I didn't start out
trying to teach business.

My name is Chris Schwab. I'm a dual US-UK citizen living in Yokohama, Japan.‍

‍In 2016, I started a cleaning business in Washington D.C. with the goal of moving to Japan to be with my girlfriend (now wife). At that time remote work was still uncommon, and most people thought it was impossible to do with a cleaning business. But I knew that if I could build the right systems, physical presence wasn't necessary.

That business worked and became one of the first truly remote cleaning businesses. It ran profitably for eight years without me ever stepping foot back in Washington, D.C. and I exited it successfully in 2024. I shared the whole journey publicly as a case study from day 1, showing others just how possible it really is to build the business and life you want.

In 2017, I launched Inova Local, the first-ever virtual assistant agency specifically for home service companies. We placed 100s of VAs and helped hundreds of local business owners build the same remote operating model I'd proven worked. I sold that business in 2025 to private equity where it continues to prosper.

Along the way, I discovered something most business advice misses.

Starting isn't the hard part.


Staying clear as things grow is.

As responsibilities multiply, systems break down. What worked at the beginning quietly stops working later. Without structure, owners end up busy, stressed, and reactive…even when the business is "successful."

I became obsessed with understanding how businesses actually operate over time, and how to design them so they support a good life rather than consume it.

So, in 2018 I launched The Local Business MBA to teach this model to others. The program codifies everything I learned building multiple businesses from scratch: the systems, the sequencing, the stages that most people skip.

Today, I teach and advise using this systems-oriented, stage-based approach that’s grounded in clarity, restraint, and long-term thinking. It's the same model I've used myself, refined over nearly a decade of real operation.

I'm also a regular speaker at industry events, a father-to-be, and someone who believes deeply that business should be one part of a full life, not the entire thing.