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Here’s a question for you: if you had to start your online course business from absolutely zero today—no audience, no email list, and limited budget—would you know where to begin?

Most course creators would panic at the thought. But here’s the thing: starting from scratch in 2025 is actually the biggest opportunity you’ll ever have. The landscape has completely changed, AI has shifted everything, and the strategies that work now are entirely different from even 12 months ago.

I’m Kate from Hello Funnels, and I’ve generated over $6 million in course sales. Today, I’m breaking down exactly what I’d do if I had to rebuild everything from zero in 2025, including the three types of profitable problems I’d focus on solving and the exact funnel strategy I’d use to get profitable fast.

The World Has Changed: Why 2025 Is Different

As someone who’s been creating content and building businesses for years, I love revisiting this topic because what I would do genuinely changes every few years. But particularly right now, my strategy would be completely different from what I’d have done even 12 months ago.

We’re living in a world where AI has fundamentally altered the business landscape. The strategies that worked before simply won’t cut it anymore. But this creates massive opportunities for those who understand how to navigate this new environment.

Step 1: Choose Your Profitable Problem (The Foundation of Everything)

Before you even think about building a website or worrying about branding, you need to spend time figuring out what your profitable problem is going to be. And in 2025, you need to choose a problem that will still exist in five years’ time—otherwise, you’ll be back at square one in a few months.

Here’s my bonus tip: avoid tying your programmes or offers to any particular type of tech or technology, because those are changing way too fast.

The Three Types of Problems Worth Solving in 2025

Problem Type 1: Forever Human Problems (With a Modern Twist)

These are issues that, no matter what’s happening in the world, humans will always care about:

• Finding love
• Health and wellness
• Parenting and children
• Making money
• Feeling fulfilled

These pain points never go away, though the level might fluctuate depending on world events. However, the ways we solve them and the delivery methods are always evolving.

If you choose to focus on one of these forever human problems, make sure you do it in a human-centred way that AI can’t replace. You need to provide something much more valuable than what people can get by simply asking ChatGPT, “How do I get a boyfriend?”

Problem Type 2: Navigating Change and Disruption (Temporary but Massive Opportunity)

This is temporary, but if you can do it correctly, it should give you enough boost and growth to pivot later as things evolve.

So many industries are going to be heavily impacted by AI, and the ripple effects will be enormous. Jobs are going to disappear, and people will need to either retrain or completely redesign their lives and identities to adapt and thrive.

If you have the experience, skillset, and ability to genuinely help people navigate this transition—and I mean legitimately help, not monetise people’s pain—this represents a massive business opportunity. The need is only going to grow bigger.

Problem Type 3: Human Connection and Experiences

As AI makes access to knowledge easier and cheaper (which devalues it), we need to look at what else we can provide that can’t be replaced by a simple app.

This includes:

• Community building
• Events
• Done-with-you experiences
• Human-to-human interactions

As people spend more time with AI as their companion, source of knowledge, teacher, mentor, and everything else, there’s going to be a strong desire to come back to feeling human and being around other humans.

This approach positions you in a premium space from day one and allows AI technology to handle the heavy lifting while you focus on creating genuine human connections.

The Profitable Problem Selection Exercise

If none of these problem types immediately sparked an idea, here’s an exercise to help you figure out exactly which idea you should pursue:

1. Brain Dump: On a large piece of paper, write down literally everything you’re passionate about and/or have experience or expertise in. Start with bigger topics, then break them down into more specific things.
2. Eliminate: Cross off anything you’re not passionate about. We want to build businesses that last, so it needs to be something you genuinely care about.
3. Add Stars: Go through and add stars or ticks based on these criteria:
   • People are already paying to solve this problem (books, coaching programmes, products exist)
   • It’s a “top three problem” for your ideal client (busy people only act on their biggest problems)
   • It has growth potential (will become the same size or bigger problem over time)
4. Select One: Choose the problem with the most stars. That’s your focus.

Step 2: Test and Validate Your Chosen Problem

Before running any ads, get some free data first. Take your profitable problem and mind map all the smaller, more specific pain points, hooks, and questions surrounding it.

Create content about this on whichever platform makes the most sense for you. Use the beginner’s advantage—when you first start on most social platforms with zero following, you’ll still get shown to some people because the platforms want you to stick around.

Use this opportunity to research which stories, hooks, and questions get the best responses. This data will inform your next steps.

Step 3: Build Your Mini Funnel System

Once you’ve identified what resonates, it’s time to build a mini funnel system. Here’s exactly what you need:

Create a Juicy Lead Magnet

Take your most resonant entry point and create a lead magnet following my 20 by 20 rule: it should take no more than 20 minutes to create and no more than 20 minutes to consume.

With AI tools available today, you can create something that provides genuine value, gives people their first taste, and leaves them wanting more.

Develop a Low-Ticket Offer

Build a low-ticket offer (between AUD$47-$97) that solves a specific problem for people who engaged with your lead magnet. Keep it simple but valuable.

Set Up a Simple Email Sequence

Create an automated email sequence that nurtures leads and converts them into customers.

Step 4: The Growth Engine That Feels “Illegal”

Here’s the real ninja move: once your mini funnel is set up, use it to grow your audience by thousands without dipping into your credit card.

The secret is creating a self-liquidating funnel:

1. Run the funnel to your existing audience (if any) to get your first sales
2. Use the money from those sales to reinvest in ads budget
3. Put more people through the funnel
4. Repeat the cycle

One of our clients, Sharice, had been stuck at 500 email subscribers for over a year trying organic growth methods. After setting up this exact sequence, she now has nearly 7,000 subscribers, and it’s completely paid for itself. Her recent mini promotion generated nearly AUD$7,000.

This system gives you control over your growth and allows you to scale from zero to thousands of subscribers and thousands in monthly revenue.

Step 5: Develop Your Bigger Programme

While your mini funnel is running and growing your list, use the time and feedback to develop a larger programme. This should:

• Solve one of those long-term problems we discussed earlier
• Lean into humanity and connection
• Be something people will still want to invest in years from now

The combination of your profitable foundation and premium programme is how you reach five-figure months quickly and automatically.

The Reality About Starting From Zero in 2025

Starting from scratch in 2025 isn’t just possible—it’s profitable. The key is thinking long-term with your problem selection while moving fast with your execution.

The landscape has changed, but that change has created opportunities. Those who understand how to navigate the new AI-influenced world, focus on human-centred solutions, and build systems that work automatically will thrive.

Remember: you don’t need a massive audience to start. You don’t need perfect branding. You don’t need years of content creation. You need a profitable problem, a simple system, and the willingness to move fast.

Ready to Build Your Automated Funnel? If you want to get this funnel built properly—the foundation of everything we’ve discussed—don’t miss our Automated Challenge coming up in September.

Over three live days, we’ll build this together, piece by piece. I’ll give you the templates, the AI prompts, and absolutely everything you need. At the end, you’ll walk away with a funnel that’s up, running, and making sales.

The results from our last challenge were honestly mind-blowing. Seeing everyone launch together, celebrate their first sales, and then return with stories of hundreds and thousands in revenue was incredible.

We only have limited tickets available, so grab your spot and join us for what promises to be an amazing three days.