Continuing education, or CE, for licensed professionals is being presented as a recession-resistant opportunity in the crowded e-learning market, according to Episode 165 of The Proven Entrepreneur podcast. In the episode, host Don Williams interviews Justin Allan Montgomery, founder of ProCourseStart, who describes how he built an eight-figure continuing education business from a $10,000 startup budget before selling the company and retiring at age 39.

Montgomery says CE courses differ from many generic online courses because demand is often legally required for licensed professionals, including dentists, lawyers, chiropractors, electricians, and nurse practitioners. In many licensed fields, professionals must complete approved education on a recurring basis to maintain credentials, which makes accreditation, compliance deadlines, and subject-matter relevance central to the business model. That requirement creates a built-in market of repeat buyers, which he says can remain durable during economic slowdowns. He contrasts that structure with the broader online course industry, where buyers have become more skeptical of unverified claims and face a growing supply of AI-generated content.

The episode, published July 3, 2026, lays out Montgomery’s approach in detail. He launched his first company, The Elite Nurse Practitioner, in 2018 after spending six months building an audience of about 3,000 nurse practitioners before offering a product for sale. The launch generated $50,000 in revenue during its first seven days. Montgomery later expanded the audience to 40,000 subscribers without depending on viral content or very large social media followings.

Montgomery also challenges the idea that course businesses can be fully passive. “There’s no such thing as passive income. I’m sorry. There just isn’t,” he tells Williams. He says that even after his company reached eight figures, it still required about 10 hours per week of active involvement while producing $250,000 to $300,000 in monthly course sales. In some Black Friday months, sales exceeded $1 million.

He also cautions would-be course creators not to rush past validation. “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,” Montgomery says.

The discussion also covers the use of AI tools, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, to test and refine a course idea before spending money to build it. Montgomery outlines a startup budget of $10,000, with roughly $3,000 allocated to product development and $7,000 to marketing. He emphasizes an audience-first model, saying he used that approach to build a subscriber base before monetizing it. For CE providers, that audience-first approach can also help identify profession-specific pain points and regulatory requirements before course development costs are incurred.

Montgomery’s own business path is also part of the episode. While operating multi-location men’s health clinics, he followed a mentor’s advice that “you can only build one bridge at a time.” He then focused on continuing education, built the business to an eight-figure exit, and retired at 39. He now operates ProCourseStart, which offers a 15-hour evergreen course and a mastermind program at ProCourseStart.com.

Episode 165 of The Proven Entrepreneur is titled “The 8-Figure Loophole: Building a High-Demand Continuing Education Business.” It is available on podcast platforms and at provenentrepreneurshow.com. The show is hosted by Don Williams and features business operators who have built and exited companies, with a focus on sales growth, customer experience, company culture, and leadership.