The man who built a $1M moving company in Lansing, MI — three times — just put his entire blueprint into a $27 ebook. Here’s why it’s the best investment you’ll make this year.
There’s a guy on YouTube with the largest channel in the world dedicated entirely to teaching people how to start a moving company. His name is Jae Burnham, and his channel is called 7 Figure Moving Academy. Featured on the Grow Your Moving Company podcast and recognized as a pioneer in the moving industry, Jae built his company, U-Save Moving & Storage, from nothing in Lansing, Michigan. Not New York. Not Los Angeles. Not a booming tech city with unlimited customers — just a mid-sized Midwest market. And he scaled it to nearly $1,000,000 in gross annual revenue before selling it.
Then he did it again. And again.
His third build? He started with exactly $100 — just to prove to skeptics that the blueprint worked regardless of circumstances. Year one: $250,000. Year three: $1 million. Moreover, he’s now condensed everything he knows into a single, no-fluff field manual called Moving For Money, available for $27.
Maybe you’re a complete beginner. Maybe you’re a weekend warrior doing occasional moves, or someone grinding a 9-to-5 and ready to escape. Perhaps you’re a solo operator tired of being needed on every single job. Whatever stage you’re at, this is the resource you’ve been waiting for.
Do You Actually Need a Truck to Start a Moving Company?
No. And buying one too soon is one of the biggest mistakes new movers make.
This is the myth that stops thousands of people from ever getting started. The conventional wisdom says you need a truck, commercial insurance, and a warehouse. It also tells you to budget $50,000–$200,000 before you can call yourself a moving company. That’s simply not true — and the most profitable entry point into this industry proves it.
Labor-only moving is the model that changed the game. You supply the crew and the muscle, while the customer rents or drives their own truck. Platforms like MovingHelper, HireAHelper, Thumbtack, Angi, and TaskRabbit are actively looking for reliable labor-only movers. Sign up and they’ll put paying jobs in front of you within days.
That means no truck payment, no fleet insurance, and no six-figure debt before you’ve booked your first job.
Once the cash is flowing and your reputation is building, you can scale into full-service operations. You do it on your own timeline — with your own money. In Moving For Money, Jae maps out that entire progression step-by-step. He has walked it himself, in a real market, with real constraints.
How Much Does It Really Cost to Start a Moving Business?
Industry guides will tell you to budget $50,000 to $200,000. Jae did it for $100.
Here’s the honest, lean-start breakdown:
| Expense | Cost |
|---|---|
| Business name registration | ~$50 |
| Google Business Profile | Free |
| Branding (Canva + ChatGPT) | Free |
| Lead platform sign-ups | Free to start |
| Dolly + basic moving straps | ~$50–$75 |
| Total | Under $200 |
The expensive route — trucks, warehouses, branded uniforms, a website agency — comes after the money starts coming in, not before. In fact, rushing to “look legit” before you’ve booked five jobs is one of the seven rookie mistakes the ebook’s bonus section covers. It kills more new moving businesses than any other single error.
Jae built his first company in Lansing with next to nothing. The second time, he did it while homeless. Either way, the tools, the truck, and the crew all came later — funded by the business itself, not a bank. That’s precisely the model Moving For Money teaches.
How Do I Get My First Moving Jobs Fast?
Speed matters more than polish when you’re starting out. The fastest path to a booked calendar isn’t a slick website — it’s the right lead platforms, worked the right way.
Moving For Money Chapter 4 walks through the exact platforms to prioritize in order of immediacy:
- MovingHelper & HireAHelper — the most direct pipeline to paying customers for labor-only movers
- Thumbtack & Angi — broader local visibility with strong intent signals
- TaskRabbit — ideal for smaller, faster gig-style jobs while you build reviews
However, signing up alone isn’t enough. There’s a specific phone habit covered in the chapter — deceptively simple, almost embarrassingly obvious in hindsight. It separates movers with full calendars from movers who wonder why their leads aren’t converting. The answer comes down to response time, and most people blow it.
On top of that, a correctly built Google Business Profile is what Jae calls the #1 source of free leads in the moving industry. Chapter 3 teaches you to set it up properly. Once it’s live, you have a lead engine generating inbound calls while you’re out on jobs.
This is exactly how Jae went from $100 to his first $250K. Not with a marketing budget, but with the right platforms and the right habits.
How Profitable Is a Moving Business?
Let’s talk real numbers, because the upside of this industry doesn’t get nearly enough attention.
The average mover charges $80–$150 per hour depending on crew size and market. For example, a two-person crew running a 4-hour local job grosses $640–$1,200 in a single morning. Hit three jobs in a weekend and you’re looking at $2,000–$3,600 in 48 hours.
