Episode 41 - "The 10-minute side hustle check" (fictional podcast, made by Kuponaut for a test)
Hosts: Lena and Omar. Length: 6 minutes 10 seconds.

[00:00] Lena: Welcome back. Today: how to tell in ten minutes whether a side hustle idea is worth your weekend.
[00:09] Omar: And we promised numbers, so we'll give numbers.
[00:15] Lena: First, the boring part. Housekeeping: our newsletter moved to Tuesdays.
[00:24] Omar: Right. Okay. So, um, where do we start?
[00:31] Lena: Start with one question: would a stranger pay 20 dollars for this next week? Not a friend. A stranger.
[00:45] Omar: Friends lie to be nice. I sold candles to eleven friends and then zero strangers. Zero.
[00:58] Lena: That's the whole lesson, honestly. Eleven friends, zero strangers.
[01:10] Omar: So test with strangers. Post the offer in one place where your buyers already are, with a price, before you make anything.
[01:28] Lena: What counts as a pass?
[01:32] Omar: My rule: three paid pre-orders in seven days. If you can't get three, the idea is not ready.
[01:47] Lena: Three in seven. I like that because it's small enough to try this weekend.
[02:05] Omar: Second check: the time math. Write down how many hours one sale really takes.
[02:15] Lena: People forget packing, messages, refunds.
[02:22] Omar: My candles took 50 minutes per order once I counted everything. At 20 dollars that's under 24 dollars an hour before materials.
[02:40] Lena: And after materials?
[02:43] Omar: About 9 dollars an hour. I was paying myself less than minimum wage and calling it a business.
[03:02] Lena: Ouch. Okay, third check.
[03:05] Omar: Third: can you do it with tools you already have? If you need to buy a 2,000 dollar machine first, it's not a ten-minute test.
[03:20] Lena: Let me push back. Some good ideas need an upfront cost.
[03:27] Omar: Sure, but then rent the machine or pre-sell first. Never buy first.
[03:40] Lena: "Never buy first." That's a t-shirt.
[03:48] Omar: We'll sell three t-shirts to strangers and see.
[03:55] Lena: Ha. Okay, a listener question from Priya: she wants to sell digital planners.
[04:10] Omar: Great example, because the time math is good. You make it once and sell it many times.
[04:20] Lena: But the stranger test still matters. Thousands of planners exist. Why hers?
[04:31] Omar: So Priya, post one planner page for free, link the full one for 12 dollars, and count sales for seven days.
[04:45] Lena: Three sales, keep going. Zero sales, change the niche, not the price.
[04:58] Omar: Change the niche, not the price. People always cut the price first and it rarely fixes anything.
[05:15] Lena: Let's recap. One: three paid pre-orders from strangers in seven days. Two: count every minute per sale. Three: never buy first.
[05:35] Omar: And if you only remember one thing: eleven friends, zero strangers.
[05:45] Lena: That's it for today. Next week: pricing your first product.
[06:05] Omar: See you then.