Sam Ovens Review: Subscription Business Pros, Cons, and Alternative Models

What Are the Pros and Cons of Sam Ovens?

Pros:

• He’s built multiple companies across software, education, and community, showing he actually builds and iterates businesses, not just talks about them.
• He runs an active YouTube presence and long-form content where you can see his thinking on systems, focus, and decision-making in detail.
• Large, engaged community on his own platform.

Cons:

• Polarizing marketing history. Earlier “guru-style” ads and high-intensity marketing made some people view him as hype-driven or overly salesy.
• Big claims are mostly self-reported. Revenue and success numbers usually come from his own interviews and content rather than third-party verification.
• Shifting focus between ventures.

What Are High-Ticket Clients?

High-ticket clients are those who pay you over $80K to $100K per year or more for your services. Sam Oven teaches that doing business in high-ticket niches is the key to success. Working with high-ticket clients is very beneficial for low-capacity businesses. This is because of lower operating costs and clients who want long-term relationships. Find high-ticket clients in consulting, coaching, luxury goods, and tech.

Customer acquisition is crucial for converting prospects into paying customers. It is essential for business growth and revenue generation. Acquisition channels include email marketing, social media, content marketing, referrals, SEO, affiliate programs, and PPC ads. Customer retention also boosts revenue and long-term success. Selling to existing customers has a 60-70% success rate versus 5-20% for new customers.

Who Is Sam Ovens?

Sam Ovens is a digital marketing expert and business coach from Los Angeles, California. The New Zealand-born entrepreneur is the CEO of Skool. He also founded Consulting.com and SnapInspect. From crashing in his parents’ basement to a $65 million Palm Beach mansion, Sam’s story is one of great success. Forbes even featured him in their 30 Under 30 millionaire entrepreneurs list.

Sam found huge success as a digital marketing consultant who helped businesses scale. He then entered the online education industry with his Consulting Accelerator course. It taught students to start a consulting business from scratch. He then created UpLevel and Quantum. These helped successful business owners grow their consulting businesses.

In January 2023, Sam Ovens sold Consulting.com to his former student, Rian Doris. He wanted to focus on his newer business, Skool. He decided after a former student of his mastermind made him an offer. Sam refunded his entire Quantum Mastermind. He also canceled his podcast after three episodes.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Sam gave more reasons for selling Consulting.com, despite it making millions a year. Sam explained that Consulting.com was a cash cow. But it had high operating costs and was hard to manage at scale. He also said that Skool was a community-based business. It was easier to manage and had high growth potential.

What Is Sam Ovens’ Skool?

Skool is an e-learning platform where course creators can host their courses and communities all in one place. Only one login is needed per user. The idea of creating this platform stemmed from Sam noticing how scattered his platform was. His learning portal, community, and live Q&A calls were all in different places.

Sam wanted to put all those elements together to make it easy for everyone involved. In 2019, he created Skool to make everyone’s life easier. You’ll be able to benefit from the platform when you invest in either the UpLevel course or Quantum Mastermind.

What Is Alex Hormozi’s Skool Investment?

Millionaire digital marketer Alex Hormozi invested $200 million in Skool in January 2024. This large investment marks a new chapter of growth for the platform. Alex posted on his social media accounts that he just made the biggest investment of his life. Hormozi is known for advising entrepreneurs to invest in growing businesses rather than starting their own.

What Is Quantum?

Quantum Mentorship was a 12-month mastermind. It helped you reach ‘7-figure Zen,’ as Sam calls it. According to Sam, 7-figure Zen is when you’re making over $100K per month with only 1 or 2 products.

With Quantum, 100 founders, including you, collaborated to maximize profits and client results at scale. It was about maximizing your long-term success. Being around 99 other founders was a great space to achieve that. Sam shut down Quantum in 2023 to focus on Skool.

Price: $36,000 for 12 months; pay upfront or do monthly payments of $3000

Training: A custom plan is made for you in your onboarding session with Sam. All tools are provided to help you succeed. There are 3-day live events each quarter: two in-person and two on Zoom.

Support: Your success coach will have quarterly check-ins to hold you accountable. There will be a weekly Q&A coaching call with Sam. You can also use Skool to interact with the other 99 founders.

What else we like about Quantum:

• They record live events
• Monthly social hangouts on Zoom (“your network is your net worth”)
• You’re taught the importance of systems in your business

Quantum Success Story

A Quantum mastermind student made over $262K in a month due to Sam’s mastermind. Here is their success story.

Bashar J Katou is probably one of the most successful students of Sam Ovens’ Quantum. Bashar was able to make $14M from selling his BJK University Amazon FBA course using the marketing strategies he learned from Quantum.

Bashar J Katou is probably one of the most successful students of Sam Ovens’ Quantum. Bashar made $14M selling his BJK University Amazon FBA course. He used marketing strategies from Quantum to do it.

What Is Sam Ovens’ UpLevel Course?

UpLevel is an 8-week program that teaches you to attract high-ticket clients. It’s for successful consultants who want to scale their business. UpLevel is for coaches, course creators, consultants, and agency owners. They need to make at least $10,000 per month in revenue to qualify.

