Your side project will never launch (and how to fix that)

Endless preparation is how almost every side project quietly dies.

A reader recently shared something with me that I think a lot of people can relate to:

“I’ve been contemplating a career change and starting my own business. Would love if you write about courage to take a risk, succeeding, pivoting when needed, financial freedom.”

Right?

It’s really overwhelming if you think about all the areas of our life that need our attention.

Career, family, finances, relationships, health, friendships, hobbies, and most importantly, your mental state.

It’s A LOT.

Actually, life is a lot. Just going through a day takes a lot of energy. So let alone starting something new like a business or trying to change careers.

It’s no wonder why most people fail before they even start.

Not because their ideas are bad. It’s just too hard to start.

I’ve started (and failed) a lot of (side) projects in my life. Let me share with you what has helped me.

What are you actually afraid of?

When someone says, “I want to start a business,” the idea sounds simple. But their mind immediately jumps ten steps ahead:

• What if I lose money?

• What if nobody cares?

• What if I’m not good enough?

• What will my family or friends think?

• How can I find the time when I’m already tired?

All valid concerns.

But notice what happens. You’re worrying about the problems of running a business before you’ve even made the first thing!

You don’t have customers, employees, overhead, or investors. You have an idea.

So deal with the stage you’re actually in. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

It’s like when people start fantasizing about what their wedding looks like after three dates.

You don’t need to quit your job, invest your savings, announce a career change, or know what you’ll be doing five years from now.

You just need to find out whether your idea is worth taking one step further.

That takes a lot of pressure off.

Do you have to bet everything on yourself?

Look, the internet loves dramatic stories.

So and so started a business with $50 and is now worth ten million bucks!

Oh, great.

You rarely hear about all the people who did the same thing and ran out of money.

The truth is that you can also bet on yourself without betting your entire life.

Keep your job. Protect your savings. Work on the project for a few hours a week. You can even keep it quiet for a while. Your friends don’t need to understand it and your colleagues don’t need to know.

I started writing on the side while working in our industrial laundry business. I had no audience, and most of my early articles were read by almost nobody. I didn’t make a big announcement. I just wrote and published, week after week.

Starting quietly gives you room to learn. You can make mistakes without feeling that everyone is watching. And you can change direction without explaining yourself.

Your first move should create options, not destroy the life you already have. And you don’t have to start from zero. The skills you built in your current career come with you.

Look at everything you can do, not only your job title. Then ask: How can I use one of these skills to help a specific person?

That question can lead to a service, newsletter, product, course, consulting offer, book, or completely different career. Pick one direction and create something useful.

How do you stop preparing and start launching?

Preparation feels productive because there’s no risk of rejection. You can research tools, compare platforms, redesign a logo, take another course, and keep telling yourself you’re “working on it.”

But nothing has entered the world.

Here’s a more useful way to start:

1. Write down why you’re doing this. Do you want more independence, a different career, extra income, or a place to share your ideas? A weak reason won’t survive a difficult week.

2. Choose one person you want to help. Not “everyone who wants a better life.” Think of a real type of person with a problem you understand.

3. Define the smallest useful result. One article. One sample project. One free session. One landing page with a way to join your email list. Something another person can see or use.

4. Limit the cost. Decide how much time and money you’re willing to spend on version one. A weekend and €100 is a real limit. “Whatever it takes” is how simple projects become expensive distractions.

5. Pick a launch window. Give yourself 48 hours or one weekend to make the first version real. The deadline forces you to make decisions and ignore decoration.

6. Get feedback before expanding. Show the work to people who might use it. Ask what was useful, confusing, or missing. Then improve it.

The first version has one job: To teach you what to do next.

Don’t build the complete business. Don’t create ten products. Don’t spend three months making a website with seven empty pages.

Launch one useful thing.

What if the first version fails?

It probably won’t work exactly as you imagined. That’s normal.

Maybe nobody signs up. Maybe people like the idea but don’t want to pay. Maybe you discover that you hate doing the work. These outcomes are useful because they save you from spending another year on the wrong version.

When you’re thinking about a project, everything is still a theory. Launching gives you facts.

You might learn that the problem is wrong, the offer is unclear, or the audience is too broad. Change one thing and try again. This is how businesses and careers develop: You make a move, observe what happens, and adjust.

A new career is like learning a new language. You’ll make stupid mistakes. As long as they’re not permanent, who cares?

Betting on yourself

I’ve been running Launch in 48 this month, and I must say, it has been amazing to see how quickly some of the students are moving.

This has been the most successful course launch I’ve done in terms of engagement.

After I published an article about betting on yourself, I received a bunch of emails from readers who wanted to join Launch in 48 but had missed the cohort.

So I decided to run one extra cohort. Registration is open until August 2.

This will really be the last cohort of the year. If you also want to stop preparing and finally launch your project, you can join us here.

Whatever you decide, start small enough that you can begin now.

An imperfect project in the world gives you something to build on. An idea in your head gives you nothing.