In high-volume markets, top independent moving operations generate $30,000–$50,000 per month. Even in a mid-sized market like Lansing, Michigan — not exactly a booming coastal metro — Jae built to $1M annually. Furthermore, Chapter 5 of the ebook lays out the exact profit formula he used, including realistic monthly revenue targets by crew size.
The global moving services market is valued at over $110 billion and growing. People move for jobs, for relationships, for school, for a fresh start — and that demand stays year-round, recession-resistant, and deeply local. As a result, national corporations can’t easily take your customers. The moving business rewards operators who are present, responsive, and reliable in their local market.
The barrier to entry is low. The ceiling is high. What most people lack isn’t the opportunity — it’s the roadmap.
Who Is Jae Burnham — And Why Does It Matter?
Before you take business advice from anyone, you should know who you’re taking it from.
Jae Burnham isn’t a business coach who read about moving companies — nor is he an MBA who studied the industry from the outside. Instead, he’s a mover who built U-Save Moving & Storage from scratch in Lansing, Michigan, scaled it to nearly seven figures, and sold it. Then he built again — once from a homeless situation — and hit $1M in gross annual revenue a second time.
His 7 Figure Moving Academy YouTube channel is the largest in the world dedicated to starting and growing moving companies. It covers everything from lead generation and pricing to hiring and scaling. Moving industry outlets and entrepreneurship publications have recognized him as a pioneer in the field. His episode on the Grow Your Moving Company podcast further cements that authority.
When someone with that track record distills everything they know into a 7-chapter ebook and offers it for $27, you read it.
What’s Inside Moving For Money?
The ebook functions as a field manual — seven chapters plus a bonus section — with each one focused on action, not theory.
Chapters 1–3: Foundation First
1 — The Big Why: Jae’s unfiltered backstory, including building a company while homeless and what that experience taught him about resourcefulness, resilience, and focus. This isn’t motivational fluff. Rather, it’s the mindset foundation everything else is built on.
2 — Name & Branding: Picking a business name that positions you as a pro, checking availability, and building a real brand identity using free tools like ChatGPT and Canva — even if you’ve never designed anything in your life.
3 — Setting Up Shop: Everything you need to build a Google Business Profile that generates free leads on autopilot. Plus, how to launch a social media presence across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube — all in a single weekend.
Chapters 4–7: Getting Paid and Scaling Up
4 — Get Jobs Fast: Exactly which lead platforms to sign up for first, affordable marketing materials that actually work, and the phone habit that keeps your schedule full.
5 — Tools, Execution & Scaling: What equipment you actually need to start (less than you think). What you can realistically earn in your market. Plus the step-by-step path from solo operator to a multi-crew business that no longer requires you on every job.
6 — Case Study: $100 to $1M: The complete story of Jae’s third build — every key decision, every inflection point, every mistake and correction. It’s presented clearly so you can replicate the blueprint without repeating the same trial and error.
Bonus — 7 Rookie Mistakes: From pricing too low to buying a truck before you’re ready — these are the silent killers of most new moving companies. Know them before you make them.
This Is Built for Every Stage of the Journey
Already grinding and just need a system? Or starting completely from scratch? Either way, Moving For Money meets you where you are.
- Complete beginners get a clear, step-by-step launch path that starts with $100 and real momentum
- Side hustlers get the framework to turn occasional jobs into a consistent, scalable income stream
- 9-to-5 escapees get a realistic, proven alternative — built in a real market, not a pitch deck
- Existing movers get the scaling strategies to stop being required on every job and start running a real business
At $27 with a 30-day money-back guarantee, the risk is essentially zero. Jae offers a full refund, no questions asked, if you don’t feel like you got at least 10x the value of what you paid.
The Bottom Line
The moving industry has consistent demand, low startup costs, strong profit margins, and a clear scaling path. What it doesn’t hand you is a roadmap — and that’s precisely what Moving For Money is.
No truck required. No experience necessary. And you don’t need to be in a big city, either. Jae built his empire in Lansing, Michigan — and he did it three times. The blueprint exists. The platforms are ready. Demand has never been stronger.
The only question is whether you’re willing to follow the system.
👉 Get the Moving For Money ebook for $27 at moneyformoving.com
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About Jae Burnham
Jae Burnham is a moving industry entrepreneur, educator, and the creator of the 7 Figure Moving Academy — the world’s largest YouTube channel dedicated to starting and growing moving companies. He built U-Save Moving & Storage in Lansing, Michigan from $100 to $1M in revenue. Through his videos, coaching, and now his ebook, Moving For Money, he has helped thousands of movers launch and scale their businesses. Follow his work at 7FigureMovingAcademy.co and moneyformoving.com.
Results mentioned reflect the author’s personal experience. Individual results will vary based on market, effort, and execution.