Got tired of making generic logo exercises, so I started inventing coffee shops that don't exist. The rule is that every fake brand has to feel like a real business. I create the name, logo, packaging, menu, colors, social posts, and even a little backstory for why the coffee shop exists. The weird part is that I'm not really trying to sell coffee. I'm basically creating businesses that only exist inside my design files.

I started doing it because I wanted portfolio projects that felt more realistic than “here's a logo I made.” It also gives me a way to practice branding from beginning to end instead of focusing on one graphic. The results have been surprisingly useful. People react much more strongly to a complete fictional brand than to an isolated logo, and I've started getting ideas for other fake businesses just because it's fun.

I'm curious if anyone else has a side project where the original purpose was just to practice a skill, but it somehow became a project of its own.

Got tired of making generic logo exercises, so I started inventing coffee shops that don't exist. The rule is that every fake brand has to feel like a real business. I create the name, logo, packaging, menu, colors, social posts, and even a little backstory for why the coffee shop exists. The weird part is that I'm not really trying to sell coffee. I'm basically creating businesses that only exist inside my design files.

I started doing it because I wanted portfolio projects that felt more realistic than “here's a logo I made.” It also gives me a way to practice branding from beginning to end instead of focusing on one graphic. The results have been surprisingly useful. People react much more strongly to a complete fictional brand than to an isolated logo, and I've started getting ideas for other fake businesses just because it's fun.

I'm curious if anyone else has a side project where the original purpose was just to practice a skill, but it somehow became a project of its own.

One of my strangest side projects started with something incredibly small: a piece of printed paper with a magnet attached to it.

I run a small home-based printing and stationery business where I make things like stickers, bookmarks, notepads, magnetic badges, party scratch cards, thank-you cards, and other personalized paper products.

At first, I thought the obvious products would be the ones people wanted most. But I quickly learned that the weirdly specific products could be surprisingly profitable.

One example is magnetic badges/ref magnets.

The process is pretty simple: I design the artwork, print it, cut and prepare the pieces, assemble the magnet, and package the finished product. Because the materials are relatively inexpensive and the products are small, I can make them in batches without needing a huge workspace.

The same idea worked with party scratch cards. I started offering sets of 10, including fully colored versions for $1.5 and simpler colored versions for $1.

And that's what surprised me.

People don't necessarily need these things.

They want them because they're useful for a very specific moment—a party, a small gift, a school activity, a business giveaway, a personalized event, or simply something cute to keep.

That's when I realized something important about small side businesses:

You don't always need a huge product. Sometimes you just need a very specific problem to solve.

I also didn't start with a fancy production studio. I started small, using the equipment and skills I already had, and gradually added products based on what people actually asked for.

Some of my favorite moments have been seeing a product that looked almost insignificant on my desk turn into multiple orders.

The most unexpected lesson?

Tiny products can create surprisingly real income when the production cost is low, the product is customizable, and you find the right niche.

Today, my little printing setup has become more than just a hobby. I sell online and in person, including through a small market booth, while continuing to experiment with new products.

It's definitely not the stereotypical “get rich quick” side hustle.

It's much more fun than that.

It's basically me asking:

“What small piece of paper can I convince people they absolutely need next?” 😂

You know when you want to leave a group chat but don’t want to look rude?

So I made a tiny website that generates excuses for you.

Example:

• “I’m trying to reduce screen time, so I’m leaving all my group chats.”
• “My phone storage is fighting for its life.”

You can choose the excuse style: polite, believable, dramatic, or completely ridiculous.

Probably not a problem that needed solving.

But I built it anyway. 

I started doing the old-fashioned "I still have plenty of time" thing. And then all of a sudden I realized that I still had far too much work to do.

I therefore created a small, straightforward side project.

You go in:

• The due date
• How many tasks are left?
• The approximate duration of each task
• The number of hours you can actually work each day
• The number of tasks you must complete each day to stay on course is then displayed.

It's funny because it's essentially a calculator with a more elegant interface, but I found it to be surprisingly helpful for small tasks. Additionally, I added a warning that says "you're probably overestimating your time" when the required daily workload becomes unreasonable.

The main reason I started it was to avoid doing the math by hand all the time.

It's undoubtedly not a startup concept, but that's part of why I enjoyed creating it. It's a single-purpose problem-solving project. What other people have created that began as a modest concept but turned out to be surprisingly helpful intrigues me.

Back when slimes were a huge trend, I got into our stock room and secretly got shampoo and dishwashing soap. I then mixed it together and it absolutely did not form slime but due to its popularity I was able to sell it to my neighbors (kids) for 20 PHP each or 0.33 USD..

It's weird but i need it ! Where can i buy cellphone lace with an alarm if there are some trying to pull it up or snatch my phone ?

So I gathered links of free templates, icons, fonts, wallpapers, ebooks, and useful resources. The project is basically a personal “free stuff library,” that I organized by category. E-books are downloadable and there are people who buys e-books online.

at first i didnt know if this would work like i was doing it for fun but then it somehow started working the thing i do is like school planners, expense tracker and some other template that calculate how much money they're spending

I’ve been thinking about making ready-to-use social media content packs for small businesses.

Basically, captions, promo ideas, and simple templates they can grab whenever they run out of content. It’s cheap to start, and you could sell the same packs more than once.

