This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
I'm ready to make an app. Oh, by the way, what should the app be? Kicking off today's episode, we have an inquiry from a listener who's eager to draw on her tech knowledge for a side hustle that could potentially evolve into a much larger venture, or at least make some money. You know, that's good. Profitable ideas, that's what we're seeking here.
I want you to be able to make extra money without quitting your job, or potentially make enough money to be able to quit your job, right? That is our focus here on side hustle school. So calling in from Seattle, Amy is a software developer who's been mulling over the idea of creating that app, a mobile app specifically. And like many people in the tech field, she's got the coding skills, but she's on the hunt for a golden idea. So this is a little bit flipped from what we normally look at, or what we've looked at a couple of times, I should say, or we've had somebody who's got a great idea, what they think of as a great idea, at least, for an app, and they're just not sure how to make it.
Like they don't have the coding skills. They're not a programmer. They don't know somebody. They don't know how to partner with somebody or how to hire someone. So it's flipped, as I said here.
Amy's got the skills. She just doesn't know what kind of idea is best. So this is fun. Let's look at this question, see how she can brainstorm her way to a successful app side hustle. And by successful, of course, I mean profitable.
Again, money-making ideas. That's what we're all about here on Side Hustle School. Let's jump into the question, see how she can brainstorm her way to a successful app, one that makes money. Again, did I mention that? Profitable ideas.
All right, stay tuned. Coming up in 30 seconds. [Music]
Hi, I'm Amy from Seattle. I'm a software developer for a large tech company. And I've been thinking about creating my own mobile app.
I stumbled upon your podcast while browsing through a tech entrepreneur's subreddit. And I've been hooked ever since. There seems to be an app for everything these days. So how do I identify a unique idea that could potentially bring in substantial income? I have the coding skills, but finding a compelling idea is my main struggle.
[Music]
Amy, I've got some great news. Your background as a software developer gives you a huge advantage in the app development world. And your challenge here of finding compelling ideas, well, this is something you can learn. It's a lot easier to learn this skill than it is to learn the skill of actually coding an app. So you said you've been listening to Side Hustle School for a while.
I mean, keep listening, go through the archives. It's all completely free. I also wrote a book called Side Hustle, which is all about the power of observation and how you can very practically, every day begin to identify opportunities. So check that out as well. But mostly you want to develop this habit of observation, of paying close attention.
Think about things you like to do and consider what digital solution might make that a little bit easier or better or more creative. There's lots of stuff with AI these days, obviously. But whether you go that direction or not, what you wanna do is just come up with a lot of ideas. As you develop the skill of observation, you're gonna have ideas every day, at least pretty often. So over time, it's much more important to figure out how do I filter those ideas?
How do I identify the right idea for me? But in the beginning, I think, okay, well, the more ideas, the better. And the last thing I wanna say here is, just because there's some other app that does something similar to what you come up with, like if you think, oh, here's a great idea. Oh, but there's already like an app that's doing this or multiple apps that are doing that, that's totally okay. That is absolutely okay.
In fact, that shows that there is some demand or interest in this topic. So you just gotta think about how is mine going to be a little bit different? Or maybe I'm targeting a different audience. Maybe my pricing strategy is different. Maybe some features are different.
Like that's where you ultimately win. You don't have to have the most unique idea or something that no one has ever done before. In fact, that's often more difficult because you have to teach people what it is. So the bottom line is ideas are everywhere. Feel free to steal some of mine.
The real challenge is how do you take that idea and then apply it in a practical way? But fortunately, you already have the technical skills. So it's just a matter of getting it done. Amy, I'm excited. Let me know when your app is ready.
I would love to download it. Listeners, if you have a question or something you're trying to solve, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. Let me know what's up. I'm also on social media, Chris Guillebeau or 193 countries on Instagram. And of course there'll be a new episode tomorrow.
You're listening to the podcast known as Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
