In the last article I wrote for 24 ways, back in 2009, I enthused about the benefits of having a pet project, suggesting that we should all have at least one so that we could collaborate with our friends, escape our day jobs, fulfil our own needs, help others out, raise our profiles, make money, and — most importantly — have fun. I don’t think I need to offer any further persuasions: it seems that designers and developers are launching their own pet projects left, right and centre. This makes me very happy.
However, there still seems to be something of a disconnect between having a side project and turning it into something that is moderately successful; in particular, the challenge of making enough money to sustain the project and perhaps even elevating it from the sidelines so that it becomes something not so on the side at all.
Before we even begin this, let’s spend a moment talking about money, also known as…
Evil, nasty, filthy money
Over the last couple of years, I’ve started referring to myself as an accidental businessman. I say accidental because my view of the typical businessman is someone who is driven by money, and I usually can’t stand such people. Those who are motivated by profit, obsessed with growth, and take an active interest in the world’s financial systems don’t tend to be folks with whom I share a beer, unless it’s to pour it over them. Especially if they’re wearing pinstriped suits.
That said, we all want to make money, don’t we? And most of us want to make a relatively decent amount, too. I don’t think there’s any harm in admitting that, is there? Hello, I’m Elliot and I’m a capitalist.
The key is making money from doing what we love. For most people I know in our community, we’ve already achieved that — I’m hard-pressed to think of anyone who isn’t extremely passionate about working in our industry and I think it’s one of the most positive, unifying benefits we enjoy as a group of like-minded people — but side projects usually arise from another kind of passion: a passion for something other than what we do as our day jobs. Perhaps it’s because your clients are driving you mental and you need a break; perhaps it’s because you want to create something that is truly your own; perhaps it’s because you’re sick of seeing your online work disappear so fast and you want to try your hand at print in order to make a more permanent mark.
The three factors I listed there led me to create 8 Faces, a printed magazine about typography that started as a side project and is now a very significant part of my yearly output and income.
Like many things that prove fruitful, 8 Faces’ success was something of an accident, too. For a start, the magazine was never meant to be profitable; its only purpose at all was to scratch my own itch. Then, after the first issue took off and I realized how much time I needed to spend in order to make the next one decent, it became clear that I would have to cover more than just the production costs: I’d have to take time out from client work as well. Doing this meant I’d have to earn some money. Probably not enough to equate to the exact amount of time lost when I could be doing client work (not that you could ever describe time as being lost when you work on something you love), but enough to survive; for me to feel that I was getting paid while doing all of the work that 8 Faces entailed. The answer was to raise money through partnerships with some cool companies who were happy to be associated with my little project.
A sustainable business model
Business model! I can’t believe I just wrote those words! But a business model is really just a loose plan for how not to screw up. And all that stuff I wrote in the paragraph above about partnering with companies so I could get some money in while I put the magazine together? Well, that’s my business model.
If you’re making any product that has some sort of production cost, whether that’s physical print run expenses or up-front dev work to get an app built, covering those costs before you even release your product means that you’ll be in profit from the first copy you sell. This is no small point: production expenses are pretty much the only cost you’ll ever need to recoup, so having them covered before you launch anything is pretty much the best possible position in which you could place yourself. Happy days, as Jamie Oliver would say.
Obtaining these initial funds through partnerships has another benefit. Sure, it’s a form of advertising but, done right, your partners can potentially provide you with great content, too. In the case of 8 Faces, the ads look as nice as the rest of the magazine, and a couple of our partners also provide proper articles: genuinely meaningful, relevant, reader-pleasing articles at that. You’d be amazed at how many companies are willing to become partners and, as the old adage goes, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
With profit comes responsibility
Don’t forget about the responsibility you have to your audience if you engage in a relationship with a partner or any type of advertiser: although I may have freely admitted my capitalist leanings, I’m still essentially a hairy hippy, and I feel that any partnership should be good for me as a publisher, good for the partner and — most importantly — good for the reader. Really, the key word here is relevance, and that’s where 99.9% of advertising fails abysmally.
(99.9% is not a scientific figure, but you know what I’m on about.)
The main grey area when a side project becomes profitable is how you share that profit, partly because — in my opinion, at least — the transition from non-profitable side project to relatively successful source of income can be a little blurred. Asking for help for nothing when there’s no money to be had is pretty normal, but sometimes it’s easy to get used to that free help even once you start making money. I believe the best approach is to ask for help with the promise that it will always be rewarded as soon as there’s money available. (Oh, god: this sounds like one of those nightmarish client proposals. It’s not, honest.) If you’re making something cool, people won’t mind helping out while you find your feet.
Events often think that they’re exempt from sharing profit. Perhaps that’s because many event organizers think they’re doing the speakers a favour rather than the other way around (that’s a whole separate article), but it’s shocking to see how many people seem to think they can profit from content-makers — speakers, for example — and yet not pay for that content. It was for this reason that Keir and I paid all of our speakers for our Insites: The Tour side project, which we ran back in July. We probably could’ve got away without paying them, especially as the gig was so informal, but it was the right thing to do.