Price: $6000

Training: An 8-week video training with step-by-step instructions. It includes all tools needed to run your business. Your investment covers this. There are 100+ hours of lessons in audio, video, and PDF formats.

Support: UpLevel community on Skool (see above ‘What is Skool?’)

Pros:

• Sam teaches you how to automate client acquisition and service fulfillment with the help of various platforms and softwares
• You learn how to hire and manage a lean team
• Sam goes over sales psychology
• They include the Consulting Accelerator course with this purchase

Cons:

• Sam sometimes takes too much time explaining simple ideas
• They don’t teach you high-level copy writing principles

UpLevel Success Stories

Students have found success with the UpLevel course. The following success story was shared within Skool.

Here is another success story of a student who made $100K in only 7 months.

Pros and Cons of Subscription Business Model

Pros

• Increased Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Retention is cheaper than acquisition. Businesses see up to a 16.1x increase in CLV after using subscriptions.
• Predictable Revenue: Creates steady, predictable income streams. Subscription companies grow revenue 5x faster than traditional businesses.
• Better Customer Relationships: Regular contact builds stronger connections. 70% of businesses use customer feedback to improve services.
• Upselling Odds: 60-70% to sell to existing customers, vs. 5-20% for new ones.
• Reduced Admin: Automation cuts admin tasks by 30%. Staff can focus on other priorities.

Cons

• High Churn Risk: The average monthly churn rate is 6.7%, meaning 7 out of 100 subscribers cancel each month.
• High Customer Acquisition Costs: Companies spend $1.18 to gain $1 in new revenue. It takes 6-7 months to recoup these costs.
• Customer Fatigue: 59% of consumers feel overwhelmed by too many subscriptions.
• Resource Intensive: It needs constant updates. Ongoing costs consume up to 30% of monthly revenue.
• Limited Market Fit: Not all products suit subscriptions. 70% of consumers prefer owning high-value items over subscribing.

A subscription model is best if your products provide ongoing value. These are offers needing regular access or replenishment. Sam Ovens earns a stable cash flow from subscriptions by providing course creators with a platform to host their programs. Consider the pros and cons of the subscription business model and determine if this best suits your situation.

Subscription Business Model Ideas

You do not have to create a platform like Skool to earn from the subscription business model. Here are other subscription business model ideas that you can use for your product or service:

• Local Service Subscriptions - This model offers recurring maintenance and service for homes and businesses. It includes house cleaning, lawn care, and HVAC maintenance.
• Digital Services - This model covers software, streaming content, virtual events, and online communities. It provides instant, scalable access to digital resources.
• Physical Products - This model delivers curated boxes, groceries, vitamins, and books to customers’ doors. It lets customers enjoy receiving selected products without the need to shop.
• Education and Development - This model enables ongoing learning and growth. It gives users recurring access to educational content, mentoring, and skills resources.
• Content-Based Subscriptions - This model provides exclusive, high-quality content. It uses newsletters, digital libraries, magazines, and fan clubs to serve niche interests.

Final Verdict: Is Sam Ovens’ Subscription and High-Ticket Strategy a Smart Path to Scale a Business?

Sam Ovens’ subscription and high-ticket strategy is a smart path to scale a business because it focuses on fewer clients who pay more and stay longer, which maximizes revenue per relationship. His approach using Skool as a platform and his consulting frameworks as the engine helps coaches, consultants, and course creators move away from low-ticket, high-churn offers. However, this model demands strong expertise, excellent delivery, and a constant stream of qualified leads to justify high-ticket pricing. It’s powerful for people who already have a proven offer and skillset, but it’s a steep climb for beginners who haven’t yet validated their niche or message.

Is Local Lead Generation More Predictable Than a Subscription Consulting Business?

In my opinion, local lead generation is more predictable than a subscription consulting business because it doesn’t depend on complex funnels, personal branding, or constant client acquisition.

Comparing subscription consulting to local lead generation is like teaching back-to-back cohorts at Stanford Graduate School of Business versus running Seattle City Light’s automated billing system. At Stanford Graduate School of Business, the instructor keeps building new cases, leading live sessions, answering questions, and constantly proving the program is worth its tuition. It’s like how subscription consulting demands fresh calls, new material, and ongoing hand-holding so clients stay instead of cancelling. With the meter, accounts, and rates set, the Seattle City Light automated billing system sends statements on schedule and collects payments every year. Local lead generation behaves the same in that leads keep coming and costs stay low.

Why Is Local Lead Generation the Best Way to Build Control and Freedom Online?

Local lead generation is the best way to build control and freedom online because you own the digital assets and decide who you work with, how much you charge, and how big you scale. You don’t need a massive audience, a personal brand, or a complex subscription platform to get started. Simple websites that rank in Google and send calls and form submissions to local businesses. Each site can bring in predictable monthly payments, and you can duplicate the process across dozens of niches and cities.

A client of mine is Glendale Elite Hardwood Flooring, 1106 South Central Avenue, Glendale, California 91204, 818-732-4711, https://glendaleeliteflooring.com/. In the month that 6 of my leads closed for $23,750, I earned $2,375 from 10% commissions.

If you want a business model that gives you real control over your time, income, and clients, click here to learn how local lead generation works and how to launch your first digital property.