What started as a simple favor for a client turned into a recurring-income business bringing in six figures a year — all from one marketer’s drive to solve a problem.
Challenge
At his digital marketing agency in the U.K., Stefan P. spent most of his days helping brands grow online. One afternoon, during a meeting with a client who wanted to launch a juice-cleanse subscription box, Stefan ran into a familiar roadblock: building an e-commerce site with recurring payments was expensive and complicated.
His client had a small budget, but the available software options were either too costly or too technical. As a developer himself, Stefan thought, there has to be an easier way for small businesses to launch subscription products without hiring a full tech team.
Action
Instead of waiting for a solution to appear, he decided to create one. After hours and on weekends, Stefan began designing a simple, plug-and-play subscription platform that anyone could use.
He called it Subly — short for “subscription made simple.”
With only $200 in startup costs, Stefan built the first version from scratch using his own coding skills. He hosted the website, integrated payment systems, and designed user dashboards — all while keeping his day job.
But creating the tool was only half the battle. Stefan needed users. So, he launched a content marketing campaign, writing helpful articles about subscription businesses and optimizing them for Google. When Subly was featured on Product Hunt, a popular tech discovery site, everything changed. Dozens of early adopters signed up within days.
Result
Today, Subly earns well into six figures annually, with hundreds of customers paying monthly for the service. Plans start at $29 per month, and Subly takes a small transaction fee on each sale.
That recurring revenue means Stefan wakes up every month with predictable income — a dream for most entrepreneurs. Eventually, he left his agency job to focus on Subly full-time.
What began as a small experiment to help one client has now become a thriving SaaS business helping others launch subscription boxes, membership programs, and digital communities worldwide.
Lesson
Stefan’s story highlights one of the most important rules of entrepreneurship: solve a real problem that you personally encounter.
He didn’t chase a random idea or trend — he saw a gap in the market and filled it with something simple, useful, and affordable.
The result wasn’t just a product. It was freedom — the kind that comes from building something that earns money while you sleep.
Inspired by a true story originally featured on Side Hustle School by Chris Guillebeau. This rewritten version is independently produced and fully original.