Letโs share some side project ideas but first let me tell you this โ I absolutely love side projects. ๐
Hereโs why:
Side projects are a great way to, fuel your entrepreneurial footprint, validate ideas,
Side projects are also marketing tools and work as an alternative way to generate leads for your business and channels to attract your target audience.
Even for those whoโre not into entrepreneurship or marketing, side projects are a great way to create new revenue streams.
Thatโs not all. Side Projects also have the potential of going BIG: Remember Groupon, Airbnb, Twitter, Instagram, AppSumo, Khan Academy, WeWork and Slack were all side-projects!
Iโve been involved in creating multiple side-projects for client campaigns or additional revenue streams and Iโve built an internal document with 100+ of the best side-project ideas.
Iโm calling them side-projects as theyโve been my alternative focus areas but for many, they could turn into their primary business or startup.
Iโve also reached out to the top-of-the-line marketers and entrepreneurs in my network and got their side-project ideas as well. Iโve put them together in one place so you can access it and start executing!
Letโs start with the list of 101 side project ideas Iโve either brainstormed or executed over the past years:
Simple Web Scraper Tool
Net Worth Calculator & Tracker
Deal Aggregator
Random โXโ generator
Custom merchandise
Podcasts
Quiz-based apps
Marketing Checklists
Technology Checklists
Startup Checklists
Email Course
Stack-based Directory
Typeform-based Questionnaire
Blog Series Documenting a Live Campaign
Online Coaching
Collection Board Website Like a Pinboard
Online Magazine Monthly Subscription
Mini TA-focused Search Engine
NGO Driven From Main Business Profits
Influencer Directory
Freelancer Directory
Startups Directory
Price Comparison App
Marketing Audits
Tech Audits
Startup Audits
General Audits
Offline Group Building & Activities
Freebie Curator
Ebooks
Pill Tracker
First Aid Checklist
Online First Aid Course
Destination-Wise Checklists for Travelers
Interest Amount Calculator
โBooks to Read Before you Dieโ Checklists & Directory
Cocktail Recipe Directory
Tinder for โXโ
Uber for โXโ
Dog Name Generator
Cat Name Generator
Startup Name Generator
Random Travel Destination Suggestion App
Whatโs hot and new on Netflix?
Whatโs hot on Reddit?
Whatโs hot on โXโ?
Online Teaching On Udemy-Like Sites
Social Media Design Service
Logo Design Service
Phone Cases Store
Virtual Assistance
Sell Premium Photos Online
WordPress-based Websites
Online Consultation
Project Management Tool for โXโ
Job Board for โXโ
WP Plugin Development
Hosting Reseller
Bucket List for โXโ
Idea Generator for โXโ
One โXโ a Day
Random Quote Generator
Quotes on โXโ
Hashtags Generator
Font Suggestor
Chrome Extension for โXโ
Stock Images Curator
Template for โXโ
The Ultimate List of โXโ
Co-working Space Finder
Company Culture Quiz
Engagement Rate Calculator
Ad Budget Calculator
Best Emails Directory
App or Website Quiz
Website/App Budget Calculator
Project โXโ Budget Calculator
ProductHunt for โXโ
Groupon for โXโ
Visa Guide for โXโ Country
Investing Checklist for โXโ investment
An Event Calendar for โXโ
Productivity Timer
Game Development
Generate Ideas as a Service
Top Alternatives for โXโ Suggestor
Trello-based Ideaboards
The Ultimate Guide to โXโ
A Collection of Pitch Decks
A Collection of โXโ
A Map for โXโ
Online Subscription-for-Content Website
Free Strategy Session
Free Consulting Session
Newsletter-Based Community Building
The Playbook of โXโ
The Product Launch Checklist
The Best โXโ from 2018
Video Series on One โXโ a Day
100 Days of โXโ
Affiliate on Products
Now, letโs look at the contributions from some of my friends:
Side projects are a treasure trove for leads! Some of the side project ideas: 1. A highly-curated, focused session on solving business problems for a select set of people. It can be a great way to generate leads for your agency business. Bring 10 people together and lead a case-study style 3-4 hour session where participants solve each otherโs problems. 2. A newsletter that curates and sends the top events to attend for a particular week โ can be based on a particular niche or theme. Even at Springworks, we work on anywhere between 3-5 side projects that can get us a new set of users and also eventually feed into the main products. CrimeMonitor โ a tool to get notified if you have any pending court cases and RefCheck โ RefCHECK will issue a one-pager Reference Check with a thorough understanding of the candidate.
Deepan Siddhu โ Director at Neil Patel Digital India
โGreat effort Rishabh. I propose WordPress templates, Top 10 Product Reviews, Device Mockup Generatorโ
Great list Iโm working on my own side projects too โ Customized CMS built with Laravel, Price comparison web app, A wildlife photography blog integrated with a forum. These are in my to-do list this year.
1. A list app but only for links. And the lists should be shareable. It can be anything: GIFs, Videos, Shopping links, etc. 2. GIFs Creator which can pull the free image and vector resources across the web. And the GIFs live on to be used by everyone else. 3. Launch a WordPress website in 5 mins. This can be done through Digital Ocean or AWS as a backend, but it needs to be more intuitive and managed. Most managed hosts do exactly this but charge like $20+ for just creating $5 DO droplets. 4. Zapier + Anything โ Iโm still mind-blown by the possibilities here. 5. A replacement for FB and all its products (just kidding )
1. Bots (FB, twitter, telegram) to manage members and post updates. 2. News aggregator site. It can also be extended to become a newsletter. 3 Alexa voice apps. A lot can be done with this. 4. Email app with filters to notify on specific stuff. This would need a custom SMTP server. 5. P2P video chat. 6. Chat aggregation app. An app that can connect all my chats from WhatsApp, telegram, facebook messenger, signal, slack, discord and so on into one single window. If possible also reply from here.
Those are some of the ideas you can start working on โ expert verified!
Whatโs more?
Iโve compiled the complete sheet of side project ideas with over 100 ideas and the tools you can use to execute them.
You can visit this link to get access to the complete sheet.
Download it and start executing!
Update: New side project ideas have just come in from my network. Read them below and make sure you submit your own ideas in the comments of this blog to get featured on the idealist.
Himanshu Sharma: Another side project that I can think of is a Reddit Scrapper to get the best possible answers related to any topic. Most of the Subreddits are now messed up with general question answers.
Tejas Rane: My Side Project Ideas Including Building Informational Products in Targeted Niche, Affiliate Marketing on a Hyper-Targeted Audience. Btw Great List and Would love to know more about your side project ideas.
Pravin Singh: Awesome list! Very true, my entire business was a side project once upon a time during my old job. Itโs the perfect way to get your hands dirty and then dive deeper. Here are some of my side projects that worked well: Affiliate business for data products by adding great content on it that Iโve personally worked on, Tech products affiliate marketing that Iโve personally used and tested heavily, Freelance projects on interesting data problems.
Punit Mahajan: Great list of side projects. My friend builts these mini android apps mostly for the Hindi-speaking audience. Makes a good side income via apps like quote apps, etc.
Zsuzsanna Kisvardai: I taught English as a side gig while I studied. But it became my first business pretty soon.
Christopher Vadakkel: Python to create APIโs to be integrated with Facebook/Google (Inspired from you), Create training module products which will open up another revenue stream for my company.
