Choosing a low-risk idea

Why risk matters more than size

Most early money is lost to three things: work that never ends, getting paid late or not at all, and costs that grow with every customer. A small idea that avoids these beats a big one that does not.

No idea is guaranteed to earn money. The aim is to make it cheap and quick to find out.

The six questions

1. Is the job the same size every time, with a written list of what is included?

2. Can you agree the price first and take payment or a deposit up front?

3. Does each job cost almost nothing besides your time, with no AI credits, materials or fees per customer?

4. Will the same customers pay again, for example monthly?

5. Can you start for under your budget and test it for a month?

6. Is it easy to say no, with no long revisions or demanding clients?

The home page has a card that scores your idea against these and tells you what to fix.

Scope creep

Scope creep is when a customer keeps asking for a little more at the same price. Prevent it by writing down what is included, what is not, and how many changes are covered. Anything else is a priced extra. Custom website work is the classic example, so be careful with it.

AI credits

If an AI does the work for each customer, your costs rise with every customer. Prefer ideas where you or a fixed checklist do the work and AI only helps you plan or write. Work out the cost of one job and put it in your price.

Build in private, then test

It is fine to build the first version before you have any customers. Keep it private, cap what you spend, and write down what it will not do.

While you build, talk to a few people about the problem (you are listening, not selling). Building with no conversations at all is the usual way to lose weeks.

When it works end to end, tick the Ready for your first customer list on the home page, then aim for 3 paying customers.