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Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#41

Post by pmorici »

I taught myself circuit board design and found a niche market that I designed a few products for that sold like gangbusters with zero marketing for a few years until the market cooled off and low cost knock offs started entering the market.

I also found that you could use the same CAD program that I learned to design PCB's to draw outlines to cut out on the laser CNC machine at the local maker space. I ended up finding a niche on ebay building open air computer cases. Because of the economics of shipping large items from overseas and the low cost of the materials I was using I was able to under cut the imports on price by like 60% and still make a nice amount of money on a $/ hour basis.

In hind sight the best way to find these kinds of opportunities is not to be looking for them. You really just need to get a really deep understanding of a hobby or industry or market that interests you in some way and once you have that then these sorts of things kind of pop out of the woodwork.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#42

Post by grok2 »

rayraegah wrote: post #13

Launched in 2016 for free. Started making money in 2018 with $3,000+ MMR. Referral only (side) business. I work full-time as an engineer/principal in growth. I conduct a form of ethnography, embedding myself in the lives of consumers the way Margaret Mead did among Samoans. I interviews my subjects and the people around them, itemizing the contents of their home (photographing and videotaping), and accompany them as…

This is the most fascinating side business I've read of! Does what you do ultimately help whoever you are following in their business? Have you seen them make changes that have helped the business in small or even larger ways?

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#43

Post by revvx »

Helping organize small music concerts and festivals and recording local indie bands. Mostly friends or friends of friends.

I've been doing it since I was a teen, before I started programming, and the first significant amount of money I made was after I invested all my savings in a small festival I organized with my friends.

As for recording, it's been a fun ride because equipment go so much better and accessible since I started 15 years ago. For recording, having portable stuff is nice, but affording to pick studios because of the room instead of the equipment was a real game changer.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#45

Post by october_sky »

pryelluw wrote: post #31

I do business strategy for startups through topographical business maps. It's the best strategy tool out there and helps avoid costly mistakes. It also aides in acquiring funding.

I googled "topographical business maps" and it's not clear to me what that is. Would you explain more?

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#46

Post by gottebp »

october_sky wrote: post #37
gottebp wrote: post #32

Breville coffee grinders are impossible to get internal parts for. I designed a 3D printed upgrade for the main wear-part in their BCG800XL and BCG600SIL Grinders. The storefront is through ShapeWays[1] and I use iFixit[2],[3] to drive the traffic. It passively makes enough to cover my own coffee needs forever. I spend about 20 minutes per month fielding questions. This all happened because my grinder failed and I co…

Clever. Do you have the intention to make more replacement parts for other products?

I would like to if time permits. There is a huge untapped market here. The difficulty is in locating the parts that are both unavailable and 3D printable. I keep it in the back of my head as I repair other items. So much expensive stuff ends up in a landfill over a tiny part.

I could see someday having a github project for replacement parts, each one iterating and getting better an better -- far beyond the original.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#47

Post by pryelluw »

october_sky wrote: post #45
pryelluw wrote: post #31

I do business strategy for startups through topographical business maps. It's the best strategy tool out there and helps avoid costly mistakes. It also aides in acquiring funding.

I googled "topographical business maps" and it's not clear to me what that is. Would you explain more?

Google Wardley maps. There is a free book on medium from its creator Simon Wardley.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#48

Post by dom96 »

muzani wrote: post #2

I did a coffee kiosk once. It went well, but required a large amount of energy and focus. We did a little twist on the business model. Starbucks sells nice places to sit down. We sold drugs. The model, from logo design to promotions, was designed to create a habit loop where people would get their morning coffee from us. It was so profitable that I seriously considered making it my full time career, expanding cafes a…

> We sold drugs.

Drugs? As in prescription drugs?

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#49

Post by lesswrong »

hkhanna wrote: post #15

I'm a lawyer who doesn't do much (any) marketing. But when someone gets referred and calls or sends an email asking for help with setting up an LLC, helping wind-down or sell their business, or even something small like reviewing an NDA, I can jump in. I'm solo, so I don't have any overhead and I can charge far less than anyone else. This is also entirely a side gig, so volume is so low that I can be responsive, help…

Got any advice on getting a referral to someone like you? I’m a founder who could use some advice independent of the company’s counsel. I’ve tried my non-startup network but am only getting leads for the big firms. How do I find an attorney like you? (New account for privacy reasons)

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#50

Post by xfitm3 »

cgriswald wrote: post #34
rossenberg79 wrote: post #3

I woodwork at a local makershop, I started out making random things for my home and when I no longer had ideas for other stuff I wanted I’d make things and give them away for free to friends. Eventually other people wanted to know if I can make them custom pieces so I began doing it for money, mostly to cover cost of materials and a bit of time for labor. Not making big money from it but it’s fulfilling work and good…

How did you get started? I've been wanting to get into this for awhile, but find myself procrastinating mostly out of uncertainty and fear of failure; but somewhat out of just having no idea where I should start, what tools I need to start, and what is achievable for a beginner.

Start with something you want to build and work backwards.

How about a simple picture frame?

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