In this article I will give you the 5 steps you need to build a side project that makes money.
First I’ll go through the steps, then I’ll show you a helpful tool you can use to make the process a lot easier.
These are the 5 steps we followed to take our side project from 0-1,800+ users and $2,000+ revenue in less than 2 months, so it works.
What is a side project?
First let’s start out by defining a side project so we’re on the same page. A side project is a project that you develop alongside your primary occupation (usually a full-time job), with the goals of:
- Generating additional income
- Testing business ideas
- Building new skills
- Creating potential pathways to financial independence
With that out of the way, let’s get straight into it.
Here are the 5 steps to building a side project that makes money
1. Identify a real problem
Solving a real problem is one of the most important factors and it’s the whole foundation of a successful side project. So many build side projects starting from the wrong end. They start with a solution and then go looking for a problem that fits the solution. What you want to do is go problem-first. The bigger the problem is and the more painful it is, the easier it will be for you to get customers for your project.
So how do you find a real problem to solve?
The easiest problems to solve are your own. Look at your experiences and day-to-day life—what’s something that frustrates you? Filing taxes? Keeping track of your workout routine or calorie intake? Maybe that’s a problem worth solving. Try to find actual pain points that people feel. It should be something that genuinely is a problem for them and that they wouldn’t hesitate paying for. For example, few single men would hesitate if they could pay to get their dating profile instantly improved and get more dates.
I recommend solving your own problems because it’s easier to solve a problem you know intimately yourself. You’re also more motivated to solve it because you know how much it would help you. Instead of always relying on feedback from others, you can use your own feedback to improve the product because you know if it fixes your problem simply or not.
What made Steve Jobs and his team so excited when building the iPhone was that they were building a phone that they would want to use, “That’s the best motivator of all” Steve jobs said.
Main takeaways:
- Focus on finding actual pain points people are willing to pay to solve
- Avoid building solutions looking for problems
- Use methods like surveys and community discussions to understand needs
2. Validate before building
This is one of the biggest mistakes founders make when building side projects. You have to talk to people before you start building to make sure that what you’re building is actually valuable. If you don’t talk to your target audience before building you’re just hoping they will be interested in your project. Finding out they don’t, after months of building isn’t fun, I’ve been there. I wasted 7 months building 2 failed projects that no one wanted despite how hard I tried with marketing.
So talk to people that have the problem you’re solving. Reach out on social media and try to understand how they’re currently solving the problem, how big of a pain it is, and if they’re willing to pay to get it fixed.
Reddit is a great way to reach out to many people with a simple post and it’s something that helped me validate my side project idea. All I did was a simple post asking for feedback on my idea, and I offered feedback on their projects in return for responding. This got me comments and DMs that helped me validate my idea and made me feel confident that building it would be worth my time.
Main takeaways:
- Gather feedback from potential customers
- Confirm people are willing to pay for the solution
- Use platforms like Reddit to validate market demand
- Test assumptions before investing significant time
3. Define a focused MVP
Keeping your MVP focused is important because it’s easy to get side tracked with features. The purpose of your MVP is to solve the one main problem that your target audience has. You want to solve that problem as simply as possible without adding unnecessary features that delay the development process. If you can come up with a simple solution that solves the problem, then your MVP is clearly valuable to the people with the problem.
Creating a simple plan will set you up for success when it’s time to build your MVP.
Main takeaways:
- Choose only essential features that solve the core problem
- Keep it simple and clear
- Ensure it provides immediate value
- Plan development around your available time and resources
4. Build and launch quickly
Building your MVP should be done efficiently and you want to avoid getting stuck perfecting details. You want to get your product in front of real users so they can confirm that what you’re building is valuable and worth it for you to spend your time on. The market ultimately decides if your product is valuable.
If you can get your MVP out fast that means you can start receiving feedback faster. In the early stage there’s nothing more valuable than feedback as it will help guide you through continued development and you’ll know what to improve for people to find your product valuable.
When it comes to launching there are many different ways of doing it. We launched through a post on our target audience’s subreddit and that was enough to get the first users through the door. You can also look for discussions regarding your problem and mention your project as a possible solution. Just make sure you’re providing value and not just advertising your product without helping.
Main takeaways:
- Focus on quality but avoid perfectionism
- Get the product in front of real users
- Start collecting feedback early
- Launch even if it feels not completely ready
5. Iterate based on user feedback
Once you’ve gotten the first users through the door it’s time to use all the feedback you get to improve the product. Feedback in the early stage is very valuable and it will help you shape your product into something actually worth paying for.
You will learn a lot by monitoring how users interact with your product. Maybe they get stuck somewhere, or perhaps they don’t use a certain feature at all, suggesting it could be removed. Talking to your users will also be very valuable, as new people can offer a fresh perspective on your product or your approach to solving the problem—one you might not have noticed yourself.
Main takeaways:
- Monitor user engagement
- Track key metrics
- Make improvements based on actual usage
- Focus on retaining early customers
Conclusion
Building a profitable side project isn't about creating the most technically impressive product. It's about solving real problems for real people who are willing to pay for solutions. Follow these steps, stay focused on your users' needs, and adjust based on actual market feedback.
If you want to follow a simple process for building your side project while getting guidance from AI along the way, Buildpad might be for you. Buildpad is a platform that helps founders go from idea to successful product. It will guide you through phases such as identifying a need, validating it, creating a solution, etc.
The phases come with tools as well, such as validating your idea with real-world data from online resources and discussion, to make sure people actually want what you’re building, and a brainstorming tool to help you come up with a problem worth solving if you don’t have any ideas already.
Try it now and get started for free.
