I Ranked the Best Businesses to Start Before 2026

About this video

Martell ranks 15 businesses using four criteria — speed to first dollar, ease of learning, long-term profitability, and whether someone would buy the business — into S (no-brainer), A (worth it), B (decent), C (could but should you), and F (scammy) tiers. He places real estate at the top for cash flow, tax advantages, appreciation and leverage, and adds software, which was not on the original list, as a no-brainer for AI-assisted building, subscription revenue, high margins and high sale multiples, as he describes them. In the worth-it tier he places AI automation agency first for current demand, then coaching and online courses for very high margins on information, followed by vending machines, affiliate marketing, SMMA, and web design and paid ads agencies, with concerns that AI and platform automation may erode paid ads and web design long term. YouTube is ranked decent but slow to first dollar. In the could-but-should-you tier are virtual assistant agencies, day trading and stocks, print on demand, ghostwriting, and dropshipping, citing thin margins, time-for-money limits, or constant reinvention. In the scam tier he places NFTs and crypto projects and, as an addition, network marketing, citing scams and legal cases as he frames them, and he is skeptical of buying franchises versus selling them. He closes by stressing meta skills that stack even if a business fails, and building an asset rather than a job that requires your presence.

Key takeaways

• Evaluate businesses on speed to first dollar, learnability, long-term profitability, and sellability as an asset
• Software and real estate are ranked highest; AI automation and coaching/courses are the top worth-it service/information models
• Paid ads, web design, VA agencies and similar services face long-term AI/platform commoditization risk in his assessment
• Dropshipping, print on demand, ghostwriting, day trading and VA agencies are flagged for thin margins or owner-dependence
• Prioritize meta skills like copywriting, paid ads and AI, and build something sellable rather than a high-hour job

Episode details: published September 5, 2025 · 14:00 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.

← Previous: 3 Skills That Will Separate Winners From Losers in the AI Era · Next: You’re not Lazy. You’re scared. Here’s how to fix it. →

All Dan Martell videos · Dan Martell profile · Dan Martell (official site)