Sunday Lab · Free starter kit
10 ways to find a side hustle people already pay for, a scorecard to pick one, and a test you can run this Sunday for under $100.
Start here
You want to start something. You just don't know what. This kit gives you 10 ways to find an idea, a scorecard to pick one, and a test you can run this Sunday for under $100.
I've been there. You scroll at night and every ad sells a shortcut: grow a page, start a dropshipping store, buy this course. The more it promises, the faster you buy. Most of the time the only business that works is the one selling you the course.
There is a simpler way, but it isn't effortless. You look at what people already pay for, you find what's missing, and you test it small before you build anything big.
Everything below is how I found my own projects: an Instagram page I bought and grew, a webshop I started with a client, and the weekly tests I now share in Sunday Lab. I'm not a millionaire. But I work where and when I want, and I have time for the people I care about.
Sunday Lab gives you a new idea and a test every week. This kit is for when none of those ideas fit you, and you want to find your own.
Erwin
Pick a group you belong to. You know what they need, where they hang out and what's hard to find. And you'll keep going when it gets boring, which is the skill that matters most.
People tell you who they are in their bio. Look at a few and you'll see it:
Let the list brew for a few days. The right idea is the one that keeps pulling you back.
Each tactic has a proof level: how sure you can be that people pay. Start with the high ones if you want money fast.
| # | Tactic | Proof that people pay | Time to try |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read your followers' bios | Low | 15 min |
| 2 | Complementary business | Medium | 30 min |
| 3 | 1-star reviews | High | 30 min |
| 4 | Hit the streets, study the process | Medium | 1 walk |
| 5 | Communities and search data | Medium | 30 min |
| 6 | Piggyback on someone who's winning | Medium | 1 evening |
| 7 | Ask out loud | Varies | Ongoing |
| 8 | Inspiration feeds | Low | 10 min a day |
| 9 | Job listing radar NEW | High | 45 min |
| 10 | Template upgrade NEW | High | 45 min |
Open Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn and click on 20 people who recently followed you, or 20 friends. Write down their bios. What makes them proud? Which group could you add value to?
Don't invent something new. Find what's missing next to something that already works. Great newsletter but no fun Instagram page? Popular course but no templates? Start there.
Ask of any business: what do people buy right before it, and right after? A wedding needs a venue, then a photographer, then a thank-you card. Every step is a business.
Find products your group uses: apps, books on Amazon, local businesses. Filter on 1 and 2 stars. Don't act on one complaint. Look for the complaint that keeps coming back.
Every business you walk past makes money, and every process has a bottleneck. Watch how a waiter works, what a delivery driver struggles with, what slows down your own job.
Map the process step by step (I use post-its on a wall). Then go back to each step and ask:
The answers give you ideas and a price. If you save someone 5 hours a week, you know what your fix is worth.
If there's a problem, people are asking about it. Search Reddit, Facebook groups, YouTube comments and forums for your topic. Sort by popular. A question with lots of upvotes and no good answer is an entry point.
Then check search demand. The free Google Ads Keyword Planner shows how many people search a phrase each month. "How to..." searches point to guides and tools. "... near me" searches point to local services. Google's autocomplete and "People also ask" give you more.
The easiest hustle helps someone who already crushes it. A podcast with great episodes but no short clips. A business owner who never posts. An author with a great book but no course.
A listener of the My First Million podcast cut their old episodes into clips, posted them, then emailed the hosts: buy the clips or hire me. He got a $5k bonus and job offers.
Most of my opportunities came from saying what I wanted. I was buying ads on an Instagram page when the owner told me he wanted to sell. I bought it. A clothing store owner asked me to help sell his stock at 50% off. I suggested a webshop for a 50% cut instead. We ran it together for years.
Feed your brain with how other people make money: the My First Million podcast, Product Hunt for new tools, and Sunday Lab for a tested idea every week. Your goal is not to copy. It's to collect angles, so you spot opportunities faster in your own life.
A job listing proves that a company has budget for a problem. Search Indeed or LinkedIn for one niche, like dental practices or property managers. Read 20 listings and count the tasks that come back: copying data, checking invoices, chasing payments, updating spreadsheets.
A task that shows up in 10 of 20 listings is a product. Build a simple tool or offer it as a fixed-price service. One task for many clients, no custom work.
Etsy is full of templates people pay $5 to $30 for and then fill in by hand: budget sheets, moving planners, landlord trackers, meal plans. Sales counts and reviews prove the demand.
Turn the best one into a free web tool, and charge for the part that does the work: reminders, a finished PDF, an AI-written draft. Example: a printable move-out checklist becomes a phone walkthrough with timestamped photos and a $9 report for getting your deposit back.
Pick one
Write down your 3 best ideas and score each from 1 to 5. The highest total goes into this week's test. Ties go to the idea you're most excited about.
| Question | Idea A | Idea B | Idea C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idea name | |||
| Do people already pay for this, or something close? | |||
| Am I part of this group, or do I care about it? | |||
| Can I test it for under $100? | |||
| Can I get a first sale within 2 weeks? | |||
| Can I build it alone, without custom work per client? | |||
| Total (max 25) |
Scored under 15 on all three? Go back to tactics 3, 9 and 10. They have the strongest proof that people pay.
Test it
Don't build the whole thing. Build the smallest version that lets a stranger say yes with their wallet, and give it 7 days.
Stopping is not failing. It's $100 and a week instead of $10,000 and a year.
Airbnb started as an air mattress in a living room so two broke founders could pay rent. Most good businesses start with one small problem, solved for a few people who pay.
Every Sunday I test one side-hustle idea with $100 or less and share what worked and what didn't, plus 20 new ideas sorted by cost, time and skill.
Free at sundaylab.co · Hit reply on any email to tell me what you're testing.
Sunday Lab · by StartupLibrary · erwin@sundaylab.co