INTERVIEW | Make Money Writing Books, Building a Bootstrapped Business, and Scaling to $80M+ with Chandler Bolt

Chandler Bolt is the founder of selfpublishing.com, a company that has helped thousands of people write and publish books. After dropping out of college to pursue entrepreneurship, Chandler built a successful lawn care and painting business before turning his own experience writing books into a business that has generated more than $80 million in sales. Today, he leads a 55-person company on track to generate $10–11 million in revenue while continuing to expand through media, content, strategic acquisitions, and multiple customer acquisition channels. On this episode we talk about: How selling snacks as a kid sparked Chandler’s entrepreneurial journey Why the best business idea is the one you actually build How Chandler turned his own experience writing books into selfpublishing.com Why entrepreneurs should focus on profit, cash flow, and labor efficiency—not just revenue How Chandler scaled his business to eight figures while staying bootstrapped and profitable The importance of having multiple customer acquisition channels How to evaluate coaches, mentors, and online business programs before investing Why writing a book can create massive leverage for entrepreneurs and business owners Chandler’s 30-day rough draft strategy for getting a book written The changing landscape of podcast appearances and paid podcast opportunities Top 3 Takeaways The best business is the one you actually build. Chandler learned early that having the “sexiest” business idea means nothing if you never take action. Execution matters more than how exciting the idea looks on paper. Profit and durability matter more than vanity metrics. Chandler believes revenue can be misleading and emphasizes profitability, cash flow, and labor efficiency. Building a profitable, bootstrapped company can provide far more control and flexibility than chasing growth at all costs. A book can become a powerful business asset. Writing a book allows entrepreneurs to create something once that can reach thousands or millions of people, establish authority, generate leads, and drive revenue for years. Chandler’s most recent book generated approximately $7 million in sales over 12 months through its strategic connection to his business. Notable Quotes “The best business is the one that you actually build.” “The most dangerous questions that an entrepreneur can ask is ‘What’s new?’ and ‘What’s next?’” “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is king.” Connect with Chandler Bolt: Website: https://selfpublishing.com/ Book Resources: https://selfpublishing.com/travis YouTube: Chandler Bolt / selfpublishing.com Instagram: Chandler Bolt A Word from Our Sponsors: - Go to Leesa.com for 25% OFF select mattresses (through August 23, 2026) PLUS get an extra $50 off with promo code TMM, exclusive for my listeners  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices