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Chris Koerner on The Koerner Office Podcast
The Most Profitable Side Hustle No One Is Doing Yet
⏱ 21 min video · 3 min read11 Jun 2026Worth watching
TL;DR
Chris Koerner interviews Derek, a Dallas entrepreneur who turned a $300 Amazon inflatable movie screen (a Christmas gift) into a backyard movie theater rental business doing $10,000 weeks at 70-80% profit margins. Derek also invented what appears to be the world's first air-conditioned inflatable indoor movie theater to solve the Texas summer problem of it not getting dark until 9:30 PM, and has expanded into LED dance floor rentals.
Key points
1
Derek started with a $250-300 Amazon inflatable screen bought as a Christmas gift, listed it on Facebook Marketplace with no business intent, and his first real booking came from an HOA event — despite being unprepared, he comped them and immediately upgraded to a $3,500 commercial 20-foot screen from Alibaba.
2
Derek custom-designed and manufactured the world's first air-conditioned inflatable indoor movie theater — a fully carpeted, LED-lit inflatable room with four AC units — because Texas summer darkness after 9:30 PM made outdoor movies impractical for young children. He charges $1,700 per booking for this setup.
3
The business generated approximately $40,000 in its first full year, is tracking $90,000-$100,000 this year, and produced $10,000 in bookings in a single week — all with no formal marketing system, relying only on Facebook Marketplace and referrals.
4
Derek expanded into LED dance floor rentals (a 24x24 floor cost $20,000 to buy; he charges $3,000 per rental) after noticing kids dancing to YouTube music videos at the end of movie events — the two services naturally cross-sell each other.
5
Total hardware investment for the outdoor theater setup is approximately $10,000 (projector at $1,100, JBL speakers at $1,500 each, commercial screen at $3,500 plus shipping); profit margins run at 70-80% once equipment is paid off since ongoing costs are just time.
Actionable insights
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Start before you are ready: Derek's first HOA booking came before he had commercial equipment, and he comped the client — that failure pushed him to invest in proper gear. Waiting for perfection means waiting too long.
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Solve a real local problem to find a niche no one else occupies: Derek identified that Texas summer darkness after 9:30 PM killed the kids-movie market, then spent two months working with an overseas manufacturer to custom-build a solution that literally no competitor offers.
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Reach out to operators in other cities (not your local market) for honest business advice — they have no competitive reason to withhold information and can answer questions you do not know to ask.
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Package pricing beats itemized pricing: Derek bundles chairs, screen, and speakers into tiered packages (starting at $375, up to $1,500) so customers self-select rather than negotiating line items.
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Look for upsell opportunities within your existing service: The LED dance floor idea came directly from watching kids dance to music videos after movie events ended — the same customer base, same event, additional revenue.
Notable quotes
“If you are prepared, you have waited too long.”
“I did 10,000 in sales in bookings last week. Just last week. Very minimal effort.”
“Does anyone do that? I am the only one.”
Worth watching?
✅
Worth watching the full video?
Worth watching if you want to see Derek explain the inflatable indoor theater concept and hear his exact pricing and equipment details firsthand — but the summary captures all the numbers and strategy, so skip it if you are time-pressed.
Saved you some time? The creator still deserves a like.
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