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