Way back when, in 2010, I knew I had to do something for myself. I wanted to start a project, build a “lifestyle business,” and become part of the “new rich.”
Easier said than done.
I started coding my first SaaS-based side project in January 2011.
I am writing this in early October of 2024. It’s been 14 years since that decision. Even though I’m not where I want to be. I’ve learned so much.
So here are 14 things I’ve learned from 14 years of working on side projects.
I’ve worked on 15+ side hustles over the years. With differing levels of success. Got another 5 ideas brewing too.
14 Things I’ve Learned From Side Hustling
1) Nothing Happens Overnight
If people tell you it did, they’re lying.
People think Mark Zuckerberg got lucky with Facebook and it happened overnight.
What you don’t know is that he was building software products for his family’s business for years.
Had several failed projects under his belt.
And it was a slow process launching Facebook. Releasing new versions into new Universities. Seeing what worked and building. Slowy!
Another story that springs to mind. Is from the Indie Hackers podcast.
A lady was on talking about how she launched a mobile app and became “rich” overnight.
All she did was post a single tweet, launching her app. Within days she was earning $10K a month from the app, all off the back of that one tweet.
What she glossed over was that she’d spent years growing her Twitter following to over 14K. And they were all people in a very specific niche. Using her followers to then do a hell of a lot of market research for the app.
Then, she used her years of knowledge and this marketing research to then launch to these people.
Yes, the money came “overnight”.
But the entire process took years, and a lot of effort.
2) Pick Partners Wisely
You wouldn’t marry someone after 3 dates. Or without spending a few days together.
But we do this with business partners.
“Jumping into bed with someone”. Because you’re desperate to have a bit of success.
And I’ve been guilty of this on many occasions.
Getting into “businesses” with friends. And a few of those people I no longer speak to. Now. I won’t work with a friend or someone that I want in my life.
And are cautious before agreeing to work on a project with someone as a “partner”.
3) What You Think Is Awesome, Might Not Be
Linking to #2. I worked on a project with two friends, and we thought it was an amazing idea, it was going to make us rich.
But no one cared. Not enough to make money from it anyway.
You need to curb all your expectations. Until you start making money from a project.
4) Don’t Listen To Feedback or Advice
One of my side hustles. The one I’ve spent the most amount of time on since 2018 has always got great feedback.
This will be great and get help “a certain type of business” (not theirs).
“I can’t understand why people aren’t signing up in their droves”
“What you should do is put in place X and target Y people”.
What I did do with all this advice was to act on it. Guess what?
None of it worked.
So don’t listen to any feedback or advice from people who aren’t customers.
5) Listen Out For Sounds of Cash Registers
In lesson #4, I tell you not to listen to people. Well, that’s not true. You need to listen out for the sounds of a cash register.
What I mean by that is only listen to feedback, not advice. From people who are paying you money.
A word of warning. You don’t always need to put in place anything off the back of that feedback.
You need to listen. That’s it to start with.
6) 90% of Tasks You Won’t Want To Do
This is one of the harshest lessons I’ve learned. And it started back in 2020.
For me, all I want to do is code, play with a website or two, some new tech. And write the odd blog post.
But that isn’t going to get you anywhere.
You will have to do things you don’t want to. For me, that’s marketing, outreach, and creating content.
You can’t sit in the shadows, doing nothing. and expect that you will get a nice sun tan and look like a Greek god.
7) 90% of Output Will Get 0% Returns
I’ve written a blog post about woolly marketing advice.
“Figure out what’s working and do more of it”.
I know that you fucking moron.
Most of the time. Most of your efforts will bring no results. More so in the early days.
A great example recently, is I created this video to promote Elementary Analytics. After I’d launched V2 of the service.
Again, linking back to point #4. I got loads of good feedback. And I thought it would crush it, and get a few people to register for the product.
Guess what?
Nothing.
8) 2 Days Validating > 2 Months of Building
Most, if not all of my early attempts to create a lifestyle business. Were in fact, the complete opposite.
I’d spend months working on them, building something.
With no upfront validation.
A prime example, is again, the business I launched with two friends. It took me about 9 months to build. Once it was live, and, after 4 years of effort. I walked away with about £3K, that’s it.
But my favourite project, which I’m focusing on, is BAITCAMP.
