Online business is simple. Hard, but simple.
Let's demystify online business together.
First and foremost, welcome to all 350 new subscribers who’ve joined since my last post. It’s wonderful to have you.
If you don’t know me, I’m Josh Walker. I help new solo businesses gain traction by honing their offer and finding their audience. If you’ve been working on your solo business for a while but still haven’t found traction, reply to this message or DM me on Substack and let’s debug together.
Now let’s hop to it.
Business is easy to understand.
Not easy to do. But easy to understand.
Gurus love to hype some “secret method” that promises 2-hour workdays and five-figure months. Just pay $200 and you’re in.
But really, business is simple.
Find a problem or desire.
Find people with that problem or desire who are willing to pay for a solution.
Provide the solution.
Get paid.
That’s it. That’s the entire thing.
Takes a bow and exits stage left.
On next week’s newslett—
Oh. You wanted more than that. You were hoping for the BIG SECRET behind online business. The one that finally unlocks momentum. The thing you’ve been missing.
I get it.
But before we go further, we need to agree on something.
Problem or desire.
People who will pay to solve it.
Solution.
That’s the foundation. Write it down. Stick it to your monitor. Tattoo it if you have to.
Because before we talk about positioning, funnels, content strategy, or outreach, we need to be clear about what you're selling. If you're fuzzy on these three points, everything else becomes noise.
This is where most people get stuck.
Not because they aren't smart. Not because they aren't motivated.
They just skip the part where they define what they actually do and who it’s for.
So they build a site.
Make a logo.
Start a content plan.
Post on Twitter.
Redesign the homepage.
Record a podcast.
Tweak the offer page for the sixth time.
But if you ask them what they sell, they either freeze or ramble for ten minutes without answering the question.
Clarity is the lever. Without it, every decision feels shaky. Every pivot feels justified. Every failed experiment sends you back to square one.
Here’s how to fix it.
Start with these questions:
What specific problem do you solve?
Who experiences that problem and is motivated to fix it?
What tangible outcome do they walk away with after paying you?
If you can't answer those three things in plain language, start there. That’s the work. Nothing else matters until you get that right.
And if you can answer them, great. Now go talk to people who fit the profile. Ask if they’d pay for that result. Use their language. See what hits.
It doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be clear.
When you get clarity, your content gets easier. Your pitch gets sharper. Your confidence comes back. You stop spinning and start building something real.
You don’t need a brand.
You don’t need a funnel.
You don’t need a Notion dashboard with seven color-coded views.
You need someone with a problem, a way to fix it, and a reason for them to pay you.
Everything else is a distraction until that works.
Talk soon,
Josh
Man, I don't know you personally. But I really like your contents. I just finished reading this one and the other before this. I haven't bought any course from Dan Koe yet. I was about to but came across your newsletter. The signal from you cancelled the noise on my mind. So thank you. Keep up the work. I really really enjoy reading your post. And I will make sure I follow what you just said. Define what problems I can solve. Look for similar people with those problems. Ask them if they are willing to pay me. Repeat the process till someone actually pays and scale it.
Sharp, clear and straight to the point. I’ll emulate that when I figure out how I help.