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Ask HN: I'm out of ideas for side projects. Help please.

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Ask HN: I'm out of ideas for side projects. Help please.

#1

Post by JohnnySpaghetti »

Hi HN,

For the last few weeks I've been trying to come up with ideas for income generating side projects ($500-1K range). Things I've considered:

- SaaS, physical products, etc. related to activities or hobbies I personally enjoy.

- Online drop-shipping store (selling products from e.g. AliExpress) catering specific niches.

- Review websites for specific niches, monetization via Amazon Affiliate links.

I used the AdWords Keyword Planner tool to research different niches, see how many monthly searches they have on average, and how much the suggested bid is.

I tried pretty much every niche I could possibly think of, no matter how small or ridiculous. What I found is all those niches are already quite saturated. Same story for stuff related to my personal interests.

Now I'm stuck and out of ideas.

Perhaps you guys could help me come up with new ideas. Are there any niches you're personally interested in that you feel are underserved or could use some competition? Any products or services you wish existed?

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: I'm out of ideas for side projects. Help please.

#2

Post by ladytron »

Go somewhere that has very little technology - maybe where there are a lot of older people or poor people. Analyse the market and see if you can automate something or streamline a process with technology. Look for problems in a low tech area you can solve with a bit of tech.

Re: Ask HN: I'm out of ideas for side projects. Help please.

#3

Post by benologist »

https://techcrunch.com/tag/deadpool/

https://angel.co/saas

Lot of dead startups probably had good ideas and bad timing or execution. Lot of live-startups you can compete with. Giant startups making javascript frameworks and animation libraries smell ripe for disruption too.

Re: Ask HN: I'm out of ideas for side projects. Help please.

#4

Post by atmosx »

I believe that all the ideas you mentioned could work, if implemented correctly by a skilled entrepreneur or dedicated team. None of it seems brilliant or original by any means, but generally speaking, the idea is overrated.. Even apparently stupid ideas (another note app? Really? REALLY? - another bookmarking app? Oh please...) can work wonders if executed correctly.

Re: Ask HN: I'm out of ideas for side projects. Help please.

#5

Post by JohnnySpaghetti »

benologist wrote: post #3

https://techcrunch.com/tag/deadpool/ https://angel.co/saas Lot of dead startups probably had good ideas and bad timing or execution. Lot of live-startups you can compete with. Giant startups making javascript frameworks and animation libraries smell ripe for disruption too.

Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: I'm out of ideas for side projects. Help please.

#6

Post by JohnnySpaghetti »

ladytron wrote: post #2

Go somewhere that has very little technology - maybe where there are a lot of older people or poor people. Analyse the market and see if you can automate something or streamline a process with technology. Look for problems in a low tech area you can solve with a bit of tech.

Thanks for the ideas!

Re: Ask HN: I'm out of ideas for side projects. Help please.

#7

Post by JohnnySpaghetti »

atmosx wrote: post #4

I believe that all the ideas you mentioned could work, if implemented correctly by a skilled entrepreneur or dedicated team. None of it seems brilliant or original by any means, but generally speaking, the idea is overrated.. Even apparently stupid ideas (another note app? Really? REALLY? - another bookmarking app? Oh please...) can work wonders if executed correctly.

Thank you! If you have any personal experience on this, I'd love to hear it.
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