Wes Dunleavy
Editor and lead writer
Wes Dunleavy has started two businesses. The first, a furniture repair shop that began as weekend work beside a day job, kept him busy for eleven years. The second, a subscription box for home cooks, ran out of cash in fourteen months, and he learned more from that one. He now helps first-time founders find the weak part of an idea before they spend money on it.
He edits the site, writes Side Hustles, Validation, Marketing, Selling, Software and Growing, and wrote the questions in the Idea Inspection.
- Guides
- 6
- Writes about
Guides
2-1
Customer interview questions to test a business idea
A short script built on what people did last time, the four questions that only get compliments, where to find ten strangers, and how to tally the answers.
5-1
Etsy vs Shopify: fees, buyers and where to start selling
One $48 sale worked through Etsy’s and Shopify’s own fee pages, where the buyers come from on each, what you own, and which to start on with a first product.
1-1
How to find time for a side hustle with a day job
Most side hustles stall on the hours, not the idea. Count the hours yours needs, track an ordinary week, and build a schedule you can keep beside the job.
4-1
How to get your first customers for a new business
Win the first ten paying customers on little or no budget: a one-sentence offer, ten named people and places, the message to send, and a four-week test.
2-2
How to pre-sell a product before you make it
Take real pre-orders before you build: set the pass mark, write an offer with a ship date and refund, and keep within the FTC’s rules on delays and refunds.
2-3
How to validate a business idea before you spend money
Five tests in order of cost, from ten conversations to a pre-sale, each with a pass mark set first, so you know whether to build it, change it or drop it.