How To Build a Profitable AI Business in 2025 (For Beginners)

Join Maker School & get your first automation customer ⤵️
https://www.skool.com/makerschool/about

Excalidraw I used in this video ⤵️
https://excalidraw.com/#json=ivVWXlNvrvJtyZoP2087y,wL1_NX2569ibCUQobtztEg

My podcast with Matt Larsen on how to run an 8-figure business (The Five) ⤵️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKOe8GLLEIo

Summary ⤵️
A step-by-step guide to launching a lean AI automation agency in 2025—starting with clientless income, then scaling to $12K/month through cold email, Upwork, and fast execution.

My software, tools, & deals (some give me kickbacks—thank you!)
???? Instantly: https://link.nicksaraev.com/instantly-short
???? Anymailfinder: https://link.nicksaraev.com/amf-short
???? Apify: https://console.apify.com/sign-up (30% off with code 30NICKSARAEV)
????????‍???? n8n: https://n8n.partnerlinks.io/h372ujv8cw80
???? Rize: https://link.nicksaraev.com/rize-short (25% off with promo code NICK)

Follow me on other platforms ????
???? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nick_saraev
????️ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/nicksaraev
???? Blog: https://nicksaraev.com

Why watch?
If this is your first view—hi, I’m Nick! TLDR: I spent six years building automated businesses with Make.com (most notably 1SecondCopy, a content company that hit 7 figures). Today a lot of people talk about automation, but I’ve noticed that very few have practical, real world success making money with it. So this channel is me chiming in and showing you what *real* systems that make *real* revenue look like.

Hopefully I can help you improve your business, and in doing so, the rest of your life ????

Like, subscribe, and leave me a comment if you have a specific request! Thanks.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:35 1. Clientless Money
01:15 Affiliate Programs
04:13 Coupon Aggregators
08:21 2. Build your 'minimum viable business'
09:04 Defining your niche
12:29 Coming up with a business name
13:29 Find 5 pieces of social proof/case studies
17:34 Buying a domain + sending domains
20:45 Create/publish your website
21:17 General rules of thumb for websites
23:04 Should you add pricing to your website?
24:45 Get Instantly/Smartlead, scrape, and start sending
26:26 Create an Upwork profile
28:38 Find communities related to your niches & join
31:05 Create proposal template
33:13 Set up payment processors
35:09 Set daily minimums (emails, UW applications, community posts)
36:29 Sell to customers
37:26 Simplest Sales Call SOP
39:35 3. Iterate after client #1
40:17 Circle of an AI Automation Agency
41:30 Key Retrospectives
41:51 1. Cold Email
44:44 2. Upwork
46:07 3. Fulfillment
48:23 Outro