If I Started A Business in 2026, I'd Do This
Alex Hormozi shares his strategy for starting a successful business in 2026, focusing on premium pricing and one-on-one service models.
Published Dec 6, 2025 by Alex Hormozi
Key Insights
Sell either extremely expensive products/services to a select few or very cheap products to the masses - avoid the middle ground.
Starting with high-ticket, one-on-one services provides better cash flow and faster learning, even if it's not immediately scalable.
Premium pricing creates higher profit margins that can fund business growth and scalable offerings.
High-end clients provide better case studies, marketing material, and networking opportunities that elevate your entire brand.
Even if only 10% of customers buy your premium offering, it can generate 75% of your total profit.
The perceived likelihood of achieving results increases dramatically with personalized, one-on-one service delivery.
Speed of delivery is a critical factor in persuasion - wealthy clients value time savings more than money savings.
0:00
Intro
“In 2016, I had $1,000 to my name, sleeping on a gym floor. Nine years later, I broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest selling non-fiction book and generate over $16 million in sales in a weekend.”
Alex Hormozi opens the video by sharing his journey from humble beginnings to massive success. He establishes credibility by contrasting his starting point in 2016 (sleeping on a gym floor with just $1,000) with his current accomplishments, including breaking a Guinness World Record for book sales and generating $16 million in a weekend.
This powerful introduction creates a compelling reason for viewers to listen to his advice on building a business from scratch. By demonstrating his own dramatic transformation, he positions himself as someone who can provide valuable insights based on real-world experience rather than theoretical concepts.
Takeaways
Hormozi went from $1,000 to his name to generating millions in just nine years
Establishing credibility upfront is crucial when sharing business advice
Personal stories of transformation create stronger viewer engagement
0:14
The Core Strategy
“Either sell extremely expensive stuff to a select few or sell something super cheap to everyone. The middle is where people die.”
Hormozi introduces his fundamental business philosophy: avoid the middle market. He explains that all businesses operate on the economic arbitrage between customer acquisition costs and customer lifetime value. The core strategy focuses on positioning at either end of the pricing spectrum - extremely high-end or extremely low-end.
He argues that the middle market is dangerous territory where businesses often fail due to insufficient margins and challenging economics. By contrasting these options, Hormozi sets up his preference for starting with high-ticket offerings, using Tesla as an example of a company that started with an expensive product ($250,000 Roadster) before moving downmarket to more affordable models.
Takeaways
Business success relies on the economic arbitrage between customer acquisition costs and customer value
The middle market is often a dangerous position with challenging economics
Starting high-end and moving downmarket follows the model of successful companies like Tesla
High margins at the premium end provide resources to later develop more affordable options
2:36
Why Start With 1-1
“Despite what most people believe, one of the simplest ways to create an expensive offer is to sell your time one-on-one, even if it's unscalable.”
Hormozi challenges conventional wisdom about scalability by advocating for one-on-one services as an entry strategy. He shares a personal anecdote about earning $45,000 monthly from a single personal training client, which provided the cash flow needed to reinvest in his business. This section directly addresses the common objection that one-on-one services aren't scalable by reframing the conversation around cash generation rather than time optimization.
He provides several compelling reasons why one-on-one service is superior when starting out: learning faster from fewer high-value clients, shifting your belief set about market possibilities, having flexibility in service delivery, creating a natural price anchor for other offerings, and generating 100% margin revenue. Hormozi emphasizes that even established businesses can benefit from having a few premium one-on-one clients alongside their scalable offerings.
Takeaways
One-on-one services can generate substantial cash flow with minimal startup costs
Working with high-end clients shifts your beliefs about what's possible in your market
Every business can have a few one-on-one premium clients regardless of industry
The flexibility of one-on-one delivery allows for rapid iteration and learning
Premium services create a high anchor price that makes lower-priced offerings seem more valuable
10:27
Premium Pricing Framework
“If I had to make a service or product that was only grown off of word of mouth alone and all you have is this one customer in front of you, what would that customer's experience look like?”
In this section, Hormozi provides three frameworks for developing premium offers. The first framework asks what you would include if you charged 10x or 100x more than your current price. The second framework imagines creating a service that relies solely on word-of-mouth from a single customer. The third approach considers how to make something worth 10x as much while removing all unscalable elements.
He emphasizes the importance of selecting the right avatar (target customer) for your premium offering, noting that high-ticket buyers are often different from those purchasing lower-priced products. Hormozi then explains how to articulate the customer's pain better than they can themselves by researching niche-specific language and pain points, which builds credibility and trust in your ability to solve their problems.
Takeaways
Premium offers should target a different avatar than your lower-priced offerings
Articulating a customer's problem better than they can creates inherent trust in your solution
Consider what you would include in a 10x or 100x more expensive offering, then evaluate feasibility
Design offers with word-of-mouth growth in mind to create remarkable experiences
Pain and persuasion exist in the specific, not the vague - be detailed in your messaging
12:53
Tactics For High End Clients
“Latency beats magnitude 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. You're not going to sell someone who's wealthy on how much money you're going to save them. You'll sell someone who's wealthy based on how much time you're going to save them.”
Hormozi dives into the tactical elements that create value for high-end clients. He identifies speed of delivery as the single most powerful persuasion factor, explaining that wealthy clients value time savings more than cost savings. One simple tactic he suggests is cutting your standard delivery time in half for premium clients and offering priority access, which can justify adding a zero to your price.
The section also covers how to engineer ease of use by systematically identifying and removing friction points in the customer experience. Hormozi notes that while creating this friction-free experience might cost more to deliver, premium pricing provides the margins needed to pay vendors and partners better rates, which creates a sustainable competitive advantage. He concludes by emphasizing that there will always be a percentage of people willing to pay 10x your standard price for premium service.
Takeaways
Speed of delivery is the most powerful persuasion factor for high-end clients
Systematically identify and remove friction points in the customer experience to increase perceived value
Higher margins from premium pricing allow you to pay vendors better, creating a competitive advantage
Some percentage greater than zero will always be willing to pay 10x your standard price
For wealthy clients, time savings are more valuable than cost savings
Conclusion
Alex Hormozi's business strategy turns conventional wisdom about scalability on its head by advocating for starting with premium, one-on-one services instead of immediately pursuing mass-market scalable solutions. This approach allows entrepreneurs to generate substantial cash flow with minimal startup costs, learn rapidly from high-quality clients, and fund the development of scalable offerings without external investment.
The mathematical breakdown Hormozi provides is particularly compelling: even if only 10% of customers purchase your premium offering at 10x the price, that small segment can generate 75% of your total profit. This insight alone could transform how entrepreneurs approach business development and pricing strategy.
So what? Rather than obsessing over scalability from day one, entrepreneurs should consider creating a premium tier of service that delivers exceptional value through personalization, speed, and friction removal. This strategy not only provides better cash flow for business growth but also elevates your entire brand, creates powerful case studies, and connects you with higher-caliber clients who will accelerate your personal and professional development. The most direct path to a profitable, sustainable business may be through serving fewer clients at higher prices rather than chasing volume from the start.