profile

Nick Huber

How to analyze a business idea in 5 minutes or less

Published over 1 year ago • 3 min read

Before we jump in:

If you need a new website for your business, I highly recommend WebRun.com. They build simple, beautiful websites for small businesses designed to convert visitors into customers and help your company grow.

Here are four examples of beautiful websites the team built recently:

  1. ​Real estate project​
  2. ​Investment Firm​
  3. ​Residential contractor​
  4. ​HVAC maintenance​

If you'd like an intro to the team at WebRun - reply to this email and I'll make an introduction.

--

How to analyze a business opportunity in 5 minutes:

My friend in Athens told me recently that he wanted to start a house painting business.

We were sitting on my back deck on a Saturday at about 4pm. He asked me what I thought. I went to work.

I typed "House Painting" into Google Maps on my phone.

10 results popped up nearby.

I hit "call" on the first one. A guy answered on the second ring. He was nice. He told me he could come to my house anytime on Sunday or Monday to give me a quote. He could have a crew available right away.

I hung up and dialed another one. No answer.

A third one answered on first ring. Very nice. Wanted to take down my info right away. A trained salesperson. I deflected the question and asked how far out he was booked up. He said he could have a crew ready for me on Monday.

The 4th call also answered. At 4pm on a Saturday. He could also stop by for a quote on Sunday morning after I asked. I thanked him and hung up.

This was a terrible business opportunity. Of the 4 house painters I called outside of business hours 3 of them answered and had immediate availability. That means there isn't much work and I'm sure they are very competitive on price.

You can run this experiment on any business.

Power washing. Call around for a quote. Tree removal. Call around for a quote and ask the owner about availability.

If nobody answers the phone that is a good thing. Business owners are less likely to answer the phone when they are booked out 3 weeks and overloaded with work.

It is a great way to cross off a lot of opportunities. You don't want to compete against eager, hungry operators. You want to compete against folks who are overloaded with work. Simple.

So next time you have a business idea stop wasting your time. Stop working on your business plan. Don't take the franchise meeting.

Simply call around and get a feel for the market. It'll tell you a LOT!

--

A few tweets from this week:

--

--

--

Onward and upward,

Nick Huber

--

Before we go:

Titan Risk, an insurance company that I am a customer of and an investor in, hired a business insurance specialist.

If you run a business and you are unhappy with your premiums, coverage or service - reach out to Titan or respond to this email and I can make a personal introduction.

We'd love an opportunity to earn your business.

Share with friends, get cool free stuff

  • 1 Referral: 200+ Free Business Ideas cheatsheet
  • 3 Referrals: Delegation & Hiring (101)
  • 5 Referrals: Twitter Growth Course ($500 value)
  • 10 Referrals: Nicks Real Estate Starter Class ($749 value)
  • 100 Referrals: 30 Minute Call w/ Nick

Please note, these rewards are in limited supply, get moving while they last.

[RH_REFLINK GOES HERE]

Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Linkedin Email

PS: You have referred [RH_TOTREF GOES HERE] people so far

See how many referrals you have

Thanks for reading! If you loved it, tell your friends to subscribe.
If you didn’t enjoy the email you can unsubscribe here.
To change your email or preferences manage your profile.
113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205

I have financial interest in many companies mentioned in this newsletter.

Nick Huber

Entrepreneurship & Real Estate

I own a real estate firm with over 1.9 million square feet of self storage and 45 employees. I also own 6 other companies with over 400 employees. I send deal breakdowns with P&Ls. Newsletter topic: Real Estate, Management, Entrepreneurship

Read more from Nick Huber

A lot of people think a good business leader should have an open door policy. Always there. Always involved. Always watching. I believe that the best leaders are the opposite. Instead of solving every problem and making every decision, the best CEOs empower others to the extreme and only get involved in very high leverage activities. Why is this a better way to lead? When you’re in the weeds every day, you don't have time to think about the big picture. And when you don’t spend time thinking...

1 day ago • 6 min read

Many of the wealthiest people in our country earn millions of dollars per year and pay almost nothing in taxes. How? They invest in real estate and utilize “depreciation” to offset their cash gains from their commercial properties and other businesses. I personally made millions of dollars between 2020 and 2025 and paid very little taxes by utilizing the strategy you're about to read about. Anyone who owns investment real estate (not your primary residence) needs to know about how they can...

16 days ago • 10 min read

Social media has been an incredible tool for me. Over the last few years, I've gotten well over a billion views across my platforms and it's changed my life and career. In this email, I'm going to explain how I used it to accelerate my career. When it comes to Twitter, now called X, at first I was hesitant to join because I thought it was the place where people go to get mad about politics and waste time arguing with each other. And as we've seen over the last few years, that is partially...

22 days ago • 12 min read