BigDeal Podcast Episode #90 Summary

Episode: #90 Side Hustle King: 3 Easy Businesses Anyone Can Start
Host: Codie Sanchez
Guest: Chris Koerner
Date: August 28, 2025

Main Theme

This episode is a tactical and motivational discussion on starting overlooked, profitable, and accessible businesses, featuring Chris Koerner, a serial entrepreneur who has launched more than 75 ventures. Codie Sanchez and Chris deliver honest, actionable advice for listeners eager to try entrepreneurship, highlighting both successes and failures, and breaking down myths about what it takes to build a side hustle or small business in today’s economy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Simple, Local Businesses

• Chris's Pizza Stand Story (01:35–02:41):
  Chris shares an anecdote about meeting a couple running a pizza operation out of a hardware store parking lot. With a $700 pizza oven, basic supplies, and their kids waving signs, they generated $700/day with 80% profit margins, illustrating that anyone can run a profitable, low-barrier business with creativity and hustle.
• Codie breaks down the math:

  “That’s a $30,000 a month business… with 80% margins, you’re taking home a top 1% level salary, $200k plus.” (02:41)

2. Unbundling Pain Points as a Business Model

• Stump Grinding Hustle (04:01–05:37):
  Chris identified that tree trimming businesses hated stump grinding. He validated demand by having a VA call every tree trimmer in Houston, learning 20% would happily outsource the work. Some listeners started businesses from this tip, one making $300,000 in the first year with up to 70% margins.

3. Asking and Researching—Most People Don’t

• Codie on asking Revenue Numbers (06:04):

  “95% of the time they tell you. Why? Because they’re proud of it.”
  Most people don’t ask direct questions about revenue or costs due to pride, but business owners are often open if you’re genuinely curious.

4. Building Without Money or Experience

• Tree Trimming Startup (07:00–08:14):
  Chris describes starting a half-million-dollar tree trimming company with no equipment, leveraging subcontractors, and partnering with a hungry, young operator.

  “Constraints equal creativity… I’ve never been VC funded…I’m so cheap… I don’t have to [spend much].” (07:00)

• The Operating Partner Factor:
  Chris selects business partners based on hunger, humility, and gratitude, not experience.

  “If they have those three things then it’s almost 100% certain they’ll be successful.” (11:35)

5. The Three Most Underrated Side Hustles (14:08–18:49)

1. Front Porch Decoration (Pumpkin/Seasonal)

• A woman Chris knows makes over $1M annually decorating porches with pumpkins and seasonal items, charging $600–$1,300 per client. The business is visual, goes viral on Instagram, and has low startup costs.

  “Anyone can do it. It’s very profitable.” (14:32)

2. Washer/Dryer Rental via Facebook Marketplace

• Another example: someone collects free/cheap laundry machines, fixes them, and rents them to apartment dwellers for $100–$200/month, making six figures working five hours a week.

3. HVAC Coil Cleaning for Service Companies

• Find a task businesses dislike, “unbundle” it, and serve only that need. Cleaning HVAC coils is routinely detested in maintenance contracts, yet pays $500k–$600k a year in small towns due to repeat, B2B work.

  “Find a business… find the things that they hate doing, and just kind of unbundle that.” (17:18, 04:27)

6. Worst Businesses to Start (20:15–23:41)

Chris warns about three business types:

• Third-Party Logistics (3PL)/Fulfillment:
  “We were doing $400k a month and not making any money. …Too complex, not simple, non-binary outcomes.”
• House Cleaning:
  “Low ticket and complex, stay away.”
• Custom Home Building:
  “Headache to the extreme… Too many things can go wrong… Not worth it unless at multi-million price points.”

“If it’s low ticket and complex, stay away.” (21:55)

7. Do It For the Story & Permissionless Action

• Buc-ee’s Merchandise "Heist" (24:47–27:52):
  Chris and his partner couldn’t get Buc-ee’s to respond, so they bought one of everything, built an online store, and generated $200k sales in the first month. It remains a multi-million dollar business reselling Buc-ee’s gear, entirely without an official partnership.

  “Worst case is a good story…” (27:45)
  “Do it for the story.” (27:54)

• Codie on Content:
  “If you want to be interesting, you got to do interesting shit. …Before you get online and try to talk about stuff you haven’t done, go do the thing.” (28:17)

8. Niche B2B and Service Businesses

• Pet Cremation Logistics (32:42–36:49):
  Instead of starting a full-service crematory (high capex), Chris and a friend started a service just doing logistics—refrigerated transport between vets and cremation facilities, sitting in the profitable, overlooked middle.

• RV Parks & Mobile Home Parks (39:01–43:37):
  Chris details the investment logic of buying small, low-amenity RV/mobile home parks for recession-resistant, high-margin rental income, typically returning 30–60% cash-on-cash.

9. The Realities of Entrepreneurship: Chips on the Shoulder & Building Fast

• Bias for Action (52:08–54:31):
  Millionaire founders, says Chris, “have an insane bias for action… they just move fast.”
  Codie relates the intensity to billionaires as well.

