FBC – 281 – What would I do if I had to start from scratch?

Today I want to tell you and more importantly show you what I would do if I had to  start from scratch. What model would I choose and why?

I will break down why this is the best and more efficient way to get started and will give you my secret weapon to do it in record time.

Everything is in today's episode.

Here is the link I am referring to: if you want to partner with me and start crushing it go check it out

click here: https://martinebongue.com/profit-machines

So today, what I wanted to talk to you guys about the concept of affiliation and affiliates. Because a lot of people don't understand that I'm an affiliate. For some people, I have my own products so why would anybody use affiliates? OK.

I want you to understand the concept and why it’s powerful and why it works? OK. Then change your perspective on that. Right now I'm looking for affiliates for something I'm doing. So here's the thing.

So if you are the affiliate, you are selling someone else's product. OK. You're basically a middleman. That’s all it is. So what does a middleman do?  The middleman bridges the gap between people who want to buy and people who are selling.

A lot of these products that you see on line, I mean, people haven't reinvented wheel, right? They've just transposed what already exists in the real world to the Internet. Because the Internet gives you the opportunity to do it on a massive scale. So being an affiliate is one of the oldest jobs.

And there is one thing you don't know, which is that I think 85 to 90 percent of the cases when you buy something on the Internet, someone is getting paid a commission. There is an affiliate. Someone is getting a commission. And you have no idea. Right. You have absolutely no idea. So the reason why you don't know is because it doesn't make a difference for you. It's the same price and it’s the same product. The quality doesn't change.

And people make a lot of money with it. Me. I do make a lot of money with it. So here is the thing about affiliation. So if you understand what it is just to be a middleman. And trust me, if you're buying something on the Internet, someone's getting paid. Right.

So even if you type something on Google, you type coupons, you find this website and you use the coupons to buy something at a great price. Guess what? They're getting a commission, my friend. These people who have these coupons, they make an insane amount of money.

If you're on that top spot on Google, you make an insane amount of money. You think they're you're like, oh, man, I got my coupon. I'm the smartest guy on the planet now. Someone is even smarter. Someone gave you the coupon. The minute you click and you buy something, they make money. I mean, you might think that’s unfair, but you got your coupon. There's something in it for you. You got a coupon, you paid less.

And the brand got a client. So you became a client of the brand and it can contact you directly. So this is the beauty of affiliation. So I want you to understand why this model works and why is that beautiful?

What would I do if I had to start from scratch?

All right. So what is the brand getting? The brand is getting a lot of clients sent their away without having to do the hard work of advertising and all that stuff. You can't even imagine what that means for the brand because they get clients.

And then afterwards, the big advantage is that once you buy from me, so I sell you a camera for example. Then you become a client. And then afterwards, I can contact you over and over again. So basically, I got you in my database for free.

So the affiliate. So let's say, for example, Bob has created a Web site and on the Web site, it will do a review about all sorts of great cameras on the market, you know Kodak, Canon, and Sony. And then in the end you know everything about those cameras and you just select my camera like, oh man, Martin's camera is the best. All right.

So Bob has actually produced some work, you know, giving you a lot of information that would have taken you months, if not years to get. And you can get it in like one page or like a video or something like that. So you click. You buy. Right.

So I'm rewarding Bob. Why? Because Bob has done a fantastic job to send me someone who's going to buy from me. I'm not spending any money. Ok yes, I have to give Bob some of the money I got for selling the camera, but I was sitting pretty in my living room and Bob sent me someone who gave me a hundred bucks and out of those hundred bucks that I'm getting for free. I'm giving Bob 20 bucks. So basically, Bob gave me 80 dollars. So how I mean, how exactly am I losing? Right.

So this is one other advantage for the brand. What's the advantage for Bob? Bob just has to refer it to me and then I'll take over the rest. If the client is unhappy, and needs to call support then I'll take care of the delivery, I'll take care of the refund and stuff. Bob doesn't have to worry about that stuff. He just has to give me a client. So for the affiliate, it's a good life. You can do that anywhere. You don't need to be on the phone with people. Most of the time, you don't need to be in a specific location.

So what's in for the consumer? As I said before, you got some really nice information that would have taken you forever to get. Or in the example of the coupons, you get your coupon. You paid less than you would have otherwise. So there is something in it for you. And that's the beauty of it, is that there is something in it for everybody.

This model here of affiliation is what gives me my lifestyle. Right now, I have the coolest lifestyle on the planet. If you ask me, because, again, you know, if you've been listening to me for the past months, I’ve built a life that's good for me. I can go anywhere I want. I can go whenever I want. I don't have a boss and I can actually do everything even from a phone.

I got to a stage where you have the laptop lifestyle, which is the course that I've created. It's called laptop lifestyle secrets. And I'll show you how I created my laptop lifestyle secrets. Now I got to the point where I am using that mechanism of affiliation and I’m basically going to give you everything, the templates. So you have the templates to make it work. You have all the tools. I've actually created the funnels and stuff for you. It's crazy stuff, man.

What I would rebuild first if I lost everything

You do not need your old business back. You need the two assets that built it, and those survive any crash. If I woke up tomorrow with nothing, no list, no name, no money, I would not chase a clever product. I would rebuild an audience and a system, in that order, because that is what actually made me money across 20 plus years and 49 countries. Everything else is replaceable. I started with DVDs from a closet in 2003 and rebuilt through more setbacks than I can count, so this is not theory. The list is the leverage. The automation is the multiplier. A product is just what you point them at once you have both. I would pick one channel, show up daily, and wire every repeatable step into a workflow from week one. I tell the full teardown on my story page and on the Freedom by Choice podcast. For the outside view, Zapier shows which early automations compound, and Harvard Business Review covers why audience beats product long term. Build the asset, not the thing. The thing changes. The asset pays forever.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the first thing to do if you had to start an online business from scratch today?

The first move would be to pick one narrow audience and one problem they pay to solve. Skip the logo, the domain, the social handles, and the funnel software. Spend the first week interviewing ten people in that audience and writing down the exact words they use to describe their problem. That transcript becomes the offer.

What business model would you choose if starting from scratch with no budget?

A service business comes first because cash flows in within thirty days and no inventory is needed. Trade time for revenue while building cash, then layer in a digital product or a small course once the service is booked out. Cash buys options. Models that need traffic before revenue are the wrong place to start when there is no runway.

How long should it take to make the first dollar when starting from scratch?

First dollar within thirty days is the realistic target if you sell a service. First hundred dollars in ninety days if you sell a digital product. Anything longer means the niche is too broad, the offer is unclear, or you are hiding inside tool setup. Force a deadline. The deadline reveals where the friction really lives.

What would you avoid if you had to start a business over again from scratch?

Avoid building anything large before the first sale. No website, no logo, no automation, no team. Sell with a direct message, a phone call, or a one page document until cash is consistent. Premature scale is the most expensive mistake because it locks in costs against revenue that has not yet been proven to exist.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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