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
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