Happy Saturday!

I’m not gonna lie… this newsletter left no crumbs!

If you’ve ever struggled with understanding if you are ready for entrepreneurship then this is your lucky day! We cover:

• Why getting in the “weeds” of your business won’t just save you from bankruptcy, it will make you millions!

• The perfect businesses for first-time entrepreneurs.

• Podcast recaps

Before we start, give me some feedback so I can give you the content you want! (please)

The Entrepreneur's Reality Check: Four Critical Questions Every Founder Must Answer

A Framework for Honest Self-Assessment Before You Take the Leap.

I love entrepreneurship but I see a lot of these kinds of comments:
“ I’ll buy a business and just hire an operator”
“I want to have a passive business”
“I really need to be working ON the business, not IN it”

Here’s the truth: in your first business, you should EXPECT to be knee-deep in the weeds of every problem.

I’m not saying that’s where you want to be or where you should hope to be. It’s just where you will be.

Thinking you can skip this step is like someone thinking they can skip medical school and just become a doctor at 22.

You can try it, but it wont work haha.

Entrepreneurship isn't just about having a great idea. It's about honestly assessing whether you can handle the specific challenges that come with turning that idea into a sustainable enterprise.

So I put together a little scoring matrix to help you understand what you’re getting into before buying or starting your first business.

These are the four critical realities you MUST prepare for.

Reality Check #1: Can You Handle Daily Operations?

The Hard Truth: You'll be doing it ALL, at least initially…

When you're first starting, you become the master of every moving part in your business. This reality breaks down into two key areas:

• Operational Complexity: You'll need to master workflows, schedules, and regulatory requirements that established businesses handle with entire departments. Every process that seems simple from the outside becomes your responsibility.

• People Complexity: Eventually, you’ll have to manage people. You should consider how much of your time will be eaten by HR/people issues, and whether relationship-heavy sales are required for your business before starting.

Key Insight: The operational burden is real and significant. Are you prepared to become a jack-of-all-trades?

Reality Check #2: Can You Personally Get Customers?

The Hard Truth: You can't afford a sales team yet.

Your success depends on your ability to win business. Think about:

• Customer Acquisition: You must personally execute every sales and marketing channel needed to win customers. There is no delegating or outsourcing. It is just you, your pitch, and your hustle.

• Revenue Model Considerations: The good news? A forgiving revenue model (recurring payments, prepayments) can actually help rookie operators by providing breathing room to improve while maintaining cash flow.

Key Insight: Your ability to sell is your lifeline. If you can't personally win customers, your business idea might need to wait.

Reality Check #3: Can You Survive the Learning Curve?

The Hard Truth: Mistakes come directly out of your pocket.

Every entrepreneur faces a steep learning curve, but not everyone has the financial cushion to weather it. You should evaluate:

• Margins & Cash Flow: You need enough profit margin and cash flow forgiveness to absorb inevitable rookie mistakes without going under.

• Cost to Play the Game: This deserves separate consideration. Can you afford the total capital needed, startup costs, acquisition expenses, working capital, AND your personal living expenses… without destroying your financial future?

Key Insight: Learning is expensive when you're spending your own money. Plan for mistakes in both your budget and timeline.

Reality Check #4: Can You Build Something Sustainable?

The Hard Truth: Your energy and time are finite resources.

The ultimate test isn't whether you can start a business, it's whether you can build something that doesn't completely depend on you. Ask yourself:

• Macro Tailwinds: Is the market working with you or against you? Sometimes timing and market conditions matter more than individual effort.

• Scalability & Systems: This becomes easier over time if you plan for it. The question is whether you can eventually systematize what you've mastered so the business isn't forever dependent on your personal involvement.

Key Insight: Think beyond launch day. What does sustainable growth look like, and how will you get there?

Your Next Step

There is no such thing as an “easy” business. Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, and that's perfectly okay.

These reality checks aren't meant to discourage you, they're meant to prepare you. The entrepreneurs who succeed are often those who go in with eyes wide open, having honestly assessed their readiness across all these dimensions.

Forward this to an aspiring entrepreneur who needs this reality check. Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is help someone think it through before they leap.

Businesses You Should Start As A First-Time Entrepreneur.

Over the last week, I have been diving into businesses that are perfect for first-time entrepreneurs to start. Each business is analyzed using my 8-factor scorecard covering everything from startup costs to AI automation potential.

Here's what we've covered so far:

This Week on Nikonomics:

Every week, I dive deep with entrepreneurs who've cracked the code on building real businesses. Here's what you might have missed:

How to Build a $1M Newsletter in 9 Months

Guest: Nic Conley

Nic went from Amazon Product Manager to selling $1M in newsletter sponsorships in under a year. We break down his playbook for building a profitable newsletter business:

• How powerful lead magnets became the foundation for growing to 22K+ subscribers.

• The Facebook ad strategy that scales newsletter acquisition (plus his tool newsletterads.co that reverse-engineers top performers).

• Why B2B newsletters have higher leverage than local ones, and how to monetize at scale.

Listen Here → Apple / Spotify / YouTube

Simple Businesses That Could Make You $1M in 6 Months

Guest: Chris Koerner

Chris and I dive into truly unconventional, high-leverage business strategies that most entrepreneurs never consider:

• How to profit from liquidation deals, from exercise equipment flips to restaurant closeout brokering.

• Chris's bold plan to make $1M in 6 months using AI automation to boost business values or gain conditional equity.

• Unique niche opportunities: glamping sites with minimal capital, high-ticket HVAC coil cleaning for grocery stores, and monetizing experiential events like portable pickleball courts.

Listen Here → YouTube

How I Made $150K in 60 Days Hanging Christmas Lights

Guest: Anne McGinty

Anne's journey from demoralizing sales jobs to building and selling a highly profitable seasonal business is packed with scrappy tactics and strategic pivots:

• How she used side hustles (greeting cards) and house hacking to fund her first real estate deals in the expensive Bay Area.

• The "serendipitous signs" that led to launching a Christmas lighting business that grew from a 3-week side gig to a 6-month, multi-truck operation with 50% net margins.

• Why she strategically sell a thriving business at its peak and achieve equivalent passive income within 5 years.

Listen Here → Apple / Spotify / YouTube

The 3-Step Framework Consultants Use to Fix Million-Dollar Problems

Guest: Maurizio Cuna

Maurizio has 20+ years solving problems for the world's largest companies. He breaks down the exact frameworks consultants use to diagnose and solve business issues:

• How to identify root problems vs. symptoms using tools like the Problem Tree and "Five Whys" technique

• The consulting framework for prioritizing problems: Frequency, Severity, and Willingness to Pay

• How entrepreneurs can balance quick action with thorough analysis, the speed vs. depth dilemma every business faces

Listen Here → Apple / Spotify / YouTube

Ask Me Anything

How'd I Do Today?

Thank you for reading! If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably pretty cool and pretty cool people like to help make things better so… Will you help me make this better? Just a quick survey on the direction I should take this newsletter/podcast here

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Nik Hulewsky