I spent a weekend validating the idea in Facebook groups and on Reddit. Even managed to get someone to commit $5 for early access.
Now that’s a signal that you may (and I do say MAY) be onto something
9) You’re Going To Have To Do Marketing
This sits next to point #6.
Like I’ve mentioned, you’re going to have to do a lot of things you won’t want to do.
But the biggest thing is if you’ve launched something on the side. You’re going to have to learn and commit to marketing said thing.
The problem is that a lot of us are builders, creators, and coders. We aren’t taught how to market or sell.
We create something and want to get it out to the world. But have no idea how to do this.
That’s where marketing comes in.
Luckily it’s a skill that you can learn.
10) Leverage > Effort
I’ve spoken about leverage before. And I’ve sort of stolen this lesson from Naval.
And I’ve put it as a lesson because it’s important to remember.
An example I’m going to give, links again to my favourite project BAITCAMP.
I’ve created a clothing brand for fishermen as part of the BAITCAMP business. And I’m using Facebook, Instagram and Google Shopping to try and make sales. But it’s hard, see point #7.
So, I’m switching my effort to reaching out to people and trying and build up a list of “Brand Ambassadors”. I’m targeting fishing influencers, with a hell of a lot of followers. To see if they will wear some of the merch and share it on Social Media. With their affiliate link somewhere on their profile.
That’s a form of leverage. Leveraging other people’s audiences.
11) Customers Don’t Care
People on “Tech Twitter” love to talk about what programming language. Or framework they are using to build out a project.
And I’ve written this article related to this lesson Why No One Cares About Your New Tech Stack.
But customers don’t care.
Even if they are tech folk themselves.
If it solves a problem, cures that headache. Or it’s bloody cool. People will use it regardless.
12) Having A Competitor Is A Good Thing
I used to think that having competition was a bad thing.
We need to launch something new, and unique. But that isn’t always the case.
If you can find some competitors. People doing what you are thinking of doing. That isn’t bad, it’s good. And the more competitors the better.
Why?
Because they’ve done the market research and validation for you.
If it seems crowded, that means there’s a hell of a lot of money in that niche.
13) Doing Competitor Research Is A Bad Thing
Yes. I know. It goes against the previous point.
And again, I’ve written an in-depth article on competitor research here.
My TLDR: Research to see if you have competitors, yes. But stop there.
Don’t look at how they market themselves. And don’t use their product or service.
You’ll become influenced by what you find. And that isn’t good.
Why? See point #14.
14) Put Out What You Want To See In The World
A very recent lesson for me.
And a reason I’ve recently relaunched Elementary Analytics, coding up V2 of the SaaS project. If you’re interested in the process. I’ve documented my thought process here.
The original version of Elementary Analytics was me trying to solve my headache.
Then. because of advice and feedback (see point #4). It kept morphing, and I kept adding new features. But I wasn’t adding new customers.
So, I went back. Back to what I wanted from the project.
That meant removing 80% of the stuff I’d coded. And to build v2 from scratch.
But I’m happy with what I’ve got. It’s what I want to see in the world and use.
BONUS
15) The Project Will Only Grow To The Extent That You Grow
I’ve learned this later than I needed to.
At least I’ve learned the lesson.
And I try to remind myself of this lesson. How? By listening to, or reading “The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” as often as I can.
It’s where I first heard the phrase.
That if you haven’t got the success you want, hit the goals you set. You haven’t grown enough.
You haven’t developed the skills, knowledge, mindset. Or develop the discipline or consistency to make a go of a project.
It can be a tough pill to swallow. But also freeing, if someone else has achieved what you are trying to achieve with a project? That means you can get there too.
And I love that.
Conclusion
There you have it. 14 harsh lessons I’ve learned from 14+ years of side hustling.
I’ve learned a hell of a lot along the way. Picked up a lot of new skills too. More importantly, I’ve learned a lot about myself.
You know what, it’s changed me too.
I keep looping back to a quote I heard recently: “The work works on you more than you work on it”.
I’m a different person than I was 14 years ago. I’m completely different than I was 4 years ago, even 2 years ago.
Even though I’m not where I want to be yet.
The reward is I’m growing, and I’m happy with who I’m becoming, and who I’ve become in the process.
Thanks for reading.