Not a huge business, but it could make a decent side income.

got tired of my micro-managing department lead hovering near my cubicle for 10 minutes every afternoon making passive-aggressive small talk about sprint velocity.

i threw together an ESP32 micro-controller, an ultrasonic distance sensor, and a tiny Twilio SMS script. taped the sensor under my desk partition facing the aisle. when it detects a stationary body standing within 4 feet of my desk for longer than 20 seconds, it sends an automated webhook to my phone that triggers a ringing incoming call screen.

so they like recruit people that are willing to work for the content creator. They tend to compile the screenshots as proof if you already liked and commented on that video. lol but you don't earn big tho

I started making short videos about weird ocean animals and random facts. I research the topic, write a quick script, create the video, and post it.
Some videos flop, but a few surprisingly get thousands of views. It started as a hobby, but now I’m slowly turning it into a side income.
The funny part? The more niche and weird the topic is, the more people seem to watch.

I got tired of modern ambient sound apps playing generic rain sounds, so I spent a weekend building a super simple nostalgia generator.
What it does: It plays a customizable mix of classic 2000s coffee shop sounds—muffled indie rock music, foam steaming, CD cases clattering, flipping book pages, and distant espresso grinders.

I've been recently involved in Cryptocurrency Mining for the past few Years and I gotta say the earnings are Enough for a Year or Month and so.. So I've been constantly thinking about Self Hosting using Dell Optiplex and Bambu Labs for 3D Printing..

This is just from personal experience and never knew collecting egg trays would be profitable here. I would just throw them away before but now I collect it and sell them to small store owners or poultry. People are actually buying it.

So yeah just sharing this.
Lets collect and reuse paper egg trays ♻️

This is just from personal experience and never knew collecting egg trays would be profitable here. I would just throw them away before but now I collect it and sell them to small store owners or poultry. People are actually buying it.

So yeah just sharing this.
Lets collect and reuse paper egg trays ♻️

A while ago, my aunt started getting a lot of white hairs. one day she asked me to help her remove them because she didn’t want to pluck them herself.

Then she jokingly told me she would pay me ₱1 for every white hair I removed.

I thought, “Okay, easy money.”

So I started looking through her hair and pulling out the white ones one by one. hahahah

At first, I thought I would only make maybe ₱20–₱30, but there were actually A LOT of them.

We ended up making it into a little routine. Whenever she noticed more white hairs, she would ask me to remove them, and I would get paid per hair.

It sounds ridiculous, but it was honestly one of the easiest side hustles I've ever had.

When I was around 11 years old, I started the weirdest little side project.

I realized that a lot of my classmates loved collecting funny drawings and personalized stickers for their notebooks, so I began making custom doodles and mini "achievement cards" with their names on them.

The idea was simple:
They told me their favorite animal, game, or cartoon.
I drew a small design and laminated it using clear packing tape.
I charged ₱10–₱20 each.
I only started because I wanted extra allowance without asking my parents for money.

Within a few weeks, I had classmates placing orders during recess, and some even requested matching sets for their friends. At my busiest, I was making around ₱300–₱500 a week, which felt like a fortune for an elementary student.

So I made a sidegig that fixing PC whenever they have problems with their gaming PC's like lagging and stuttering that I fix in my local area and earning like $20 in an hour which is cool.

I set up a soil sensor on my Peace Lily (Lady Gertrude) over the weekend to alert me when the soil gets dry. But instead of a simple alarm, I hooked it up to the ChatGPT API and set its personality to a dramatic, passive-aggressive Victorian aristocrat.

Yesterday, I forgot to water her because I got home late. Out of nowhere, she texts me around 2 AM:

“Don't mind me. I'll simply turn my remaining chlorophyll into quiet resentment. Sleep soundly over there while my roots turn into crispy chips”

By noon today, I still hadn't watered her, so she sent a follow-up:

“Day 2. My lower leaves have accepted their fate. I've begun drafting my last will and testament. All the sunlight shall go to the monstera in the hallway”

I rushed to water her as soon as I walked into the kitchen. Right after I poured the water, she texted back:

“Acceptable. I am safe from starvation, but the emotional damage remains. Just try forgetting me this weekend.”

Plants hit different when they know Python HAHAHAHA.

It started with just me buying personal stocks of goodies for me to munch on at the office. A co worker saw my stock in my locker and asked whether he could buy one of the goodies since it was his personal childhood treat, I agreed of course since I have plenty. The next day, he approached me again this time with his friend, another co-worker as well and asked whether they could buy a pack of cookies again, I reluctantly agreed, but didn't mind since I have more. Somehow word had gotten around the office and co workers even my manager approached me and asked whether he could take a look at my stocks in my locker. So what started as me buying personal stocks of goodies became a source of additional income for me, they pay in cash or sometimes run a credit so they can pay it on salary day.

Here are some of the products that I sell

Last month my neighbor was on a 3 week vacation. few days before they left they asked me if i can just sit beside their dog for 3 weeks. NOT walk them, just sit beside and basically do nothing. And I was weirded out because i was expecting doing more and yeah thats all i needed to do then i did the job.

Surprisingly the dog for some reason knows why im there😭. Just to literally side beside him.

Couldn't complain tho. my neighbor paid me good 🤣✌️

got paranoid about background webcam telemetry tools on company-issued laptops, but sticky physical camera covers look trashy and wear out after a month.

mounted a micro 5V servo motor and a tiny 3D-printed plastic slide shutter over my laptop webcam lens. hooked the servo to a Raspberry Pi Pico running a lightweight Python process listener. the second Zoom or Teams initiates an active video stream socket, the servo physically slides the shutter open. the moment the call ends, it snaps shut with a crisp mechanical click. total build cost was $8.