NO CHEAT CODES

A guide to side hustles &

lifestyle businesses

ME

  • Dad
  • Business owner
  • Software developer
  • Community organizer
  • @jaybobo

MY PROCESS

  • Why?
  • Ideas
  • Customers
  • Time

WHY?

It all comes down to...

  • Options (best of both worlds)
    • Freedom
    • Security
  • Value & Pay
  • Tax Perks

GAMES FOR THE UNDERSERVED

IDEAS

IDEAS

Start with what you don't want to do. For me...

  • No services
  • No hard sales
  • No travel
  • No working in an office
  • No huge investment needed
  • No middlemen or delays til payday
  • No writing code unless...

IDEAS

Find business models you like and
ask what can I learn?

  • Big Ass Fans (cut through the noise)
  • Curves & Ashley Stewart (power of women)
  • Beats by Dre (own your segment)
  • Zazzle (no to little inventory)
  • Stance (disrupt status quo; stand out)
  • Brightstar (great profit margin)
  • Online (affordable, open 24/7)

HOW?

Identify stories and models that you can utilize.
Dig deeper. Locate an intersection.

  • Funding Universe
  • Hacker News
  • Bloomberg
  • Inc Magazine
  • Indie Hackers
  • Techcrunch
  • Wikipedia Bios
  • The Economist
  • 10-K's (annual reports)

Most decisions should be made with only about 70% of the information you need; if you wait for 90% or more, you’re moving too slowly.

- Jeff Bezos

CUSTOMERS

CUSTOMERS

Find customers that are traditionally underserved but digitally significant. Research!

  • micro-communities on social media
  • be a big fish in little pond
  • build deep vs superficial connections
  • lightbulb moment...

LEVERAGE EXISTING ONLINE COMMUNITIES

PLAYING IN THE LONG TAIL

HOW?

Here's a few tools you can use to find customers.
Find out which way the wind is blowing.

  • Who are they?
  • Where are they?
  • What do they care about?

SPOT2FISH

LOCATION

  • Facebook Groups
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

IDENTIFY & INTERACT

LEAD GENERATION

INSIGHTS

  • API's (any info)
  • Google AdWords (Keyword Planner)
  • Google Trends
  • Keyhole.co
  • Union Metrics
  • Google News
  • Topsy & Wildfire (RIP)

Keyhole.co

TIME

TIME

I don't have enough time.

  • Identify your priorities
  • Audit your time spent
  • Use the snowball approach
  • Learn to delegate

TIME TOOLS

Schedule time for yourself.
There are great apps to use as well.

  • Rescue Time
  • Trello / GitHub Projects
  • Calendar
  • Task List (check often)

DELEGATION TIPS

Pick people like you're playing pickup basketball.

  • Assess for skill and determination
  • Be prepared to provide instructions
  • Be prepared to manage
  • Locate self-starters with mini-projects

INSPIRATION

Everytime you go on the basketball court, get better! Try to get better. Don't ever cheat yourself...

...No matter what happens get in the gym.

- LeBron James

In a world that's changing so quickly, the biggest risk you can take is not taking any risk.

- Peter Thiel

Q&A

@jaybobo

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