This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Can you make money designing unique scavenger hunts? Could you perhaps turn your love of puzzles into a creative business? Well, some side us a little start with a spreadsheet. Others begin with a notebook full of clues, riddles, and storylines that only your most curious friends would dare to solve. That's where we encounter our caller from Richmond, a puzzle enthusiast who's created scavenger hunts for fun now wonders if it could become something more.
He's not talking about escape rooms or corporate murder mystery kits. We've covered both of those before in the past. This guy is dreaming of story driven scavenger hunts people can do outdoors or at events on their own time. Of course, he wants to know, is there a market for this kind of thing? In fact, there is, I'm pretty sure there is.
We've seen some examples of it. Let's look at at least one of those examples along with the steps our caller can take to get started. I hope this helps someone else out there with their side hustle idea, whatever it is you're trying to do. However, you're trying to make money without quitting your job or build a new source of income. Every single day on the podcast, we're looking at different case studies, examples, ideas.
This is episode 3100, 3100, that's right. 3100, stay tuned for Dominic's question and my answer. [Music]
Hello everyone, this is Dominic calling in from Richmond, Virginia. I'm a puzzle lover and have always enjoyed creating scavenger hunts for my friends. Lately, I've been wondering if there's a business idea hidden in there, like designing interactive scavenger hunts or mystery adventures that people could do in their cities, at parties, or even for like corporate team building.
I know there are escape rooms and murder mystery kits out there, but I'm more interested in something mobile and story driven, like self-guided scavenger hunts people can do at their own pace. Is there a market for this? And if so, where would I even begin? All right, Dominic, I do like this idea. It is creative, it involves storytelling, it also involves real world interaction, and we have seen people doing it in different ways.
A couple of real life examples, this company called Let's Roam, they offer app guided scavenger hunts in a bunch of different cities. They started small, they grew by creating downloadable or app-based urban adventures, and they monetize through one-time purchases or memberships. I think they also licensed some city-based content from local creators. So there's all kinds of different revenue that they've found a way to pursue. Another example is the Wild Optimists.
This is, I think it's a group of friends or maybe a couple of friends that started with DIY escape room kits, and then they started doing custom scavenger hunts for events, hotels, corporate retreats, really focusing on hospitality and tourism. There's also Airbnb experiences and lots of other examples. So it is definitely possible to turn this into a business. The key is going to be packaging it well. So what are a few practical steps with that in mind?
Let's start by creating a downloadable scavenger hunt for your city or neighborhood, maybe offering it as a PDF on Gumroad. I'm a big fan of Gumroad, just a very, very simple way to sell digital products, gumroad.com. Market it as a fun, affordable weekend activity for couples or families. And then we've talked about corporate things a couple of times here. Offer party or corporate packages where you design custom hunts for birthdays, team building events, or retreats.
These tend to be more lucrative and just more repeatable, right? You might wanna test demand with Eventbrite or Airbnb experiences again by hosting a couple of live events to get testimonials and early feedback. Now, the challenge is gonna be distribution and visibility. People love this kind of stuff, but they don't always know where to look for it. That's why it's really important to package it well and have a clear value proposition.
I do think it's a fun business. Dominic, let us know how it goes, if it works out or if it doesn't. We want a range of experiences. We want to help our listeners in their quest to create extra income. And I hope the podcast is helpful to you.
3,100 days and counting. I love it. Thank you for being out there. You can always subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts. You can hear the entire archive completely free at sidehustleschool.com.
And of course, I'll be back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from the Onward Project.
