This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Today's listener is looking for a specific resource, an app to help them evaluate and rank different business ideas. Does this app in fact exist? And you know, if it doesn't, then might it be a good idea? Might there be value in making it? All right, welcome to "Side Hustle School." This is Chris Guillebeau, your host.
How do you actually do that in the first place? How do you actually make a decision on, you know, which idea, which business idea to pursue next? 'Cause you've got a bunch of things you could do, but you happen to be human, like me. Like there's always a lot of stuff I want to do. So I have studied this question a lot, not strictly out of a research interest, but because, as I said, I like to do lots of things.
So it's really important to have a way to evaluate different ideas and decide which one is the best to proceed with at the moment. So this listener is wondering about an app. Does such a thing exist? And if it doesn't, might it be a good idea for them to make it? Detailed question, my answer coming right up.
[Music]
Hey Chris, this is Sam from Minneapolis, and I've been following the show for a couple of years. I've been trying to decide which of my side hustle ideas to try next. I've seen a few different tools to analyze markets and do some initial testing, but is there an app that helps with this process? If not, do you think that making an app like that would be a helpful and profitable project? Looking forward to what you have to say about this.
[Music]
Hey Sam, what's up? Thanks for the question. I hope to see you in Minneapolis at some point. And a short version here, I don't know of an app like this. So maybe it exists, but I haven't seen it.
I did some quick searching as well just to make sure there wasn't something obvious. I was missing listeners. If there is something for Sam, let us know. But no, I don't think so. I tend to use a matrix tool, which sounds like the matrix, but it's actually more like a grid, you know?
Kind of like the back of the napkin spreadsheet resource that I've shared a few times. I use this really simple tool to evaluate different ideas. The key point is that our capacity is limited. We want to work on the things that are the most feasible, interesting, and have the best profit potential, right? You know, you want to work on something that you know how to do.
It's not impossible. You want something that's going to make money because it's not just a hobby, right? We're talking about helping you make money. And, you know, last but not least, life is short. So don't you want to work on something you are somewhat interested in or even excited about, passionate about, let's say.
So that's what I tend to do. Now, do I think this app would be helpful and profitable? That's tough. You know, it could be helpful, no doubt, but it would definitely be a ton of work to make it. And there's also no real way to know in advance how it would go over.
So I tend to see it as a high risk project, you know, to be honest, especially since most apps live or die by subscriptions these days. So, you know, if it's your vision to make this app, you know, it's like the most important thing in the world to you, then great, you know, like that's what you should go into. If, however, you have other ideas, which I'm guessing you do because, you know, you're looking for an app to help you evaluate different ideas, I might want to look at one of those other ideas. So if it were me, I'd pass on this project, at least in terms of the making of the app. Just my two cents, listeners, let me know what's going on.
If you've got a question, something you're trying to work through, sidehustleschool.com/questions. I'd love to feature your ideas and your projects, your website, whatever your listing is, to our global community of amazing listeners. We have a new episode coming out every day. It's totally free. You can subscribe, follow wherever you get your podcasts.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
