Weekend Workshop: Beg, Borrow, or Steal Ideas

Episode 2934

This new segment is all about helping you learn the key steps to a new side hustle in 2025, one step or concept per week. It includes activities, examples, and more—and of course it's all free.

We'll be using the book SIDE HUSTLE: From Idea to Income in 27 Days (available wherever books are sold). But if you don't have the book, that's ok; I'll be taking you through the key steps along with listener stories and examples throughout the year.

Today's Topic: The Power of Observation (Beg, Borrow, or Steal Ideas)

Learning Objective: Learn to generate profitable side hustle ideas by observing problems and opportunities in everyday life.

Side hustle ideas are everywhere - but most people walk right past them every day. The key is training yourself to spot opportunities hiding in plain sight. There are three main types of side hustles:

Selling Products: Whether physical or digital, you're creating or sourcing something that customers can buy. The product could be handmade jewelry, digital templates, or imported goods. Your role is connecting items with buyers who want them.

Providing Services: You're using your skills or time to help others. This could be tutoring, consulting, dog walking, or any task people will pay for. Your expertise or availability is the product.

Being a Middleman: Sometimes the biggest opportunities come from improving an existing process. You're not creating products or directly serving customers - you're making connections or fixing inefficiencies in a way that generates income.

Two Quick Examples:

Dan worked as a database programmer and noticed many professionals struggled with Microsoft Access. Rather than just offering generic tech support, he created a specialized tutoring service charging $55/hour. Then he noticed some students needed custom database work, so he expanded to consulting at $125/hour. He spotted both a specific problem (Access is confusing) and an opportunity to serve it at different price points.

Trevor started buying discounted electronics and reselling them on Amazon. He wasn't creating anything new - he simply noticed price differences between retailers and built a system to profit from them. What began as a way to earn travel rewards points grew into a six-figure business because he spotted an inefficient market and found a way to improve it.

Key Principle: Side hustle opportunities are hiding in plain sight, but finding them requires training your brain to observe in a different way. Think of yourself as a detective looking for three types of clues:

1. Problems People Have
Watch how people spend their time and money. Where do they get frustrated? What do they complain about? Every annoyance is a potential opportunity. When you hear someone say "I hate how..." or "I wish there was..." pay attention - they're handing you a business idea.

2. Gaps in the Market
Look for missing solutions and inadequate services. Sometimes the opportunity isn't in solving a problem, but in making something better or more convenient. The dog walker who adds pet photography to their service isn't fixing a problem - they're filling a gap.

3. Inefficient Processes
Many successful side hustles simply make an existing process smoother or faster. You don't always need to invent something new - just improve what's already there. Trevor's electronics reselling business succeeded because he found a way to connect buyers and sellers more efficiently.

Action Exercise

For the next 24 hours, carry a small notebook or use your phone to document potential opportunities. Your goal is to spot at least 3 possibilities.

For each opportunity, note:
• The problem or need you observed
• Who has this problem
• How it might be solved
• Whether you could feasibly help

Example Entry:
Problem: Dog owners struggling to find parking at popular hiking trails
Who: Urban pet owners who want weekend adventures
Possible Solution: "Hiker Shuttle" service that picks up dogs and owners from their homes
Feasible? Yes - would need vehicle and insurance, but no special skills

Quick Self-Check:
• Did you spot at least one opportunity in your daily routine?
• Could any of your observations be turned into a side hustle?
• Which problems align with your current skills?
• What's the most interesting opportunity you noticed?

Remember: You don't need to pursue every idea you generate. The goal is to train your brain to constantly spot possibilities - then you can choose the best ones to pursue.

Yours in the revolution,