I'm writing this from my camper somewhere between San Diego and Phoenix. I'm currently on my way to Oceanside, CA to have some new solar panels installed on my rig so I can stay remote for even longer periods of time.
I just spent the last four days parked on the edge of a mountain, taking cold showers on a cliff, working from Starlink with nothing but my laptop and the view.
Tonight I'll probably watch the sunset from the beach in Oceanside and work from there this week while my truck has its upgrades completed.
This is what location-independent income actually looks like — not Instagram reels from Bali, not laptop-on-the-beach stock photos, but the real, dirty, barefoot, alive version of freedom that most sales reps don't even know is possible.
Ten years ago, I was a BDR at a cybersecurity company grinding through cold calls, quota resets, and the same fluorescent-lit office every single day. I got promoted three times. I ran the inside sales team. I maxed out around $150K.
And I was miserable.
Not because the money was bad. Not because I didn't like the people. But because every single day felt the same. Because my entire life was optimized around someone else's pipeline. Because I knew that no matter how hard I worked, my reward was just a bigger quota and another year of the same cycle.
So my business partner and I started a social media marketing agency on the side back in November of 2016.
Two weeks later, we landed our first client. Six months after that, we both quit. Nine months in, we were each making over $100K per year.
Today, our business does over seven figures annually. I work about six hours a day. I have a team of 20 contractors all over the world. My MRR is around $100K per month from about 15 clients paying between $5K–$10K in retainers.
And I haven't had a "Sunday scary" in years.
This isn't a brag. It's proof that the skills you already have as a sales rep are worth 10x more when you apply them to your own business instead of someone else's pipeline. Let me show you how to build this.
The truth about location-independent income
First, let's kill some misconceptions.
You don't need to be a digital nomad influencer. I'm not posting from co-working spaces in Thailand or doing yoga on beaches. I'm working from my camper, getting dirty, taking cold showers, and living a life that actually feels like mine.
You don't need a lot of money saved. We started this business with basically nothing. No fancy tools. No massive ad budget. Just outreach, conviction, and the skills we already had from sales.
You don't need to quit your job first. In fact, you probably shouldn't. The smartest move is to build this on the side, get proof of concept, and then make the leap when the math makes sense.
What you do need is a business model that works without you being in one place, a skill set that translates to remote work, and the guts to actually start. Sales reps are uniquely positioned for this because you already have the hard part figured out: you know how to get clients.
Why sales reps have an unfair advantage
Here's what nobody tells you: sales is the best training ground for building a location-independent business.
When I was a BDR, I was already doing everything a digital entrepreneur does:
The only difference? I was doing it for someone else's product, someone else's commission structure, and someone else's dream.
Starting my own business wasn't learning new skills — it was just redirecting the ones I already had toward something I owned.
And here's the kicker: your sales experience gives you an unfair advantage in understanding how this business should work. You've been on the other side. You know what businesses need. You know how leads flow. Most people who try to start an agency have never been in the trenches. You have. That's leverage.
The business model that actually works
Let me break down exactly what we do, because this model is repeatable, scalable, and doesn't require you to be in any specific location.
The Service: Lead Generation via the 3-Step Funnel
- Ad — Facebook, Google, whatever works for the niche
- Landing page — opt-in, capture info
- Automated follow-up — email, SMS, nurture sequence
That's it. No complicated custom development. No 40-page proposals. Just a productized service that works the same way for every client.
Why this model works for location independence:
- •It's digital. Everything happens online. No physical products. No in-person meetings required.
- •It's recurring. Clients pay retainers ($5K–$10K/month). You're not chasing one-time project fees.
- •It's delegatable. Once you have the system dialed in, you can hire contractors to fulfill the work while you focus on clients and strategy.
- •It's proven. Businesses will always need leads. This isn't some trendy new thing — it's a fundamental business need.
The Economics
Right now I have about 15 clients, each paying between $5K–$10K/month. That's roughly $100K MRR. I work about 6 hours a day. I have a team of 20 contractors handling fulfillment. My role? Client management, strategy, and business development. I can do that from anywhere with an internet connection.
How we built this (the honest timeline)
Month 1–2: Starting While Employed
We started the business while still working our sales jobs. We didn't quit. We didn't burn the boats. We just started reaching out to potential clients in our spare time — nights, weekends, lunch breaks. Two weeks in, we landed our first client. They paid us $2,750/month. It wasn't life-changing money, but it was proof.
Month 3–6: Building Momentum
We kept stacking clients. One turned into two. Two turned into five. We were working two full-time jobs at this point, but the math was starting to make sense. By month six, we were both making enough from the business to cover our bills. That's when we quit.
Month 7–12: Scaling Without Breaking
This is where we made our biggest mistake: we didn't delegate soon enough. We were so used to doing everything ourselves (sales rep mentality) that we tried to handle all the fulfillment, client management, and business development on our own. We hit a ceiling fast.
Once we started hiring contractors — media buyers, copywriters, funnel builders — the business exploded. We went from $10K/month to $50K/month to six figures in MRR. The lesson? Your job isn't to do the work. Your job is to get clients and build systems.
The day-to-day reality
Let me give you a real picture of what this life actually looks like, because it's not all sunsets and mountain views (though there are a lot of those).
My Typical Day Now
- → Wake up naturally (no alarm)
- → Slow coffee in the camper, check emails
- → Cold shower outside
- → 2–3 hours of deep work
- → Workout or walk the dogs
- → Another 2–3 hours of work
- → Sunset, stars, maybe stream a game
Total work time: ~6 hours
My Old Sales Job
- → 8–10 hours in the office
- → Commute time
- → Sunday scaries
- → Performance reviews
- → Forecasting meetings
- → Constant anxiety about hitting quota
Now I watch the sunset every single night. I look at the stars. I travel full-time. I get barefoot, dirty, cold, uncomfortable — and it's amazing. I'm back in touch with something ancestral. Something real. That's what location-independent income actually buys you. Not just money. Time, autonomy, and the ability to design a life that doesn't feel like you're waiting for the weekend.
