How to Make Money Online in 2025: A Case Study
Have you ever dreamed of quitting your job and earning a comfortable income from anywhere in the world? This case study reveals practical steps you can apply to build a profitable online business by 2025.
Introduction
Today, “making money online” encompasses diverse models: content creation on YouTube and TikTok, skill-sharing on platforms like Skillshare, freelancing on Upwork, affiliate marketing, e-commerce stores, and digital courses. Monthly search volume for “how to make money online” exceeds 100,000 globally, indicating widespread interest but also fierce competition. Yet most viewers never move beyond passive consumption of videos and blog posts. This inaction stems from fear, analysis paralysis, and underestimating the work involved. In contrast, Aman Manazir’s journey demonstrates that consistent action, even with imperfect resources, can yield real returns over time. Beginning in May 2020 as a broke 19-year-old college student, Aman watched a viral video by Ali Abdaal, a doctor turned entrepreneur, and decided to launch his first micro-course on Skillshare within a week. Over four years, he iterated through multiple ventures—some earning only a few hundred dollars—before landing on a model that consistently generates over $20,000 in monthly profit. This post distills his mindset shifts, tactical approaches, and investment strategies so you can replicate his success in your own online entrepreneurship journey.
Aman's Journey
Aman’s path began when his brother showed him Ali Abdaal’s YouTube video, which had over 2.1 million views. It showcased how a medical doctor supplemented his income by creating courses and videos. Inspired, Aman recognized that financial freedom was not exclusive to seasoned professionals or tech experts. With zero background in videography or marketing, he and his brother brainstormed ideas they could teach: from standardized test prep to music lessons. Ultimately, Aman chose a simple “Intro to C Programming” course, filmed in his dorm room. He borrowed a microphone, spent five hours scripting, recorded in one afternoon, and edited the next day. By launching within a week, he leveraged a bias to action, prioritizing experimentation over perfection.
“Resistance is the problem here,” Aman reflected. “If something seems possible for someone else, given enough effort and focus, it can be possible for me too.”
This internal locus of control—believing that effort directly shapes outcomes—became his guiding principle. Rather than waiting for ideal resources, he repurposed what he already had and treated each project as a minimum viable experiment in his broader online business strategy.
Experimentation & Failure
Entrepreneurial success rarely springs from a single idea. Aman’s first Skillshare course generated just $1,500 over four years—far below his expectations. Many would interpret that as a failure, but Aman saw it as a crucial learning phase. He simultaneously launched a blog, drafted weekly newsletters, and tested social media outreach, all while studying computer science. Each attempt, regardless of revenue, taught him practical skills: building a website on Webflow, writing SEO-optimized articles, crafting email campaigns in tools like Mailchimp, and understanding audience engagement metrics.
He emphasizes that your first three businesses will probably fail, and that’s normal. Failure accelerates mastery by enforcing discipline, resilience, and creative problem-solving. Over successive trials, Aman refined his process: defining clear value propositions, framing engaging course content, and improving production quality. By the end of year two, his content quality improved significantly, laying the groundwork for more profitable launches in subsequent years.
Overcoming Challenges
Three pervasive barriers can stall online business growth—difficulty, friction, and timing—and Aman tackled each head-on:
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Difficulty: Entrepreneurship is inherently hard. Creating videos, writing detailed lesson plans, and building sales funnels requires new skills. Aman embraced discomfort, understanding that if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. He viewed every challenge as an essential step toward long-term success.
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Friction: Small obstacles accumulate at every step. Whether it’s finding a reliable singing teacher for a side project or configuring payment gateways for a course, multi-step processes demand persistence. Aman found that most tasks require five to ten touchpoints—emails, follow-ups, trials—before completion. He learned to push through initial resistance and automate reminders to stay on track.
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Timing: Waiting for “the perfect moment” is simply procrastination. There will always be life events, exams, or work deadlines. As Aman puts it, “If you want to do something, recognize that the timing will never ever feel right.” Starting now, with imperfect conditions, builds momentum far more effectively than waiting for ideal clarity.
Friction Points You Might Encounter:
- Finding Resources: Essential tools or expertise might not be immediately accessible.
- Lack of Feedback: Early work can go unnoticed without constructive critique.
- Analysis Paralysis: Constant planning without execution undermines progress.
By reconceptualizing these barriers as signals to double down instead of excuses to quit, Aman strengthened his entrepreneurial resolve.
Building Consistency & Mindset
Consistency is the engine of growth in any online venture. To align day-to-day habits with your entrepreneurial goals, adopt these practices:
Audit Your Feed: Check your YouTube and social media home pages. Algorithms learn your interests: if you consume mostly entertainment content, they will prioritize that. Intentionally engage with channels and creators who share business strategies, productivity tips, and success stories. This reinforces a success-oriented mindset.
Double-Dip Hobbies: Identify hobbies that provide both enjoyment and skill acquisition or income potential. For example, creating short music tutorials hones your video production skills, which you can apply to educational content. Similarly, participating in hackathons can foster teamwork, coding expertise, and product-building experience—all useful in digital entrepreneurship.
Intrinsic Motivation: Work on projects that feel like play. If launching a new blog post or refining a course module excites you rather than drains you, you are more likely to sustain effort through long growth cycles. Recognize when you lose momentum and re-anchor yourself by revisiting the purpose behind your work—be it financial freedom, creative expression, or flexible lifestyle.
Investing in Education
Strategic investment in specialized courses and coaching can dramatically accelerate your progress. Aman initially resisted spending on education, citing common skepticism toward “course sellers.” However, once he overcame loss aversion and committed funds, the impact was substantial:
• YouTube Coaching: A structured program taught him advanced tactics for audience research, thumbnail design, and subscriber growth.
• Sales & Fulfillment Accelerator: A bootcamp approach taught him how to price premium coaching offers, build sales pages, and handle payments.
Many programs include guarantees or refund windows, reducing risk. Treat course fees as seed capital: even a $1,000 investment can yield returns in the thousands if you apply the principles with discipline. As Aman learned, paying for focused knowledge and mentorship helps you bypass years of trial-and-error, propelling your online business toward profitability.
Results & Income
By mid-2024, after four years of iterative launches and continual learning, Aman’s online business achieved consistent profitability. In July, August, and September he generated about $30,000 in revenue each month, clearing roughly $20,000 in profit. His revenue peaked at $55,000 in November, with expenses averaging $10,000 monthly. This level of earnings provided him with the freedom to travel, work remotely, and decline return offers from traditional employers—something he once thought impossible.
More importantly, these results validated the cumulative effect of his mindset shifts: viewing failure as data, overcoming friction through persistence, and reinvesting in targeted education. Today, Aman advises others that with consistent action, resilience, and smart financial reinvestment, replicating this level of success in online entrepreneurship is not only possible but within reach.
Conclusion
Aman Manazir’s story is a roadmap for anyone wanting to build a thriving online business in 2025. The keys are clear: start with a bias to action, embrace failure as feedback, push through friction, invest in high-leverage education, and stay consistent. Success doesn’t happen overnight, but it compounds with every small, intentional step.
Actionable Takeaway:
- Choose one small project—whether launching a mini-course, publishing a blog post, or recording a short video—and commit to completing and publishing it within the next five days.
What’s your first step toward online business success today?