Beginner Friendly Ways to Make 10K

Happy Tuesday!

In case you forgot, I’m that guy (@thekoerneroffice on the socials) that you probably found in a short form video talking about random business ideas.

Who am I? I’m Chris Koerner: Dad of 4, husband of 16 years and proud Texan. I’ve started 75+ business (3 worth over $10m) and give away all of my learnings for free in a once/week email. Bookmark this toolkit with 1,000+ free business plans!

Okay, let’s get into it.

What if you had to make $10,000 in the next year?

My friend Brandon and I sat down and mapped out real ideas that could hit $10,000 or more. Some take a year. Some take a month. One could happen in a single day.

This newsletter has 6 of these ideas, but if you want to hear more (and these in more depth) go watch or listen to this conversation in its entirety here: YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

The best part of many of these ideas? You don't need special skills. You don't need a huge audience or to know how to code.

Let me walk you through all of them:

Idea 1: Apps for Obsessed Communities

Right now. (well after you read this newsletter) go over to Reddit and search for hobby keywords. Then find subreddits with above 50,000 active members, posting daily. Scroll through the top posts from the past month and look for people complaining about tracking, organizing, or managing aspects of their hobby. That complaint is your product.

There are 600,000 people in board game subreddits right now. These aren't casual players. These are diehards who track every game, every score, every opponent.

Here's the play: build them a simple app using Replit, Wegic, Bolt or ReaddyAI. With these tools, you don't need to know how to code; you just tell the AI what you want, and it builds it for you.

Charge $10 a month for a board game tracking app. Let users log games, organize meetups, rate their favorites, and keep stats on who won what. You only need 84 subscribers to hit $10,000 a year.

And board games are just the beginning. This same model works for:
-Quilters who want to track patterns and fabric inventory
-Gardeners who want to journal their harvests and soil combos
-Knitters who want to organize their yarn stash

These are physical, in-person communities. They're passionate. And they'll pay for tools that make their hobby better.

Find the subreddit. Build the app. Run Reddit ads that speak directly to their pain points. Done.

Idea 2: Professional Headshots in Lobbies

Are you a photographer that needs a break from chaotic family photos or demanding bridezillas? Walk into an office building at lunch. Set up a ring light and a nice backdrop. Put a QR code to your Venmo on a sign that says "$25 Headshots."

That's it.

People walk through that lobby every single day with outdated LinkedIn photos. They know they need new ones. They just haven't prioritized it. Make it easy. Make it fast.

You could make $10,000 in a couple weeks doing this if you hit buildings with a hundred people.

The worst case scenario? You make a few hundred bucks and learn something. The best scenario? You stumble into corporate clients who want team headshots done quarterly.

Idea 3: Founder-Led Network Effect Stocks

This one's a little more niche.

Companies that are founder-led (CEO is the founder) AND have network effects (get more valuable as more people use them) consistently outperform.

(Think Reddit, Facebook, Shopify, Coinbase.) The founder cares more than a hired CEO, and network effects create an unstoppable moat.

The problem? You can't filter for these on any platform.

Here's how you can profit from this fact: build a simple tracker or newsletter that identifies these stocks. Use AI to scrape public data on founder ownership and score companies on network effect strength. Rank them monthly.

Charge investors $15 a month for access. You need 56 paying subscribers to hit $10,000 a year.

Market it in investing subreddits and Twitter finance communities. These people understand that even a 2% edge in returns is worth paying for. There's an audience for this. Small. But passionate.

Here's the problem when launching any of these ideas. You get leads, then they ghost you. You need follow-up sequences. You need a CRM that doesn't suck. You need SMS reminders and client relationship nurturing.

I use HighLevel for all of this. It's everything you need in one platform: lead capture, email automation, SMS campaigns, pipeline management, the whole stack. It's built specifically for small businesses, not enterprises with IT departments.

I promise your lead-to-quote conversion will double.. triple.. more with these HL automated follow-ups.

You newsletter readers get 30 days free at gohighlevel.com/tkopod. Test it on your next idea before you pay a cent.

Idea 4: Home Improvement Project Management

This one is crushing. And if you’ve been following me for the last couple months you’ve heard me talk about it.

I'm building a sport court in my backyard right now. Before I started, quotes came in at $50,000 to $60,000. I didn’t want to fork that over so I hired the subs directly and I'm doing it all for $29,000. Then I turned that process into a business while it was still under construction.

We bought BackyardFunhouse.com. I shot six selfie videos on my iPhone in my backyard. No script. Just me saying things like, "Do you want your kids on screens all day, or do you want them playing outside?"

We ran Facebook ads at $100 per day per video. Within seven days, we were getting leads for $23 to $36 each. From $2,500 in ad spend, we've given out four quotes. This will probably net us between $25,000 and $45,000.

And we're subbing everything out. We're not swinging hammers. We're just managing the process.

The framework:
-Pick a home improvement niche (pools, putting greens, outdoor kitchens, pergolas)
-Vet the subcontractors yourself by doing the project first
-Create authentic video content on your phone
-Run Facebook instant form ads
-Track leads in a Google Sheet through Zapier
-Expect 80% ghosting rate (that you can mitigate through HighLevel) and keep moving

The beauty is you don't need construction skills. You just need to be the trusted connector between homeowners and quality subs.Idea 5: Niche Community CRMs

Idea 6: Hyperlocal Service Arbitrage

Pick any service where quality is inconsistent and pricing is all over the map. Become the trusted middleman.

I've done this with tree trimming. You could do it with:
-HVAC repair
-Landscaping
-House cleaning
-Pet grooming

The play’s simple: vet three to five providers, build a basic website, run local ads, and collect leads. Charge customers a small markup or take a referral fee from the provider.

You're not doing the work. You're building trust and simplifying decisions. That's worth money.

Pick One and Start!

These aren't theoretical ideas. These are real businesses people are running right now.

The board game app? Multiple people have built versions of this. The headshot idea? I've seen photographers do it successfully. The home improvement business? I'm literally doing it as I type this.

You don't need all six. You just need one.

So here's my question: which one are you going to start this week?

Ideas are cheap. Everyone has ideas. The difference between someone who makes $10,000 and someone who doesn't isn't the quality of the idea. It's whether they actually start. Pick one. Build it messy. Launch it fast. Learn as you go.

Let's get after it.

Again, if you want to dive into these and our other ideas further, go watch or listen to this conversation in its entirety here: YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Get out there and take action. Everything is figureoutable.

Have a great week!

Chris

P.S. I share deep dives on business ideas and complete playbooks three times a week on YouTube and every podcast platform.