I've been running my own business at first on the side and now full time. Here are my tips for starting a business as a side project:
Pick a big market with lots of money. That should be your first concern. Many people pick a product first, then try to find a market. That's the wrong order!
Find an expensive problem they have and try to solve it. Lots of research before you build!
Solve it by hand first. Work directly with customers. This gives you a chance to learn before you commit. Learning is the name of the game: optimize for learning, not for cost or scalability. Also, make sure you like the people. You're going to be serving them for years.
Make money as soon as possible. Do presales, Kickstarter, etc before you build anything. People giving you money is the best sign you're onto something.
Don't quit your day job until you have to.
An audience is good but it doesn't have to be your own. You can borrow audiences. The biggest asset is your network, so start meeting people now. Relationships cost almost $0.
Building programs that train developers for excellence @hexdevs . Rails dev, community strategist, avid reader and cats lover. Driven by curiosity & kindness.
Hi, Eric, I follow your work and it means a lot to me your comment here, so thank you! :) This could have its own post or e-book, have you thought about it? :P
Glad you liked and thanks for sharing your experience!
Hey Steff!
Thanks for the post.
I've been running my own business at first on the side and now full time. Here are my tips for starting a business as a side project:
Pick a big market with lots of money. That should be your first concern. Many people pick a product first, then try to find a market. That's the wrong order!
Find an expensive problem they have and try to solve it. Lots of research before you build!
Solve it by hand first. Work directly with customers. This gives you a chance to learn before you commit. Learning is the name of the game: optimize for learning, not for cost or scalability. Also, make sure you like the people. You're going to be serving them for years.
Make money as soon as possible. Do presales, Kickstarter, etc before you build anything. People giving you money is the best sign you're onto something.
Don't quit your day job until you have to.
An audience is good but it doesn't have to be your own. You can borrow audiences. The biggest asset is your network, so start meeting people now. Relationships cost almost $0.
Rock on!
Eric
Hi, Eric, I follow your work and it means a lot to me your comment here, so thank you! :) This could have its own post or e-book, have you thought about it? :P
Glad you liked and thanks for sharing your experience!
I don't know if I want to be yet another internet business guy.