What you're actually trading
What You Give Up
- •Stability (the illusion of it, anyway)
- •Benefits (health insurance, 401K matching)
- •A guaranteed paycheck every two weeks
- •The safety net of a corporate structure
What You Gain
- •Ownership of your income (no comp plan ceiling)
- •Geographic freedom (work from literally anywhere)
- •Time freedom (design your own schedule)
- •Creative freedom (build something that's actually yours)
- •The ability to scale without a promotion or permission
For me, the trade was obvious. I'd rather have uncertainty and freedom than security and a cage. But here's what most people miss: the "security" of a sales job is an illusion anyway. Your quota resets every month. Your territory can get cut. Your comp plan can change. You can be laid off the same quarter you hit 140%. The only real security is owning your own income stream.
The 5-step framework to get started
Step 1: Pick a Niche You Understand
Don't reinvent the wheel. Pick an industry you already know from your sales job. If you sell cybersecurity software, go after MSPs or IT consultants. If you sell to healthcare, go after clinics or med spas. If you work in construction, go after contractors, roofers, HVAC companies. You already speak their language.
Step 2: Offer a Simple, Proven Service
Lead generation. That's it. Every business needs more customers. You're going to help them get leads using the 3-step funnel (ad, landing page, follow-up). Don't try to be a full-service agency. Simplicity scales.
Step 3: Land Your First Client (Fast)
Use your sales skills. You already know how to do this.
- → Write a cold email
- → Reach out to 50–100 prospects
- → Offer a free trial or pilot (30 days, no strings attached)
- → Get them results
- → Turn the pilot into a paying retainer
Your goal isn't perfection. Your goal is proof. One client at $2K–$3K/month is enough to validate the model.
Step 4: Build the System Before You Scale
This is where we screwed up. Don't make the same mistake. Once you have 2–3 clients, start documenting everything — how you run ads, build landing pages, set up automation, onboard clients, and report results.
Turn it into SOPs so you can eventually hand it off. If you can't delegate, you'll cap at 5–10 clients and burn out.
Step 5: Hire, Delegate, Scale
Once you have the systems in place, start hiring contractors — media buyers to run ads, copywriters to write landing pages, VAs to handle admin work. Your job shifts from doing the work to managing the business. That's when you go from $10K/month to $50K/month to six figures in MRR. And that's when you can actually work from anywhere.
Addressing the objections (because I know you have them)
"I don't have time to build this while working full-time."
Yes, you do. You just don't want to give up Netflix, scrolling, or whatever you're doing from 8–10 PM every night. I built this working nights and weekends while holding down a full-time sales job. It sucked. It was hard. But six months of hard bought me a lifetime of freedom.
"I need benefits. I can't give up health insurance and a 401K."
Fair. Health insurance for my wife and me costs about $600/month on the marketplace. I put more into my SEP IRA every year than I ever did with a corporate match. The tax benefits of owning a business far outweigh anything I got as a W2 employee. Making 10x more from my company far outweighs any perceived "benefits." Benefits are a solvable problem. Don't let them be the reason you stay stuck.
"I'm just a sales rep. I don't know how to run a business."
Bullshit. You know how to get clients. That's 80% of running a business. The rest — operations, finance, systems — you can learn or delegate. But without clients, there's no business. You already have the hardest skill.
"What if I fail?"
Then you go back to sales and you're in the exact same position you're in now. Except you'll have learned more in six months of trying than most people learn in six years of playing it safe. The downside is capped. The upside is infinite.
What I'd tell someone who's scared to start
I get it. It's scary. You've spent years building a career in sales. You've got a steady paycheck. You've got benefits. You've got a title. Walking away from that feels like jumping off a cliff without a parachute.
But here's what I know now that I didn't know then:
The cliff isn't quitting your job. The cliff is staying in a career that resets every month and caps your upside forever.
You're already living with risk. Your quota resets. Your territory can shrink. Your comp plan can change. Your company can fold. The "security" you're clinging to is a mirage.
Building your own income stream isn't riskier — it's actually safer because you control the inputs and the outcomes.
And here's the other thing nobody tells you: it's easier than you think. You already have the skills. You already understand the business model. You already know how to handle rejection, run a pipeline, and close deals. You're not starting from scratch. You're just redirecting what you already know toward something you own.
So if you're scared? Good. That means it matters. But don't let fear be the reason you stay stuck.
The moment everything changed for me
I'll never forget the day I quit my sales job. I walked into the office, told my boss I was done, and felt this weird mix of terror and peace. Terror because I was walking away from $150K and a "stable" career. Peace because I finally felt like my destiny was in my own hands.
That was ten years ago.
Since then, I've built a seven-figure business. I've traveled full-time. I've worked from mountaintops, beaches, deserts, forests. I've watched more sunsets in the last three years than I did in the previous ten.
But the craziest part? It wasn't the money or the travel that changed my life. It was the feeling of waking up and knowing that every single thing I do today compounds into something I own. That my effort isn't resetting at the end of the month. That I'm not building someone else's dream — I'm building mine.
That's what location-independent income actually gives you. Not just freedom to work from anywhere. Freedom to live like you're actually alive.
– Dave
Currently somewhere between San Diego and Phoenix, watching the sunset from my camper, living a life I didn't think was possible ten years ago.
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