11 Career Consulting Business Success Stories [2024]

Updated: November 19th, 2023
Start A Career Consulting Business

Here are some real life success stories of starting a career consulting business:

1. Career Sidekick ($600K/year)

Biron Clark, founder of Career Sidekick, struggled to find success with previous website ventures until he decided to focus on job search and career advice. Leveraging his expertise as a recruiter, he started a blog to answer commonly asked questions and provide unique insights. Through targeted content, SEO, and long-form evergreen posts, Career Sidekick has gained traction and attracts millions of readers per year, generating a multiple six-figure annual income.

How much they make: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $200
Current team size: 1

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How I Started A $25K/Month Job Search Advice Website

Career Sidekick founder Biron Clark shares how he turned his job search advice website into a multiple six-figure per year business, earning approximately $25,000 per month from revenue streams predominantly based on display advertising and affiliate marketing.

About
Biron started Career Sidekick almost 11 years ago
Revenue
Biron grew the business to $50K/month
Costs
It cost Biron $200 to start the business
Read by 10,305 founders

2. FailTell ($13.2K/year)

Swagat Mohanty, co-founder of FailTell, came up with the idea for the business when he realized that there was no platform where people could share their "failure" stories or life experiences. Recognizing the interconnectedness of health, career, and mindset, Swagat and his co-founder Rahul Mohanty launched FailTell as a social community centered around inspiring stories. With a strong social media presence, collaborations with motivational speakers, and a revamped website offering additional services, FailTell has attracted 11,000 users and achieved profitability within just one year.

How much they make: $13.2K/year
How much did it cost to start: $700
Current team size: 6

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Our Profitable Website Helps People Overcome Failure [11K Users]

FailTell, an online platform offering a wide range of services for personal, emotional, and professional growth, has achieved 1,100 monthly active users, 220+ experts, and a user base of 11,000, with its most popular service - Career Mentoring - since launching a year and one month ago, offering affordable and accessible quality support to users with mental health, career, or everyday concerns.

About
Swagat started FailTell over 3 years ago
Revenue
Swagat grew the business to $1.1K/month
Costs
It cost Swagat $700 to start the business
Read by 3,797 founders

So... can you actually make money with a career consulting business?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

3. CareerPioneer ($72K/year)

pay for. And two, you need the right mindset and determination to push through the obstacles and failures that will inevitably come your way. Focus on providing value, building relationships, and always learning and adapting to the needs of your customers.

How much they make: $72K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
Current team size: 0

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From Finance To Career Coach: How I Built A $72K/Year Business [50% QoQ Growth]

CareerPioneer CEO Bob Gardner offers "Land your Dream Job" and "Dream Career" coaching services with an impressive QoQ revenue average of 50% growth in their first year of operation.

About
Bob started CareerPioneer about 3 years ago
Revenue
Bob grew the business to $6K/month
Costs
It cost Bob $1000 to start the business
Read by 2,423 founders

4. GenM ($6M/year)

How much they make: $6M/year
Current team size:

Growing a $49/Month Digital Marketing Internships System

Founder builds platform to solve hiring problems and provide training for students, resulting in over 30,000 users, 150,000 job applications and $1 million in funding.

Revenue
They grew the business to $500K/month
Read by 514 founders

So... can you actually make money with a career consulting business?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

5. Critical Path Action ($36K/year)

Mike McRitchie, the founder of a resume writing and web marketing content business, came up with the idea after realizing he had a large network of LinkedIn connections in the telecom industry. He decided to leverage his expertise and offer resume writing services to his connections, which quickly converted 50% into paid clients. Through consistent blogging and strategic marketing efforts, Mike was able to grow his side hustle and double his income to over $30,000 in just two years.

How much they make: $36K/year
Current team size: 0

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How I Make $30K/Year On The Side Writing Resumes

This case study follows a business owner who doubled his income from side hustles in two years, earning over $30,000 annually by writing resumes and LinkedIn copy, blogging weekly, and increasing rates as he attracted more clients from online platforms like Craigslist and LinkedIn.

About
Mike started Critical Path Action about 9 years ago
Revenue
Mike grew the business to $3K/month
Read by 8,451 founders

So... can you actually make money with a career consulting business?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

6. MentorCruise ($480K/year)

Dominic Monn came up with the idea for MentorCruise while facing the challenge of finding a mentor during his own career development. He realized that mentorship was a major problem for many professionals, so he built a coaching marketplace where career professionals could turn their knowledge into a marketable coaching business and mentees could easily find a mentor. Despite the challenges of building the platform while balancing his studies and a full-time job, MentorCruise now makes around $24,000 per month in commissions and processes over $120,000 every month for its mentors.

How much they make: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
Current team size: 5

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How I Built A $24K/Month Mentorship Marketplace

MentorCruise is a career coaching marketplace generating $24k MRR and processing $1M annually for mentors, with most traffic and sales coming from SEO and organic sources, currently looking to expand to the B2B market.

About
Dominic started MentorCruise about 6 years ago
Revenue
Dominic grew the business to $40K/month
Read by 5,049 founders

7. Metamorphosis Group ($132K/year)

Danica Octa, the founder of Metamorphosis Group, was inspired by her own experiences of not receiving the support she needed throughout her academic life. After encountering life coaching, she realized the power of helping others build confidence and skills for their careers. This led her to start Metamorphosis Group, initially offering resume building and interview coaching, and later expanding to a career coaching program called CHECKPOINT for Job Seekers.

How much they make: $132K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
Current team size: 5

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How I Started A $132K/Year Tech-Enabled Career Coaching Company

Filipino entrepreneur Danica Octa built her coaching business, Metamorphosis Group, from scratch and now offers a 3-month career coaching program to over 15,000 individuals as well as an internship program, virtual career fairs, and a variety of payment schemes to attract and retain clients.

About
Danica started Metamorphosis Group over 1 year ago
Revenue
Danica grew the business to $11K/month
Costs
It cost Danica $500 to start the business
Read by 1,836 founders