Side Project Preflight
Answer a short set of honest questions across audience, scope, monetization, and launch steps. You will get a readiness score, three prioritized next steps, and a results summary you can copy, share, or save.
Pick a project type, enter a project name, then answer each question based on your current situation. There are no trick questions.
These examples show what strong, weak, and in-progress audits look like. Use them as a reference while you fill in your own answers.
This creator had a small email list, a clear audience, and a simple paid tier idea. The main gap was a launch date. They picked a four-week launch window and scheduled three guest posts in other small gardening newsletters.
Strong area: audience. Weak area: launch timing.
The app was mostly built, but the creator had not talked to paying customers yet. They had a feature list, not a scope cut. Their next step was ten customer conversations and a stripped-down paid beta.
Strong area: momentum. Weak area: monetization validation.
This project had a topic idea and a name, but no audience hypothesis and no pricing. The creator wrote a one-sentence promise, posted it in two teacher groups, and asked what people struggled to plan first.
Strong area: idea. Weak area: audience and scope.
This works best as a quick preflight before you promote a project publicly. It is not a business plan. It is a way to catch obvious blind spots early.
Answer based on what exists today, not what you hope to finish next month. If you have not talked to users yet, say so. The value of this audit is showing you where to spend your next few hours.
Many side projects fail because the first version tries to do too much. Before launch, remove one feature, cut one audience, or shrink one promise. You can always add more after you have real feedback.
If you are not sure how to charge, do not wait for a perfect plan. Pick one simple model, explain it plainly, and ask whether three potential customers would pay that price. A rough answer now beats a perfect answer next year.
A low score means you have clear gaps to fix. A high score means fewer obvious blind spots, not a guarantee of success. Re-run the audit after you make changes to see whether your score improves.
Save your audits in your browser and revisit them before each launch attempt. Comparing two or three audits helps you see whether your preparation habits are actually improving.
Imagine you want to launch a weekly newsletter for junior designers. You have a name and a topic, but no subscribers. Your first step is not designing a logo. It is finding ten junior designers to interview about what they struggle with weekly.
After those conversations, you write a one-sentence promise, set up a simple landing page, and offer three free issues. Only then do you pick a launch date and tell people about it. That sequence shows why audience and launch steps matter more than branding at the start.
These audits are stored only in your browser. Clearing site data removes them. Use this panel to revisit past scores and compare your progress.
No saved audits yet. Run an audit and click "Save audit" to start.