8 High Income Businesses to Start in 2026

About this video

Martell says he spent 30 days analyzing thousands of businesses and ranks eight high-gross-margin businesses to start, explaining gross margin with a coffee example (selling for $5 at $1 cost leaves $4, or 80%). He gives the margins as his stated ranges. One, chat sales agency (40-50%): sell over chat for people in growing industries like roofing, solar and consulting who already have large audiences, and manage volume through a CRM — he names the tool his team uses, Revio, which he says summarizes chats with AI; he claims clients and a top rep make over a million dollars over chat. Two, personal brand agency (40-50%): help influencers turn trust and attention into sales, charge retainer plus performance upside, double down on winners who have the ‘it factor,’ and grow by referrals after big wins. Three, ghostwriting agency (50-60%): meet demand from people who want books and content without writing, get at least 50% upfront, get on other people’s platforms and stages to reach authors-to-be, and become known in one niche. Four, virtual assistant placement (50-60%): charge on delivery, guarantee placement for at least two months with free replacement, and use his book Buy Back Your Time in the funnel. Five, virtual reality training agency (60-70%): sell enterprise packages for high-stakes training like flight and surgery, add ongoing support subscriptions, and finance/resell hardware. Six, gamified learning platform (60-70%): sell before you build by white-labeling existing platforms, target high-turnover enterprise employers, and use a freemium public entry point. Seven, AI automation agency (70-80%): consult on tools first, automate what makes the client the most cash first, and get clients through partnerships and affiliate offers; he cites a statistic he saw that 93% of US businesses have not yet implemented AI. Eight, AI-first SaaS (80-90%), which he says he is going all in on: he argues SaaS now means ‘success as a service’ — outcomes via agents, not software workflows — and advises picking boring industries like legal, medical and manufacturing, pre-selling before building, and building specialized AI agents overseen by a dispatch agent.

Key takeaways

• Rank opportunities by gross margin: Martell lists agencies at 40-70% and AI-first SaaS at 80-90% by his figures
• For service agencies, attach to existing demand and audiences, get paid upfront or on delivery, and grow through referrals after proven wins
• Chat sales and personal brand agencies monetize other people’s audiences — use a CRM to handle chat volume and charge for performance
• Ghostwriting, VA placement and training models work best niched, with guarantees and recurring support revenue
• For AI offers, sell before you build, automate the highest-cash-value process first, and target boring, underserved industries

Episode details: published March 7, 2025 · 13:53 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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