Robert Domingo

Now you've got to pick the three best ideas from the ten plus you've come up with.

Take your list of ten plus ideas, and eliminate the ones that you're not excited about.

If you can't decide, choose the ones you believe will be easiest to implement--and that you (and ideally other customers) would be thrilled to spend money on.

• A higher-quality version of the bedrail grab target that I improvised for Mom. First product in a line of high-end elder care products. (Medium to Medium-High Difficulty to Implement)

• Cable management solution. An improvement on the current cable situation at my desk. (Medium to Medium-High Difficulty to Implement)

• Chat-based AI expense tracker (High Difficulty to Implement)
  

Use search engine questions and Reddit forums to find two more ideas.

1. "How do I set up a home network?" Router, wifi/ethernet, maybe printers and hard drives, maybe also VPN, maybe also devices for streaming. I still have an old Apple AirPort Time Capsule and I'm struggling with how to replace it.
2. From r/SomebodyMakeThis, there's a request for a chat-based "AI based expense tracker that is dead simple to use." As of now, there are 12 upvotes, 11 comments, and 4 commenters who are working on an app like this.

Visit a marketplace like Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or eBay and write at least one idea for a product or service.

• House cleaners who specialize: Hoarder houses, Airbnbs, corporate apartments
• Bathroom mold removal
• Lyft driver who specializes in wheelchair passengers - you can wheel the passenger in without them having to get out of the chair
• Selling all the equipment you need to get started as a YouTuber
• Buying and selling rare GI Joe action figures

Write down two accessorizing ideas.

1. Cable management solution (Power strip is #7 in Electronics.) My Lightning and USB-C cables would keep falling behind my desk. I bought a 6-port charging station, but I still have a mess of cables on my desk.
2. Small cloth to pop the battery cover off an AirTag (#1 in Electronics.) Right now I use a thin resistance/therapy band, but maybe I could create a smaller option.
3. Cleaning kit for AirPods Pro 2 (#4 in Electronics.)
4. Better setup videos for my WHOOP (Apple Watch is #15 in Electronics.) I struggled to set up my WHOOP, even with YouTube videos.
5. A safe booger extractor (Cotton swabs are #4 in Beauty & Personal Care). Mom has been struggling with dried boogers, which I've had a hard time extracting without making either of us feel uncomfortable or scared. Soft, small, yet precise. Related: fingernail clippers that work for the elderly.

What is one thing this morning that irritated me? What is one thing on my to-do list that's been there over a week? What is one thing that I regularly fail to do well? What is one thing I wanted to buy recently only to find out that no one made it?

Use the questions to find three ideas. 

1. One-stop Responsible Recycling/Junk Removal service 
2. Temporary/Expiring Power of Attorney 
3. Mobile notary public 

One-stop Responsible Recycling/Junk Removal service

As I declutter my apartment, I've found places can take some, but not all, of the recyclable items I have.

Staples can take my old laptop and desktop computers, but not my TV.

The Lower East Side Ecology Center can take e-waste, but not media like cassettes or VHS tapes.

I have to wait for Dept. of Sanitation events (or get a ride to an out-of-the-way Dept. of Sanitation warehouse) to get rid of household cleaning products or thermometers or certain kinds of prescription medications.  

It would be great if I could give all this stuff to someone and at the end receive some kind of documentation that the stuff didn't just go into a landfill.

Temporary/Expiring Power of Attorney

The IRS was supposed to send us a refund check, but it never arrived.

I would love for someone else to be able to call the IRS on my behalf and resolve the issue.

Mobile notary public

A notary public who could come to my home and notarize a document. This could be for elderly people, or anyone else who is homebound. 

I know of a service that can do this remotely, but it still feels like a lot of friction.

Maybe what I really need is an...

Annoying Admin Problem Solver

Personal assistant, executive assistant, man-with-a-van, bureaucracy wrangler...all in one person or service.

Who do you have easy access to that you'd be EXCITED to help? This can be your neighbors, colleagues, religious friends, golf buddies, cooking friends, etc.

This question assumes I actually go out and do things with people, or hang out with people on the internet!

I had a tough time with this question.

