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Chris Koerner on Simple Side Hustles That Actually Make Money

Business Desk
Podcast – BigDeal by Codie Sanchez

This breakdown focuses on what is discussed and how the business ideas are framed not on whether they are right for you or guaranteed to work.


Key Takeaways

  • Binary outcomes beat complex systems: Businesses with clear delivery (“tree gone, invoice paid”) outperform operationally messy models like 3PL even when the latter generate $400k/month in revenue with no profit.
  • Unbundle hated tasks from existing industries: Examples include B2B stump grinding ($300k year one, 60–70% margins), HVAC coil cleaning ($500–600k/year), and pet cremation logistics ($15k van, up to 92% gross margins).
  • Underrated side hustles still scale: Porch decorations ($600–1,300 per job, $1M+/year potential), washer/dryer rentals ($100–200/month per unit, six figures part‑time), and parking‑lot pizza ($700/day, ~80% margins).
  • RV and mobile home parks can outperform traditional real estate: Target $100k–£1.5M acquisitions yielding 30–60% cash‑on‑cash returns; avoid onsite wastewater risk.
  • Action beats identity: Koerner’s formula is blunt no money plus pride fails. Pair curiosity with immediate tests, often via Facebook Marketplace.

Chris Koerner, speaking on BigDeal with Codie Sanchez and later expanding on The Koerner Office Podcast, outlines a repeatable lens for spotting overlooked, high‑margin small businesses. His central verdict is that binary outcomes win businesses succeed when customers instantly know whether delivery happened. When outcomes are fuzzy, complexity compounds, and profitability dies quietly.


The Deep Dive

Koerner structures his thinking around unbundling. Instead of competing with established operators, he targets the most disliked or ignored tasks inside existing businesses and builds standalone services around them.

He highlights three hustles repeatedly:

  1. Porch decorations: Seasonal pumpkin and floral installs priced at £600–1,300 per job. Viral Instagram distribution drives demand, with some operators reportedly crossing £1M annually.
  2. Washer/dryer rentals: Units sourced free or cheaply via Facebook Marketplace and rented for £100–200/month. Koerner claims six‑figure annual revenue is achievable on ~5 hours per week once systems are set.
  3. HVAC coil cleaning: Extracted from bundled service contracts. In rural markets especially, this niche reportedly generates £500–600k annually with minimal overhead.

He extends the logic to subcontracting models. In tree services, operators quote customers, outsource the labour, and mark up subcontractor bids by 100%, hitting £500k/year without owning equipment. Pet cremation logistics follows the same pattern a £15k refrigerated van captures margin between vets (£250–500 per case) and central facilities, producing extremely high gross margins.

Real assets enter the frame with RV and mobile home parks. Koerner favours a barbell strategy: either no‑amenity parks that can be remotely managed or fully‑amenitised sites near national attractions. Mid‑complexity options are where costs and headaches compound.


“You can’t have no money and pride. That just doesn’t work.”


What Koerner provides isn’t a list of ideas it’s a filtering mechanism. By rejecting complexity early and testing ideas fast, he reframes entrepreneurship as execution discipline rather than creativity theatre.


What Viewers Are Saying

Audience reaction skews toward motivation and validation, with viewers responding strongly to the simplicity‑over‑ego framing.

  • @kylemayer3884: “Love this podcast! My husband started his own business power washing and fence staining. Slow and steady. He was born deaf… and he’s killing it.”
  • @thekoerneroffice: “Thank you Codie and team for having me! … GO START A BUSINESS ALREADY!! You can totally do it.”

Worth Watching If

  • You want concrete examples of unbundling in action.
  • You operate or plan to enter home‑service businesses.
  • You’re evaluating acquisitions and want a clean complexity filter.

Skip If:

  • The stump grinding, rental, and RV park frameworks already give you enough signal.

🎥 WATCH THE FULL EPISODE ON YOUTUBE


BigDeal by Codie Sanchez is a business podcast focused on unconventional ownership, cash‑flow businesses, and anti‑hype entrepreneurship.

Chris Koerner, founder of The Koerner Office, known for spotlighting overlooked small‑business models and execution‑first entrepreneurship.


Video Intelligence

  • Platform: YouTube
  • Views: 353,654
  • Likes: 11,000+
  • Comments: 537
  • Runtime: 1 hour 17 minutes
  • Upload date: 28 August 2025

This article is part of Creator Daily’s Business Desk, where we examine how creators frame strategy, incentives, and long-term thinking.

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