• Screening for Speed:
  The best way is a 30-day trial period for new hires, where a “chip on the shoulder” predicts success.

• Harnessing Adversity/Fuel:
  Both Codie and Chris use slights or rejection as motivation.

  “There’s no greater fuel than being a little pissed off.” (55:15)

• Getting Burned:
  Chris shares a devastating story of two partners cutting him out of a $50M deal (58:06–60:35), emphasizing that everybody gets betrayed, scammed, or cheated if they play long enough—but you recover and go on.

10. Actionable Advice to Get Started

• Bucket Yourself (63:34–64:23):
  Figure out if you truly like entrepreneurship or just the idea of it. If unsure, try selling something on Facebook Marketplace.

• Start With What You Know (64:51):
  Apply skills and experiences from your work or background to a business idea close to home.

  “Start with what you enjoy, what you know, what’s in your zone of genius… and then test it.” (65:48)

• Regret Minimization Framework (66:00):
  Borrow from Jeff Bezos: most people regret the risks they didn't take, not the ones they did.

• Permission to Be a Multi-Project ADD Entrepreneur, Introvert, or Outsider (67:41–69:32):
  Diagnosed ADHD, introversion, or distraction doesn’t disqualify you; instead, bias for action and focusing on your superpower matter most.

• The Biggest Disqualifiers:

  “Ego, pride. …If you are humble and you really want it, I can’t think of any excuse why you can’t do it.” (69:32)

• The Power of Rejection & Hard Things:
  Chris credits his resilience to 24,000 rejections as a Mormon missionary in Hungary, strengthening his capacity for entrepreneurship.

  “When you do that for two years and come home… I can freaking do anything.” (73:03)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Starting Scrappy:

  “You can’t have no money and pride. That doesn’t work.” – Chris Koerner (00:17, 08:29)

• On Underrated Hustles:

  “She charges between $600 and $1,300 to decorate a porch with pumpkins. …She’s making over a million dollars a year.” – Chris Koerner (14:22)

• On Partner Selection:

  “I like to look for humility, gratitude, someone who’s like, I’m just so grateful for this opportunity, and some sort of an entrepreneurial gene.” – Chris Koerner (11:35)

• On Entrepreneurship Dogma:

  “People say, just focus…For me, the focus that’s important is: focus on your superpower.” – Chris Koerner (67:55)

• On Market Fit & Distraction:

  “If I’m distracted by another shiny object, that’s a signal that there’s something worth getting distracted over.” – Chris Koerner (71:27)

• On Life Regret:

  “People don’t have to quit…very few exceptions…to start a business.” – Chris Koerner (66:47)

• On B2B Hustles:

  “Find a business, find the things that they hate doing. Unbundle that.” – Chris Koerner (00:17, 17:18)

• On Resilience:

  “After knocking doors in Eastern Europe in a foreign language for two years…if you add that up…it’s like 24,000 times rejected to my face… I can do whatever I want here compared to Hungary.” – Chris Koerner (72:32)

Essential Timestamps

• Pizza Stand Story: 01:35–02:41
• Stump Grinding Innovation: 04:01–05:37
• Tree Trimming Business Formation: 07:00–08:14
• Attributes for Operators/Entrepreneurs: 10:42–11:43
• Top 3 Side Hustles: 14:08–18:49
• Worst Businesses (3PL, Cleaning, Homebuilding): 20:15–23:41
• Buc-ee’s Merchandise Story: 24:47–27:52
• Pet Cremation As a Logistics Business: 32:42–36:49
• RV Park/Small Real Estate Returns: 39:01–43:37
• Bias for Action, Employee Screening: 52:08–55:06
• Betrayal/Getting Cut Out of $50M Deal: 58:06–60:35
• Bucket Yourself/Getting Started: 63:34–64:23
• Focus as Superpower: 67:55
• Missionary Rejection Story: 72:32

Conclusion

This episode equips listeners with:

• A fresh mindset: Unconventional paths, humility, bias for action, and resilience matter far more than resources or connections.
• Practical examples: The best small businesses often “unbundle” annoying tasks for others, require little cash or pride, and benefit from local knowledge and hustle.
• Rich inspiration: Chris’s entrepreneurial stories—both wins and betrayals—show anyone (even introverts with ADHD) can succeed if they get in the game, ask good questions, and push past fear of embarrassment and rejection.
• Clear warnings: Avoid low-margin, complicated businesses (like 3PL, cleaning, or homebuilding at the low end) and focus on scalable, repeatable, high-margin services.

Final thought:

“If you are humble and you really want it, I can’t think of any excuse why you can’t do it. ... Just do it for the story.” – Chris Koerner (69:32, 27:54)

Find Chris Koerner:

• Podcast: The Koerner Office (tKOpod.com)
• Instagram & X (Twitter): Search Chris Koerner

Host: @codiesanchez – BigDeal Podcast

For aspiring side hustlers, business owners, or the simply curious, this episode is a must-listen for streetwise business models, permissionless action, and surviving (even thriving) through entrepreneurial trials.