I don't feel like I have "easy access" to specific communities like "golf buddies."

I go to a gym that is focused on one-on-one personal training.

I do yoga by watching yoga videos on YouTube.

I do interval training (walk 40 seconds, run 20 seconds) around my neighborhood by myself, not with a running group.

I'm a caregiver for my Mom, but I'm not part of an in-person caregiver support group or caregiver online forum.

I don't want to get stuck on this question (no overthinking!), so I went through my notes and picked three groups where I felt a buzz of energy:

• Short men who are fat, yet need/want to be presentable
• Single men who are in their late 40s/early 50s with little dating experience
  
• Caregivers for parents with Alzheimer's/dementia
  

I am, or have been, a member of all three groups.

I don't know how much help I can provide, I don't have obvious connections with others in the same situation, but I understand what people in these groups are going through.

One possibility is content creation (i.e., writing or YouTube) for these groups. Sharing the journey. Struggles, victories, lessons learned along the way.

Go to any coffee shop or anyplace in person. Make a simple purchase and ask for 10 percent off. Don't say anything else. The whole point is for you to feel uncomfortable. Commit to doing this today.

As I walked to the coffee shop, I knew I didn't want to spend 30 minutes picking out a muffin.

Get something, then just go for it.

I picked out a little hot dog that didn't require toasting, and got on line.

The customer two spots ahead asked for the bathroom code.

While I was waiting, I saw not one, but two tip jars at the counter.

The staff had no problem asking me for a little extra, so there was no problem with me asking them for a little extra.

I got to the counter.

"Good morning!"

"Do you want anything else?"

"Can I get 10% off?"

"Yes."

"OK!"

I think she either didn't hear my request, or it fried her brain circuits. She didn't change the price on the register. It still showed $3.89.

"10% off?"

It dawned on her that I was asking for a discount.

"No..."

"Can I get 10 percent off because I need 10 percent off?"

"No I can't do that."

I smiled and paid with my $5 bill.

"Can I get it to go?"

That she could do.

I put the change in the tip jar and left with a $5 lesson in asking...and the story for this post.

Start by choosing a short-term monthly revenue goal--your Freedom Number--and make it a number that doesn't scare you.

Today I went through recent bank and credit card transactions to figure out my essential "bare minimum" expenses.

That number was a lot higher than I expected.

This was disheartening, because the number doesn't include expenses which give me a lot of value/pleasure, like a gym membership, eating out, and massages.

I decided to drop the number WAY down.

My Freedom Number is: $49.74/month

Huh?

That's nowhere near $5 million, or $1 million.
       
$49.74 is how much I spend on software every month.

• Spotify $11.99/month
• Proton (Mail, VPN) $10.19/month
• HEY (Email, Calendar) $8.25/month
• Backblaze $5.41/month
• Posthaven $5.00/month
• InMotion Hosting $3.06/month
• Sublime Text $2.75/month
• Docubank $1.73/month
• Standard Notes $1.36/month

It feels attainable.

It's meaningful, not a random number plucked out of thin air.

Most important, it keeps me from getting discouraged and quitting.

Ask one person you respect for a business idea.

I asked my buddy from college using Noah's script from the book.

(I also threw in a joke about becoming a gigolo - it's our sense of humor.)

My buddy hasn't gotten back to me yet, but I think the point of the challenge is to ask, to act, to get moving.

There's a bonus challenge in the Dollar Challenge:

And while you’re at it, ask me, too! Here’s my venmo/cash app @**** or ****. I may even say yes.

I opened up my Cash app, ready to send a short note to Noah.

I realized I only had a brief subject line to make my pitch.

50 characters.

I went with:

Asking for $1 #thedollarchallenge #prefluencer

One of the later chapters in the book talks about connecting with "prefluencers" -- people who are going to be famous, before they become famous.

I haven't even read that chapter yet, but something in me said to use that hashtag.

Then I got this email:

I was blown away!

Maybe Noah liked the #prefluencer hashtag. 

Or he felt like sending $1 to people with a first name starting with "R."

I'll take it as a vote of confidence, a reminder to ask, and even more encouragement to build my business.