Coversside hustles, validation, starting up, marketing, selling, money, software and growing

Test your business idea, fix what’s broken, and get it running before you quit your job

Ideas rarely fail for want of inspiration; they fail on the price, the costs, the reach or the hours. Plain guides to each, from side hustle to first hire, and a free inspection that grades your idea and names the first fix.

Inspect your idea

1Demand 2Price 3Costs 4Reach 5Time

Fig. 1A business idea, taken apart along its axis. Five parts, each graded by the Idea Inspection and each fixed in its own section.

1Demand
Will anyone pay for it, and how do you know?
Section 2: Validation
2Price
Is there a price, and does it hold up when people hear it?
Section 6: Money
3Costs
What does it cost to run, and how many sales cover it?
Section 6: Money
4Reach
Can you get it in front of the people who’d buy it?
Section 4: Marketing
5Time
Do you have the hours, and can you last until it pays?
Section 1: Side Hustles

GuidesContents

Every guide puts the numbers on the page (the price, the margin, the hours a week) and says what to check first and what usually breaks.

Key

6-2: Section 6, guide 2

All guides

1Side Hustles2 guides
Businesses that run in the hours around a job, for readers with a paycheck, an idea and a few free evenings a week.
1. 1-1How to find time for a side hustle with a day jobWes Dunleavy · 7 min read
2. 1-2Do Blogs Make Money? How Bloggers Really EarnWes Dunleavy · 13 min read
2Validation3 guides
Testing whether a business idea will run before the money goes in, for anyone with an idea they haven’t paid to build yet.
Not launched yet? Start with Validation.
3Starting Up3 guides
The setup that turns an idea into a business, from the LLC to the bank account, for readers about to make it official.
4Marketing2 guides
Finding the first customers and the next hundred on a small budget, for owners who do their own marketing.
1. 4-1How to get your first customers for a new businessWes Dunleavy · 8 min read
2. 4-2Marketing Funnel Explained: Stages, Models, and MetricsWes Dunleavy · 15 min read
5Selling2 guides
Turning interest into sales through stores, marketplaces, sales calls and the checkout, for readers with something to sell.
1. 5-1Etsy vs Shopify: fees, buyers and where to start sellingWes Dunleavy · 9 min read
2. 5-2Customer segmentation: A Complete Guide for Any BusinessWes Dunleavy · 15 min read
6Money5 guides
Pricing, costs, cash flow, bookkeeping, taxes and funding: the numbers that decide whether an idea runs, for owners who aren’t accountants.
Launched and stalled? Start with Money.
7Softwareno guides yet
The tools that run a small business, judged by what they cost and the hours they give back, for owners choosing their stack.
8Growing1 guide
What comes once the business runs, from first hires to new markets to staying small, for owners whose business works and wants more of them.
1. 8-1DBA Meaning in Business Explained Without the Legal JargonWes Dunleavy · 13 min read

The Idea MechanicWho writes here

Who writes here

Wes Dunleavy, Editor and lead writer

Ran a furniture repair shop for eleven years, closed a subscription box after fourteen months, and now helps first-time founders.

Anita Sorensen, Bookkeeper and money writer

Has kept the books for contractors, shop owners and freelancers for sixteen years, and would rather see the receipts in January.

Authors