Photo by Lala Azizli on Unsplash

Let me be clear, I don’t think it’s difficult to come up with a new idea. If there is a problem at some point, its solution is already a new idea. So, you don’t find things like 5 things you can sell online or 10 tactics that make money in this article.

I guess you’ve probably heard many times the cliches like I have a great idea, but…, A project that will change the world, but… My golden rule isn’t like the advice you see in motivational videos or on Instagram, it’s simple: don’t think big.

First of all, let me explain; A project with the potential to grow always has the potential. Of course, this takes some time and a lot of experience. No matter how big you think, if your project really has potential, you can’t even imagine the future of your project. That’s why I think small.

So I’m not trying to make a new Notion when I want a feature that Notion doesn’t have while taking notes. Or I don’t try to make a new chat app because I don’t like the WhatsApp messaging experience. I write to the support instead. That’s why the support exists :)

Let me advertise it to share an example: The last project we did with

Fatma Kiraz

is the Coming Soon Kit. You wouldn’t believe how fast we create it. It’s literally a side project that we create without interrupting our full-time job.

Coming Soon Kit’s coming soon screen :)

How important are ideas?

I think ideas are not so important, everyone has great ideas. Unpopular opinion: If you have big ideas for side projects, I say reconsider creating a side project.

As I mentioned, I am not having a hard time finding ideas, especially these days. But I met and talked to many people who had trouble finding ideas. The problems are common, you will probably see yourself;

• I don’t know how to make money from my profession.
• Many ideas have already been realized.
• I don’t have the skills, team, time, and money to create the project in my mind.

1 — I don’t know how to make money from my profession

This is what I hear most often. For example, designers are considering what kind of Figma file can be sold. Please tell me if I’m wrong, the people who ask this question are definitely the designers who do agency work. Startups are the growth of side projects. So, designers working in startups are more familiar with this process. They can predict what can be sold, and what the customer wants.

We often forget to think about what is needed instead of thinking what can I sell. I am also making this mistake. Again, I would like to give an example by explaining how the idea for the Coming Soon Kit project -which we made with

- came about.

Fatma and Kadir have a project called aliveDomain. Before the project was launched, Fatma developed the coming soon screen to present the project’s value proposition. Later, they discovered the advantages of offering such a screen. Almost all products need the coming soon screen. But the fact that Fatma had to develop it again means that there is a gap in the market in this area. Here is a new idea.

She contacted me and at that moment the idea was ready. The idea was formed without worrying about how to find an idea. Then, we researched whether it was really worth developing this idea. There were no modern and detailed coming soon screens. We realized that we could do better.

I designed the screens in Figma, one of the most popular and well-known programs. Fatma also developed the design with Tailwind CSS. We have prepared the kit with more than 50 screens. So why did we only use these technologies? Nor did we make a website builder. Because we applied the method of not thinking big. The method we use can be called MVP (Minimum Viable Product). The progress of the project will guide us.

A promo image of Coming Soon Kit

2 — Many ideas have already been realized

The answer is simple, you can create similar projects. In fact, many creators come up with ideas by looking at what others are doing. While we were researching for Coming Soon Kit, we saw projects that worked in progress. It would be surprising not to see them. We did not give up on the project by saying that there is already a similar project. This even gave us an advantage. By examining other projects, we developed the features in our project.

In addition, a project that has never been tried before is very risky. You know, they always say that “our project will dominate the industry”, if a similar project has never been tried before, the industry does not even exist. At this point, you will have to make the product, create the industry, and explain the industry to the customer. Of course, if you can spare time to find customers while dealing with all these…

It is also useful to keep in mind; Is your idea really unique and special or have you overlooked your competitors? It is a great advantage to analyze the competitors and determine what to offer in your project.

You can browse the following sites to be inspired by ideas;

You can also follow the subreddit, but I don’t have the detailed lists. I don’t know enough about subreddits.

3 — I don’t have the skills, team, time, and money to create the project in my mind

Are you sure this idea is a side project? Think again. Yes, that’s pretty much all I have to say about it.

If there is not enough time left from your current job/school/responsibility to bring your idea to life, if it is not possible to launch the project with a small team, or if you do not have the competence, I suggest you suspend the project for now.

There are two separate ways:

• You must earn enough money or passive income to sustain yourself and your project.

I’m assuming you’re a professional for this path. Then you can manage your savings by finding qualified people for your project. You won’t have time to learn new skills. Therefore, do the job you know best, leave the job you don’t know to someone who knows. By the way, since I think most of us have a problem with time, I choose this way as the “recommended method” :)

• Increase your skills

If you have plenty of time and do not have financial problems, it may be the preferred method. If you are choosing this path, you are probably a young person who does not have much responsibility or a professional who does not have financial problems and wants to improve your skills/personal brand.

NOTE: Especially creating a team must be the most difficult task. Finding someone who will both adopt and develop your idea and meet the needs of the team is only possible with frequent communication.

Thank you for reading. As a final word, if you are interested, you can also take a look at our Coming Soon Kit project that I mentioned.

shares updates from the flood I shared below on her Twitter account on the development side [tr].

I also share the updates on the design side in this flood [tr].