Gabe De Almeida.

Will this side hustle fit around your job?

A free scorecard for people who are keeping their job and starting a side hustle. Score any idea in about 5 minutes and see what to do next.

  • Free
  • About 5 minutes
  • Your answers stay on your device

Score my idea

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One paycheck is a single point of failure.

Gabe De Almeida smiling in a denim shirt, leaning against a green door

Why I built this.

I'm Gabe. I've spent more than a decade starting side hustles. Most of them failed, and this scorecard is built from the reasons why.

  1. High school

    Started side hustles, then a company

    I started several side hustles first. Then a monthly subscription company that was profitable from day one.

  2. College

    Led a team, then sold it

    Four employees and 15 community moderators. I sold it to another company while I was still in college.

  3. After the sale

    Co-founded a second brand

    I co-founded a new brand with the company that bought mine, and I was its growth director. The community passed 50,000 members.

  4. Over a decade in

    Side hustles, and a job

    Most of my side hustles failed. The ones that worked already had buyers, a door already open, and fit around my job. I still have a full-time software job, on purpose.

  • $250K+a year from my side hustles. My result, not a promise.
  • 10+ yearsof starting side hustles, around a full-time job.
  • Mostof my side hustles failed. This scorecard is built from why.

My side hustles right now.

These photos are from the side hustles I'm running today.

  • Gabe standing beside a photo booth with a glowing blue ring light
    Setting up for an event.
  • Gabe talking to the camera while filming a video
    Filming a video.
  • Gabe at the bottom of the frame in a video, with a close-up of a wristwatch behind him
    Filming a watch video.
  • Gabe taking a selfie with a smiling guest at an event
    At an event.
  • Gabe in a suit holding up a wristwatch to the camera
    Showing a watch on camera.
  • Gabe setting up a photo booth at an evening event
    Working a photo booth event.

Today my side hustles make at least $250,000 a year, and I still keep my job. I was let go at 27, with a pregnant wife and a mortgage, and a side hustle was the safety net. One paycheck is a single point of failure.

Score My Side Hustle Idea is the framework I use to assess a side hustle before I take it on. It's built from every miss, so you can skip some of them.

That $250,000 is my result, not a promise and not a typical outcome. Most side hustles earn little or nothing, and most of mine failed. This scorecard helps you choose better. It can't promise a result.

Score my idea

Free. About 5 minutes. Your answers stay on your device.

Here's what your result looks like.

Fifteen short questions, about five minutes. Then you get a verdict, your five scores, and one thing to do this week.

  • A verdict based on your weakest test
  • Your five scores, side by side
  • One test to run this week on your weakest spot
  • Your quickest fixes, in order

Five tests. The weakest one decides.

Most checklists average everything out. A side hustle doesn't work that way. It breaks at its weakest point, so one zero caps your verdict no matter what else scored well.

Weakest link
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So is a side hustle.

  1. Already has buyers

    Can you point to strangers who already pay for something like it? And why would they pick you?

  2. Already has a door

    Is there a place buyers already look, so you don't have to build an audience first?

  3. Fits your week

    Do you have the hours, and what happens if it works better than you planned?

  4. Safe to be wrong

    What is the most you could lose and still sleep fine? Could you stop in a weekend?

  5. The math holds

    Do your own numbers add up to the extra income you're aiming for, in the hours you really have?

Five hard stops come first.

Before any scoring, five yes or no questions flag what deserves a hard look. Any yes means pause and think it through.

  • Your work agreement might not allow it
  • It needs you reachable during work hours
  • It needs a license, insurance, or equipment that's costly or hard to get
  • It costs more than you could afford to lose
  • The people at home don't know yet

You finish with a verdict and a next step.

Plus a one-page test to run this week on your weakest spot, so you find out instead of guessing.

Keep your job. Start a side hustle.

Score my idea