In conclusion: money as a by-product
Let’s conclude by returning to the slightly problematic nature of money, because it’s the pivot on which your side project’s success can swing, regardless of whether you measure success by monetary gain. I would argue that success has nothing to do with profit — it’s about you being able to spend the time you want on the project. Unfortunately, that is almost always linked to money: money to pay yourself while you work on your dream idea; money to pay for more servers when your web app hits the big time; money to pay for efforts to get the word out there. The key, then, is to judge success on your own terms, and seek to generate as much money as you see fit, whether it’s purely to cover your running costs, or enough to buy a small country. There’s nothing wrong with profit, as long as you’re ethical about it. (Pro tip: if you’ve earned enough to buy a small country, you’ve probably been unethical along the way.)
The point at which individuals and companies fail — in the moral sense, for sure, but often in the competitive sense, too — is when money is the primary motivation. It should never be the primary motivation. If you’re not passionate enough about something to do it as an unprofitable side project, you shouldn’t be doing it all.
Earning money should be a by-product of doing what you love. And who doesn’t want to spend their life doing what they love?
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22/12/2011
I agree completely in this article: I started in 2007 a ​​site comparison of French car garages ( http://www.allogarage.fr/ ) next to my job as an engineer, I was surprised by its success when there was no financial goal, there was also no ads on the site until 2009! For 2 years the website is my main project and it’s very exciting (and scary at the same time!) to make a living with his project.
Good luck to 8 Faces in 2012!
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22/12/2011
Really inspiring, sir! A couple years ago I spent my lunch breaks slaving over a pet project, transcribing hundreds of pages of data into a digital format and building a silly little application to scratch my own itch.
It was great, and I made a little money from it and made a handful of people happy.
I need to do this again, so thanks for reminding me!
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22/12/2011
For many this sentiment could sound like wild idealism; but we—as an industry—are in such a fortunate position to (mostly) love what we do and be able make money from it. It’s a beautiful thing but we should try not to forget how privileged we are.
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22/12/2011
Nice and inspiring article Elliot.
I love side projects – have created a few bits and bobs on the side for the love of it, then when I get to the ‘end’ of those private projects (bored of them, usually) I sell the site as a ‘congratulations’ to myself. I love the work but a little reward at the end always sits nicely!
Note to self: Must find time & start new side project.
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22/12/2011
Say what you want about Jason Fried, but I recently read this article (Section 3 “How, and why, to charge real money for real products”) in which he argues that you should charge for the things you do.
His argument boils down to the fact that both the buyer and, more importantly, the creator will have more respect for the product. The creator will have the time if not the necessity to make the product great.
I love side projects but sometimes they’re hard. The fact that they’re a “side-project” or “just for fun” is sort of a cop out. It’s like you’re saying, “I really would love to go all the way with this but I doubt if anyone would support it or if I’d even be able to do it.”
That said, I think some people really do want just a side project. Some are more timid that others. No matter how you look at it, having side projects is a wholesome healthy hobby. If you want to get serious about it, however, mix in some money.
Disclaimer: I have not put my money where my mouth is. My side project is nowhere near where I’d like it to be, but I see the value of charging something as a means to spur me into action. If you’re curious, visit PlaidMaker
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22/12/2011
Nice article Elliot. Must be very rewarding to see 8 Faces take-off. It’s a really great product that sings quality and craftsmanship.
Agree with your thoughts on the money side of things, this is always a tough line and your approach is admirable. Anyone who manages to get this balance right are clearly privileged and it’s a great trait to remain humble.
Btw. Top job for paying the Insites interviewees! Highly enjoyed the Bristol event and looking forward to the book ; )
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03/01/2012
Thanks for the great blog post, but there’s a big challenge that I’d like advice from either the author of this article or other readers in the community.
So let’s say I had a pet project. Now I’m working full time on it. I am a really good backend developer, I am willing to begin learning about business, I am a terrible at graphic design. It’s clear to me that for my pet project to financially succeed, I need to find partners to make up for my weaknesses.
I’ve been in several equity partnerships on past projects, but they never worked out because of one reason or another (eg. someone not pulling their weight, not being able to compromise or agree on things, different outlook for product/business etc…). Now I’m at a loss as to who I can ask to join in my mission. I’d imagine this is a common problem for young entrepreneurs/developers with limited network, insignificant reputation, and minimal influence in the industry.
So does that mean a good developer’s first priority for his pet project is to actually NOT be the pet project? But rather interfacing with the world and getting his name out there?
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24/11/2012
You know I just stumbled across this article in search of inspiration for a blog I am about to start with a a university pal of mine! Which ironically enough came from me having started a blog of my own (as a side project) to try and drive traffic to my main website. I’m a relative newbie on the Freelance graphic design block you see! So it appears to be working slowly but surely and I am learning more about blogging all the time. Whats more my classmates seem to like my ramblings so who knew I actually have something interesting to say.
I am therefore an advocate of the side project, my only bug bare though is that you have to find the time to do it in. It’s a shame that we don’t value this kind of ethos more because if society as a whole gave a little more flexibility to people to pursue there own interests they would be inadvertently giving the economy a boost through the rise of local trade but hey ho that’s a wider issue.
Perhaps if we encourage form the ground up, we will see a resurgence of the community based business and a little less of the mega corporation. Just a thought.
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22/11/2012
Thanks for the great blog post.
Agree with your thoughts on the money side of things, this is always a tough line and your approach is admirable. Anyone who manages to get this balance right are clearly privileged and it’s a great trait to remain humble.
I think some people really do want just a side project. Some are more timid that others. No matter how you look at it, having side projects is a wholesome healthy hobby. If you want to get serious about it, however, mix in some money.
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