[ProjectVader]

This is spot on. I run a small agency, and the number of clients coming from Wix or Squarespace is surprising—especially considering those platforms are marketed as “easy.” I’d recommend using your LLM to research businesses that need websites and start reaching out by email or phone. After that, it becomes a numbers game. Most business owners eventually realize they need professional help in this space. Skip the penny-pinchers and focus on quick wins, and delegate if the margins are there.

Lastly, most of the advice you'll get around here will be technical, but every now and again a gem will popup that sort-of 'fills in the blanks' when it comes to the other part of this, which is sales and marketing. It's not easy, but it's not all hard. I recommend this thread if you want to read more about it, the Op gives some good advice on how to get leads, and eventually customers. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46661167

[atmosx]

Friend of mine develops and runs eshops. Through word of mouth he runs like 60-70 right now. Big and small. He sells setup, etc and takes care of hosting and patching and developing new features.

The most money and the easiest ones come from hosting ;-) it’s like X amount per year so that they don’t have to worry about it. He runs two huge servers, and makes pretty good money at are going to increase over time.

But he had patience and will to do the dirty work early on. Now he is riding the wave.