This is a visual book summary of The Side Hustle by Nick Loper. A practical book for people who want to make money on the side without leaving their jobs focusing on 3 business models and 7 frameworks to generate business ideas!
Table of Contents
Visual BOOK SUMMARY OF The Side Hustle by Nick Loper (INFOGRAPHIC)
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Here are some of my insights from the infographic visual book summary of The Side Hustle by Nick Loper:
The Big 3 Business Models
1. Selling a Service
Fastest type of business to get up and running.
The model is to provide service to client and then get paid.
Examples:
- Writing
- Design
- Dog walking
- House cleaning
Pros:
- Low cost to start
- Low overhead
- Fast income
Cons:
- Trade time for money
- Hard to scale
2. Selling a Product
This business model basically involves selling physical or digital goods.
The key is to buy low and sell high for physical products.
Examples:
- Selling goods online
- Digital courses & books
- Drop shipping
- Software
Pros:
- Easier to scale
- Not selling time
- Good margins for digital
Cons:
- Can be a challenge to source goods
- Higher startup costs
- Logistics can be a challenge
3. Selling an Audience
Selling your audience like Facebook or Google. They sell their audience to advertisers who target certain segments.
The basic model is to build and monetise an audience.
Examples:
- Blogs
- Websites
- Podcasts
- YouTube channels
Pros:
- There are many flexible ways to monetise
- Not selling time
- Can scale easily
Cons:
- Takes a lot of time to build an audience
- Lots of effort upfront
- Less control of income
7 Idea Generation Frameworks
A common myth is that a business idea has to be original to succeed.
An idea does not have to be the first-of-its-kind to be successful.
Start paying attention and you will see that business ideas are everywhere!
1. The Rip, Pivot & Jam Method
Rip: Study a successful business and copy their business model.
Pivot: Use the business model in another industry or vertical.
Jam: Hustle to get customers.
2. The Sniper Method
A sniper is focused on a target and this method is good when you are starting out.
Find a really specific market segment to serve.
Example: Study various categories on Amazon and then focus on one super specific category.
3. The Shovels In Gold Rush Method
“In a gold rush, sell shovels”
Sam Brannan
This method for business idea generation is to find a hot trend and sell tools to that market.
Example: There are lots of sellers on Amazon so it would make sense to sell research tools for Amazon sellers. This is precisely what Jungle Scout does.
4. The Intersection Method
Make a table with 3 columns:
| My Skills | My Interests | My Network |
| skill 1 | interest 1 | network 1 |
| skill 2 | interest 2 | network 2 |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| … | … | … |
| skill 9 | interest 9 | network 9 |
Don’t limit yourself.
After filling out the 3 columns, see if a combination can be turned into a business idea.
5. The Scratch Your Own Itch Method
Solve your own problem as chances are other people are facing the same problem.
What frustrates you?
What would you pay money to solve?
Keep a list of these annoyances and see whether it can be turned into a business.
6. The “Expert Enough” Method
One primary question is needed to uncover a business idea using this method.
What do people in your circle come to you for your help?
You don’t need to be a world-class expert before you can start a business. Being “expert enough” is sufficient.
Make a list of things that people come to you for help. And see whether it can potentially turn into a business.
7. The Probing For Pain Method
Ask the right questions and it can become a profitable business. The questions can be personal or business related.
- What frustrates people?
- What challenges they face?
- Questions about their life or business
Finding Clients
Marketing is all about getting your message in front of your target customer. Here are some ways to get clients:
- In-person networking events
- Your own network
- Other people’s audiences
- FB groups
- Platforms like Rover for pet services, DoorDash for food delivery etc…
- An amazing product or service that markets itself
- Social media if done properly can have a tremendous impact
- Search engine: SEO (free traffic) or paid ads
10 Questions to Ask Yourself
Ask these 10 questions for each business idea.
Rate each answer from a scale of 1 to 4 and tally the scores.
Pick the idea with the highest score. See the example below:
| Question to consider | Idea 1 | Idea 2 | Idea 3 |
| 1. Does this idea excite me? | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 2. Is there a clear path to sales? | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 3. Time needed for launch? | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 4. What’s the cost to launch? | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 5. What’s the revenue potential? | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 6. How easy is it to operate? | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 7. Easy to automate and/or delegate? | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 8. How easy to scale? | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 9. Easy to stop operations? | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 10. Easy to sell business? | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Totals: | 24 | 30 | 25 |
In the above example, it is clear that business idea 3 has the most potential.
What Next?
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