This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
The Hangover Helper Business sobers up. Hey there, welcome to Side Hustle School. This is Chris Guillebeau. Today is, in fact, Failure Friday. It is a weekly segment, a collection of short stories about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and of course, failure, all of the things that don't go well, all the things that don't work out.
And of course, there's usually some lesson here, a lesson about a business idea, what makes for a good business idea. If you've been listening for a while, I don't always use that adjective. I talk about a profitable idea, a timely idea. That's what you want, right? Lots of ideas might be good in theory, but then in practice, not so much.
There are lots of different variations of that, of course, but today, it does fall in that category of the idea that maybe didn't actually have a lot of true market demand. There's also a matter of timeliness in terms of this happened in San Francisco. Today's story right before the pandemic or just as the pandemic was starting. Anyway, some lesson we can take away from it, something we can learn in our own practice of SideRezel and entrepreneurial ideas. So today's short story features Alex from San Francisco, as mentioned.
Alex had a dream to serve partygoers who had partied a little too hard. He came up with this business called Hangover Helper. Which reminds me of long ago, we had another story about this guy. I think he was in Australia or New Zealand. His business was like a party cleanup service.
Like, I'll come over to your house in the morning after you've had a bunch of folks over and I'm gonna clean up your house, clean your dishes and bring you a breakfast burrito. So maybe there was some inspiration from that or maybe this was totally independent, I don't know. The point is the timing of the project wasn't great because Alex started it just as the city began to change in 2020. So let's hear the story from him. I'll come back at the end with a quick little wrap up for us.
[Music]
My name is Alex Thompson and I've always been on the lookout for innovative side hustles to compliment my day job in tech. One fateful morning, I woke with a pounding headache, growling stomach and an idea that would change my life. Or so I thought. Maybe I just had too much to drink. The hangover helper was my idea.
A one-stop delivery service providing post-party essentials like greasy breakfast foods, electrolyte drinks and headache relief straight to the doorsteps of San Francisco's party crowd. I envisioned my service as the ultimate post-celebration savior, rescuing revelers from the clutches of hangovers and helping them bounce back ready to face the world. I eagerly made a post on Reddit and partnered with two local restaurants to create a menu of hangover busting items. Business took off when I briefly got on the front page of Reddit and the people of the Bay Area soon came to love the hangover helper as their go-to solution after a wild night out. However, just as things were looking up, the pandemic hit.
Suddenly, the once thriving party scene came to a screeching halt. The streets of San Francisco, once filled with laughter and music, were now eerily silent. With nightclubs and bars shuttered, the demand for my service plummeted. To make matters worse, many tech employees began to move away from the city, further shrinking my customer base. The once great hangover helper was now struggling to survive in a world that changed overnights.
I tried pivoting my business model to cater to stay-at-home drinkers, offering Netflix and chill packages with cozy blankets, snacks, and drinks. But the allure of hangover helper was ultimately tied to the party scene and my attempts to adapt fell flat. Eventually, I had to accept that hangover helper was a victim of circumstances beyond my control. With a heavy heart, I closed down the business and began looking for a new side gig, grateful for the wild ride while it lasted. I had managed to create a business around partying only for a global pandemic to bring the world's festivities to a standstill.
Despite the failure of the business, I learned valuable lessons about adaptability, resilience, and the importance of seizing opportunities when they arise. I may not have become San Francisco's hangover superhero, but the experience has left me with a treasure trove of anecdotes and a newfound appreciation for the unpredictability of life. As the world continues to change and evolve, I carry with me the memories of my time as the hangover helper. Was fun while it lasted? [Music]
All right, hangover helper in San Francisco did not last, but our theme of failure Friday, never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.
That seems relevant, pertinent here. So Alex, thanks for sharing the story. Listeners, if you've got a question and update for us about your hustle, sidehustleschool.com/questions. There's always something we can learn. There's always something we can improve upon.
I hope you'll do something today to get closer towards a goal you believe in. Today's notes, sidehustleschool.com/2372. Of course, a new episode coming out tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
