In an era where generic online courses face increasing skepticism and competition from AI-generated content, continuing education (CE) courses for licensed professionals offer a recession-resistant alternative, according to Justin Allan Montgomery, founder of ProCourseStart. Montgomery shared his insights and a step-by-step blueprint on Episode 165 of The Proven Entrepreneur podcast, hosted by Don Williams, titled 'The 8-Figure Loophole: Building a High-Demand Continuing Education Business,' published July 3, 2026.
Montgomery argues that CE courses are uniquely positioned because demand is legally mandated. Licensed professionals such as dentists, lawyers, chiropractors, electricians, and nurse practitioners must earn continuing education credits to maintain their licenses, creating a built-in, repeat-buyer market. This contrasts sharply with the saturated general e-learning space, where buyers are increasingly wary of unverified promises.
'There's no such thing as passive income. I'm sorry. There just isn't,' Montgomery told Williams, emphasizing that even his eight-figure CE business required active management. He revealed that his company generated $250,000 to $300,000 in monthly course sales, with Black Friday months topping a million dollars, while he invested roughly ten hours per week. Montgomery's journey began with The Elite Nurse Practitioner, which he launched in 2018 after spending six months building an audience of 3,000 nurse practitioners before making a single sale. That initial audience generated $50,000 in his first seven days, eventually growing to 40,000 subscribers without relying on viral videos or a massive social media following.
Montgomery stressed the importance of validation before building a course. 'You really need to spend more time developing your idea, developing your value proposition, identifying the problems that you're gonna solve. You need to spend more time on that than you actually spend building the course itself,' he said. He recommends using AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to validate course ideas before spending any money on development. His tactical breakdown of a $10,000 startup budget allocates roughly $3,000 to product build and $7,000 to marketing.
The audience-first model that Montgomery employed is central to his strategy. He advises aspiring course creators to build an engaged audience of licensed professionals, understand their specific pain points, and then create courses tailored to those needs. This approach, he says, is more effective than trying to sell generic courses to a broad audience.
Montgomery's own trajectory underscores the potential of this model. While simultaneously operating multi-location men's health clinics, he realized, echoing a mentor's advice, that 'you can only build one bridge at a time.' He doubled down on CE, engineered an eight-figure exit, and retired at 39. He now runs ProCourseStart, offering a 15-hour evergreen course and a mastermind program at ProCourseStart.com.
The episode also explores how to leverage AI tools for market research and idea validation. Montgomery suggests that AI can help identify the most pressing problems faced by licensed professionals, ensuring that course creators invest their time and money in products that have proven demand. This reduces the risk of building a course that fails to attract buyers.
For those interested in learning more, Episode 165 of The Proven Entrepreneur is available now wherever podcasts are heard, and at provenentrepreneurshow.com. The podcast, hosted by Don Williams, delivers real success stories, tactical frameworks, and unvarnished lessons from operators who have built and exited businesses.
