This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Hey there, got a question for you as we start today's episode. How do you wake up each morning? Do you set an alarm? Do you wake up naturally? Does somebody else wake you up? Do you have a pet
or a child perhaps that wakes you up? Do you sleep for the whole day? There could be some other options, but I figure those are the most common. Whatever your answer is, our caller today has something new to help you get out of bed. It is an alarm clock that takes your money if you don't get up in time. Think of it as negative motivation to oversleep. If you oversleep, you have to pay.
There's just one problem. Our caller hasn't actually made this alarm clock yet. They're still in the idea phase. So what is the next step? What's the next step for this potentially expensive morning invention? Welcome to Cytosoul school. My name is Chris Guillebeau. We hear all
kinds of ideas here and hopefully we can help someone get a little bit further along the path, maybe help you as well as you're thinking about different ways to make extra money. So the detailed question about this expensive alarm clock and my answer coming right up. Hi, Chris, this is Arnold and I have an idea for a new product. I want to make an alarm clock that drains your bank account when you don't get up. Thanks to modern technology, this is totally possible.
Funny enough, I had this idea when I couldn't sleep one night. The clock will have variable settings so it can cost 10 cents or up to five dollars a minute for every minute you oversleep. The money you're charged for sleeping in can go to a charity that you designate. How can I make this idea a reality? It seems perfect for a shark tank or at least kickstarter, but I'm not sure what to do next. What do you think about this idea?
Arnold, what a fun idea. What an interesting idea. An attention-getting idea, let's say. It kind of reminds me in some ways of a device that a friend of mine made many years ago. This friend Manish Sadie had this kind of bracelet that would shock you, would provide like a mild shock if you didn't do something. I think it was related to your posture or to not
completing a task on a habit list or something like that. It did, in fact, get a lot of attention. I think he went on Shark Tank. I agree with Arnold. If this was a finished product or at least close to it, it might in fact be perfect for something like Shark Tank or just for a lot of media to cover because it's such a crazy idea. I also like that the money goes to a charity
that the over sleeping owner chooses. Now, that said, it seems complicated. I'm not sure how far along he is in the process of design. It sounds like from the question that he just has the idea. So if you really are in that very early stage and you don't have the design and engineering knowledge to bring this to light, you're definitely going to need some help. And most likely it will
be a long process. But one of the most important things you can do if you're planning to go the crowdfunding route like Kickstarter or something like that is create a working prototype. Now, in this case, you have a couple of different things to figure out, the actual alarm clock and the back end process that somehow connects to a user's bank account for those over sleeping withdrawals and hopefully without withdrawing all their money by mistake. Now from there, like you move to the branding and marketing phase, which is where someone like me can be more helpful. So now when the time for that comes, be sure to listen to some of the archives that feature crowdfunding projects. There's definitely some best practices to follow to make sure you start
your campaign well. And in fact, campaigns that start well tend to accrue more momentum. So it's like this virtuous cycle. But first, you're going to need that actual prototype and a plan to make many of them at scale. And that process does seem a bit daunting to me, especially if you're starting from the beginning. But it's your vision, Arnold. So don't let me
hold you back and let us know, of course, how it goes. Listeners, if you've got a question or a project you're working on, sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from listeners as they launch and grow their projects. All right, that's all for today. I hope you'll come back tomorrow, a new episode in the morning.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
