

[@seriodesignfx]

This is pure gold. "stop chasing shiny objects". It's great to a topic from a brand name that validates my approach. How did you get over a half million subs with 67 videos? My approach is to create videos for my blob posts with the same title.

[@HowtoLearnDigitalMarketing]

Amazing insights

[@theaisolopreneur]

Hey Brian, been learning a lot recently from your vids especially about 1-person businesses. Would love you to dive deeper into the peak performing mindset of a solo founder. Also, would you recommend a newbie starting an agency or a course/SAAS Business from the start?

[@saidahmed6000]

Awesome post Brian. How do you keep the technical aspects of your aplllication functioning smoothly and uppdated without employing anybody. Is it the company that built it stands behind it for a monthly fee? Or whenever bugging you hire an expert

[@mikestrives]

Spot on! 🔥

[@fitstrong305]

"Don't create a system, hire experts." Is that advice exclusive to online biz? Because it goes against everything I've learned from Michael E. Gerber of the E-myth about building a conventional biz. BTW, I first learned about your existence from Neil Patel.

[@imdurgeshpratap]

Hey Brian I want to ask a quick question because Google is not very clear about it. It’s about AI and SEO. I am writing articles on my own and then I am using Chat GPT to proof read and edit the article. Will Google still penalise it for SEO? I am using AI only for proofreading and editing to make sentence structure better and remove spelling and grammar mistakes

[@innocentadah140]

Thanks alot sir

[@casinosbroker]

00:00 🚀 Focus on what works and double down on it. Identify successful strategies and invest more resources in them. 01:25 📈 Prioritize compounding channels like SEO, content marketing, KZbin, and email newsletters. They build value over time. 02:48 📊 Choose passive value products over active services. Products like software, courses, and e-commerce provide continuous value without constant intervention. 04:57 🚫 Avoid unnecessary meetings. Eliminate meetings or limit them drastically to protect your time and focus on deep work. 06:52 🎯 Ignore distractions and shiny objects. Stay focused on your current strategies and avoid getting caught up in short-lived trends. 09:14 🤝 Hire experts instead of creating complex systems. Invest in skilled professionals who can execute effectively without constant guidance.

[@maxelbrig1315]

Killing it - how to grow a SaaS through SEO might be ideal!

[@BrianDean]

It's a helluva combo!

[@rouseinthehouse_]

What do you guys think? Do you think "Threads" is a "shiny object"? Or is it actually going get really big?

[@safine_net]

Thanks.

[@imdurgeshpratap]

Very good advice. I am working on SEO. Link to your course that you recommend

[@austinwalker9747]

Congrats on Employee of the Month! Lol. Seriously, though, that scale of an operation it gets pretty difficult being the only hat.

[@tonymyers8862]

Yes, i wish i did seo years ago.

[@adiyogo8430]

this awesome

[@royjossfolk]

What are your thoughts on buying ads to send traffic to your newsletter? So use ads to build your list.

[@BrianDean]

I've never really tried it. But yeah, most big newsletters (The Hustle, Morning Brew etc.) built their subscriber base mainly from ads.

[@popkapocahontas]

Can we have simular video with a 0 investment please?

[@rodqsta]

3.2M revenue or net profit?

[@DarkOverFlowOverflow]

Advertsing could compound as well, imagine this scenario: your ad is so extraordinary people start talking to others about it. or your ad is ordinary just gets the job done BUT your customer journey is Insane, customer experience is so amazing that they couldnt help but tell others about your business/brand In other words advertising could lead to WOM(word of mouth) which compounds even better than SEO if done right

[@BrianDean]

Good point there. Very true

[@jabeztadesse]

You are getting it, getting KZbin

[@JaydenLawson]

3:55 why do you keep saying "we" if you don't have employees? I was confused by this. But in general - thought this was valuable. Thanks.

[@awd]

0 emloyees but we

[@ozehlaw]

💯

[@ryanrivers9799]

How many freelancers do you have on the team?

[@BrianDean]

Around 10

[@gloriton3754]

"How I run a business with 0 employees" and then the whole video goes we did this, we did that

[@jabeztadesse]

They are Freelancers, not Employees

[@emekaudeogu]

Do your run ads at all?

[@BrianDean]

Not at this point. Just focused on a few channels that seem to be working for us. But I'm open to testing out ads in the future.

[@shivinunitholi2493]

Dont tell me you did not outsource a single thing to anyone, you did not hire a single person to do any of the tasks for this biz.

[@user-ah0]

Amazing

[@BrianDean]

Thanks!

[@BoardMods]

Interesting note: "I'm the only employee" but all of the talk about the business is "We" statements.

[@BrianDean]

HA! I've got a team of freelancers.

[@Stockholm_Syndrome]

First you mention 0 employees and just a few seconds later you are saying "we". Huh?

[@UnexploredDistance]

How can i earn millions from India

[@theaisolopreneur]

That's the wrong question. Your earning depends upon your skillset and mindset irrespective of your geography. Indians primarily have been doing good with Freelancing and gig working for businesses set in the west. Also, Business isn't a treasure pot which offers you 'millions' out of nowhere. Your approach is wrong, probably the content you're consuming is as well.

[@UnexploredDistance]

@@theaisolopreneur actually what I wanted to say which type of problem I solve in india

[@MehmetKoseDev]

Get a teleprompter sir

[@BrianDean]

Why?

[@jabeztadesse]

Yeah why?

[@erronousactions]

You say you run a 3.2M business with 0 employee's, but you also keep saying "We".. What's going on?

[@BrianDean]

I've got a team of freelancers that help me run the business.

[@erronousactions]

@@BrianDean So, on a pure technicality the "0 employee" claim is true .. But you did have people contracted to work on the site, so that the means it's EXTREMELY misleading to say you have no employee's because the contractors has the same function as an employee here; peform one or more tasks to further your business..

[@dylan2881]

I like Brian, but 1 minute in he has said he run the business by himself but is constantly saying we do this we do that. and in other videos he talks about the big team of writers he has working on the website. I dont care about having a team, just dont pretend its a 1 man show, just because they are freelancers and not "employees".

[@theaisolopreneur]

Freelancers don't have any sense of association with you or your venture as a whole. They work on a work to pay basis and wouldn't give it a second thought giving up on the project if there's a better deal out there in the market. Hence, a team formed out of freelancers is a bunch of twigs tied together with the founder's gameplan leaving him as a 1-man show only. It's equivalent to attaching detachable pipes while emptying a tank, where pipes themselves have their own individual properties to carry out a task and are just used for the same.

[@dylan2881]

@@theaisolopreneur My argument is that a company that relies on people other than the owner to perform the day to day business cannot be considered a one man company. what's wrong with saying that its a team working on a project, even if that team is just paid piecework.

[@rotimibest8530]

IMHO there are no really practical lessons. E.g you say no meetings which means you work with people yet the title of the video says 0 Employees.

[@subtronik23]

Fed up of people saying, 'hope you found value'. There's no price tag on this content. What happened to normal English? 'useful', 'helpful', informative', 'worthwhile'. And why even say it anyway? The phrase 'hope you found value' is bland and almost meaningless.