This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Greetings friends, listeners, community, wherever you are in the world, thanks for tuning in. You're listening to Side Hustle School, the one and only daily podcast, bringing you seven days a week, ideas, tips, case studies, questions and answers, all with the goal of helping you make extra money without quitting your job, or perhaps transition from your job to something that you're a little bit more excited about, perhaps. Today we have a question from Dublin, that would be Dublin, Ireland, the best Dublin in the world, as far as I'm aware, at least the most commonly known. Well, it's probably the best, let's just call it the best. Helen is a chemical engineer by profession, and she's got a puzzle-loving mind that's set to create a truly unique side hustle.
Now, Helen has been listening to our show after finding us on a Reddit thread, and she's now contemplating this venture. Specifically, she wants to design and sell escape room experiences. Have you ever been to an escape room? I've done it several times. I took my WDS team, I think two or three times, to an escape room.
And then last year my parents were visiting, and we took the whole family to an escape room, which was quite an experience. We did in fact manage to escape in the final minute before the hour was up. I don't think the room blows up. If you don't escape, you just don't win. So thankfully we both escaped and completed the challenge.
Anyway, Helen wants to do these experiences in the form of an at-home escape room kit. I don't quite know how that works, but Helen presumably does, at least she's got an idea. And she believes her engineering skills might serve her well in this endeavor. However, she's unsure about making the transition from a stable corporate job to this new unknown territory. Let's talk about that.
I don't think she necessarily has to, at least at first. But let's talk about the idea and how she might make and market this innovative product. That's today's episode coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Hi, this is Helen from Dublin. By day, I'm a chemical engineer working for a pharmaceutical company, but I've got this burning passion for puzzles and mind games.
Ever since I started listening to your show, which I found in a Reddit thread about entrepreneurial ideas, I've been toying with the idea of creating and selling escape room experiences. I believe that there's a huge market for at-home escape room kits. And my engineering skills could come in handy in creating compelling, complex puzzles. But how do I transition from a stable corporate job to this completely new territory? And how do I market such a unique product effectively?
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Hello, Helen. Fun to hear that you're considering such a creative and interesting side hustle. I love the idea. And as always, let's just start with this. Remember that you don't have to leave your day job until you're comfortable.
Sometimes we hear from people who are like, I've got this idea to do something and how do I quit my job to do it? Well, I don't think you do. Certainly not for something like this. And this is an ideal side hustle. You can experiment and try things out without a lot of pressure.
And so it's all fun and no pressure, or at least it's mostly fun and very low pressure, let's say. So what might you do to proceed with this idea? Here is a possible roadmap. First up, do some market research. Who would your typical customer be?
Are they families, teenagers, adults, all the above? I would add to that, in fact, corporations. I know it's an at-home escape kit, but presumably this could be done at an office or some kind of offsite venue. Are there certain themes that might appeal more to your target demographic, whatever you decide? Tailoring your product to your customer's interests can be a huge selling point.
Now second, start small. Develop one or two of these escape room experiences in your spare time, again, without quitting your job. This will allow you to test the waters, understand how much effort and time it'll take to create these products and leverage those engineering skills. Make some puzzles that are unique and challenging. Third, think about distribution.
Are you looking to sell physical kits, digital downloads? Is it some sort of facilitated experience? I don't know exactly how it works, but if you're considering physical kits, think about how you'll manage the production, the inventory, the shipping. I know there's a lot there, but the point is we can kind of chunk this out, get it down piece by piece, and figure it out. And finally, of course, in terms of marketing, consider video photo content.
I think it's very visual, right? You really wanna show off this escape room experience, especially if it's something people haven't seen before. They haven't seen an at-home version of it. Or if they're not familiar with escape rooms at all, you really need to sell it visually. You might also wanna consider attending game conventions to showcase your products, and that way you can kind of demonstrate in real time.
You might not be able to do that forever, of course, and it might not be sustainable, but it could definitely be something to help you get going. And in the beginning, you really are trying to find the right product market fit, so having that feedback can be really critical. Again, for that transition, I don't think you need to quit your job right away. In fact, I think you'll be better served by staying in your job. That's my two cents, of course.
Listeners, if you have a question, an idea, a scenario, something you're exploring, sidehustleschool.com/questions. In the meantime, let's wish Helen well. And of course, we'll continue to feature content from our listeners along with updates from listeners as they launch their projects throughout the year. That's all for today. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
You're listening to "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
