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5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

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Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#81

Post by Normal_gaussian »

StevePerkins wrote: post #68

Maybe I'm just old and cranky and this is a generational thing, but when did "side project" become mixed up with "side hustle"? I think the dead horse has been beaten already in this thread, with what the author "should have done" in terms of market research, A/B testing, MVP, etc. No need for me to pile on further there. But what strikes me is that the author really seems to draw no distinction between personal side…

> personal side projects, done for the purpose of developing new skills

That sounds like a work focused side project to me. Things I've made that are personal side projects - iot blind controls (because I wanted it), magic mirror (because I wamted it), triathlon result parser (because me and my so wanted to settle some race stats debates), groupable containerised desktop apps (because I wanted it) etc.

None of my personal side projects set out to develop new skills, they set out to make me or a loved one happy. Often they do develop new skills. My partner is currently stripping and repainting an old bike - shes learning loads, but thats not the intent. The intent is to make it match her other gear because that makes her happy.

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#83

Post by skeoh »

ffhhj wrote: post #33

And you know what's worst than earning $0? - The store not accepting your app because there are too many of the same topic (horoscopes, memes, sound boards, whatever-craft names, etc.) - Spending lots of money on Google/FB ads. - Spending lots of money on AWS. - Burning out yourself and your friends.

Could you expound on this? Are you speaking from experience?

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#84

Post by [deleted] »

bluewalt wrote: post #80
StevePerkins wrote: post #68

Maybe I'm just old and cranky and this is a generational thing, but when did "side project" become mixed up with "side hustle"? I think the dead horse has been beaten already in this thread, with what the author "should have done" in terms of market research, A/B testing, MVP, etc. No need for me to pile on further there. But what strikes me is that the author really seems to draw no distinction between personal side…

That's a relevant advice IMO. However, as a tech guy trying to build stuff too, I need continuous motivation for this. I need to stay in a "flow" state. And a good fuel to this is to learn new cool things during the journey. To put it differently, I think you need to find the right balance between fun and efficiency, even if your goal is to earn money in the end. Trying to always look for the maximum efficiency could…

[deleted]

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#85

Post by bluewalt »

crispyalmond wrote: post #54

I wouldn't consider projects which make $0 to be failures, unless your intent was to make money from them. I like making tools/games in my spare time with no intention of profiting from them. I simply enjoy the programming aspect way more than any monetary value. I'm not saying that I wouldn't like the money, but it's not my primary focus for making these projects.

That's a very strong advice to remove irrelevant guilt. Many people bind success with money. That's just one thing you can benefit.

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#86

Post by zepolen »

kjksf wrote: post #73
zeroc8 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only problem is that pretty much anything I can do has been done a zillion times by others.

I doubt that's true. I have literally hundreds of ideas. As an experiment I put them on a website for anyone to see and "steal": https://blog.kowalczyk.info/article/e4132d5a44014b2aad81d815... I'm not saying those are all great, profitable ideas. I'm saying that they are doable by a competent programmer and unique enough. Certainly not "done a zillion times by others".

That list really drives home the 'ideas are cheap' phrase.

I guess the good ideas are expensive.

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#87

Post by Buge »

rahimiali wrote: post #64
ChuckMcM wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So much this sentiment. I ask people I mentor "why do you measure yourself in dollars?" and they often respond with something like "all the successful people I admire are rich." or something along those lines. Money is a 'first derivative' of success and a lagging indicator. Measure yourself by what you learn not by what you earn and you will be sticking to projects longer because the payoff will be in what they are…

> Money is a 'first derivative' of success Does that mean that even if my success stagnates at “quite successful”, I make no money at all? That doesn’t make sense to me. How would that work?

Yeah I think it would be the other way around: money would be the integral of success.

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#89

Post by yayr »

kjksf wrote: post #73
zeroc8 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only problem is that pretty much anything I can do has been done a zillion times by others.

I doubt that's true. I have literally hundreds of ideas. As an experiment I put them on a website for anyone to see and "steal": https://blog.kowalczyk.info/article/e4132d5a44014b2aad81d815... I'm not saying those are all great, profitable ideas. I'm saying that they are doable by a competent programmer and unique enough. Certainly not "done a zillion times by others".

Try to translate this list into:

Let [customer group] do [pain point solved].

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#90

Post by Alex3917 »

StevePerkins wrote: post #68

Maybe I'm just old and cranky and this is a generational thing, but when did "side project" become mixed up with "side hustle"? I think the dead horse has been beaten already in this thread, with what the author "should have done" in terms of market research, A/B testing, MVP, etc. No need for me to pile on further there. But what strikes me is that the author really seems to draw no distinction between personal side…

> It won't be, and that's okay!

These days hosting costs are cheap enough that even if it takes you several years to turn something into a business, that doesn't really cost you that much. We've seen several examples of this happening already, and it's only getting more prevalent.

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