Rob Hope

A checklist to help green-light your next idea

• 1. How passionate are you about the side‐project subject?

• Rate from 1‐10. 8 or above is Green. Go. Now. 

• Will I have a ton of fun building it?

• 2. Why exactly are you building this side‐project?

• To get known as a Maker? 

• To make more money?

• To quit my job now? 

• To grow a business and hire people?

• To solve my own problem/need?

• To learn a new skill?

• To potentially help my existing projects?

• To form a contingency plan for my current project? 

• To build something of value that can help people?

• 3. Will you use your own side‐project?  

• 4. Opportunity costs?

• Why don\'t I improve my existing projects with this time?

• Am I procrastinating on a bigger, more important project?

• Have I considering ridding of a side‐project I am less passionate about, to make space for this new one?

• 5. Will your side‐project solve a real problem?

• Does my idea solve an easy or difficult problem?

• Have I researched if there are already solutions to my problem?

• Are there still pain‐points in the industry?

• How light can I test and validate that my idea is actually solving a problem?

• Are people willing to pay for my product or service?

• Will my idea be relevant in 1,2,3,5,10 years? 

• 6. Is the side‐project market progressive? 

• What does my gut say?

• Have I spent an hour in Google Trends?

• 7. Competition

• No competition = bad.

• Ton of competition = ok.

• Ton of competition but not much within my niche = good. Can I target a niche within the broader industry?

• Do I know how big this industry is?

• How big are the social media followings of my competitors?

• 8. Are you able to build everything?

• Do I have time to build this side‐project while you are working on your main project or day job?

• How much do I need to outsourcing?

• Do I have savings to outsource?

• Without outsourcing, can I launch at lighter version of this side‐project idea to validate outsourcing?

• 9. Who is creating content and how often?

• Am I building a community?

• Am I building a standalone tool? 

• Does my side‐project promise timely content? 

• Does my side‐project need moderation? 

• Can I walk away from the idea for a day, week, month, year?

• 10. Are you fit for the hustle?

• Am I mentally strong enough for the inevitable dip? 

• Am I in it for the short or long game?