The #1 Lie Stopping You From Owning a Business

Welcome to The Main Street Minute, your shortcut to business ownership.

👋 Shout-out to the hundreds of new readers who joined the newsletter this week.

Normally, we’d dive deep into a Main Street acquisition below. Numbers, red flags, valuations, and sniff tests.

But today? We want to dispel one of the most common lies we ever hear about biz buying…

We’ve heard it 1000 times.

You’re right, you probably don’t know enough.

But here’s the thing: expertise isn’t a prerequisite, it’s a byproduct.

You don’t need to be an expert to start. But you do need to start to become an expert.

Confidence follows action. The only way to get there is by doing the damn thing. Here’s proof…

Anna spent a decade in military intelligence, first as a Marine Corps analyst, then as a civilian contractor. She became an expert in rapid assessment, strategic decision-making, and risk analysis.

But the longer she stayed, the clearer something became…

She began exploring real estate investing, a first step toward ownership. Then, she pursued an MBA at the University of Pittsburgh. But something was still missing.

“The academic world fell short in teaching me about real entrepreneurship.”

Real-world experience taught her more, she felt. So she tried running a small CrossFit gym. Then worked at a tech startup. But she STILL felt like something was incomplete.

“I knew there had to be a better way to approach entrepreneurship.”

Two years ago, she joined our community to learn everything she could about buying small businesses.

A year of hard work later, she made her move and closed on 2 businesses:

She didn’t start these businesses from scratch. Didn’t want to. She acquired their existing operations and everything that came with ‘em.

“I didn’t just dip my toes in. I dove headfirst into the deep end,” Anna says.

Her acquisition wasn’t just about replacing a salary. It was about finding a foundation she could build on.

She’s betting on small-town America. And she believes more entrepreneurs should too...

Rural and small-town business ownership, she says, is one of the biggest overlooked opportunities in 2025. Why? 4 reasons:

But small-town ownership comes with its own challenges… The hardest part? Hiring and retaining talent. To solve it, she’s taking a multi-pronged approach:

Anna’s story is inspiring, but our goal is to make sure she isn’t an outlier.

It’s literally our company’s entire mission: create more owners.

Anna is proof that with the right playbooks, the right people, and the right push, you can go from thinking about business ownership to actually working toward it.

The cool thing is, in a little over a month, we’re doing something that might do exactly that, at scale, more effectively than anything we’ve EVER done before.

It’s going to be kind of like the Super Bowl of business buying education, and it’ll get you feeling a bit like this…

Or this…

We know it’ll be valuable for you, because we’ve done it before.

Earlier this year, we brought thousands of people together virtually for 3 days of live, no-fluff business-buying training.

The goal was to give as many people as possible the tools to make ownership real.

What we built was the most concentrated dose of ownership education and inspiration we’ve ever delivered, and the results speak for themselves…

Cody showed up to Main Street Millionaire Live with no clear starting point. Months later, through hard work, he acquired a small pool cleaning business.

In months, Cody grew his customer count 15% entirely through word of mouth. “We’re continuing to grow using what I’ve learned,” he says.

He’s already hired a tech, lined up a future operator, and has plans to expand both horizontally (more routes, more services) and vertically (owning the supply chain).

Like him, hundreds of others who came to the event gained the confidence and skills to take near-term action.

That’s what MSM Live is about:

Replacing uncertainty with a clear plan and the confidence to act on it.

We probably should be charging a lot more for this… Oh well.

And just wait for the guest speakers we’re bringing in…

It’s 100% virtual, so you can join from anywhere with Wi-Fi and oxygen. But this isn’t just another Zoom call, it’s dedicated time to get sh*t done led by Codie and other pros.

This is FAR from “sit and stare at slides” territory. Translation: You’ll leave with real momentum. We’re putting you in the driver’s seat with:

The book’s a goldmine, but this is do-the-work action. The book should open your mind to the possibility, and this is where you’ll learn to turn it into 0→1 reality.

You 100% can! Your partner’s buy-in could be a secret weapon to your success. Plus, they’ll love seeing the vision you’re working toward.

You can check out the schedule here — including breaks to stretch, refuel, and connect. If you can’t catch everything, VIP tickets get unlimited replays.

This event is designed for curious first-timers and seasoned owners. You’ll learn how to spot opportunities, structure deals, and scale through acquisitions.

If you’re actually serious about building ownership, you should 1000% be there.

Sorry, had to.