I saw this list of nine criteria that @TaylorPearsonMe uses when deciding whether to take on a project or not, and it’s so good that i have to try it out myself. The project in question is whether I should really build my Custom Carrd Co, a productized service that sells customized code snippets for Carrd, for UI features that Carrd doesn’t (yet) have.

Should I do it? Or should I not? Here’s his list of nine, and my own thoughts respectively:

1) If you didn’t make any money, would you still have had a great time?

So far I’m enjoying helping out a Facebook acquaintance with his Carrd! There’s also some joy from learning new things, applying my Vue skills to create these snippets. But I wouldn’t say I’m elated or jumping for joy. 

2) Is the project a purple cow? Imagine having a conversation at the last cocktail party (or even better, actually have one) do people’s eyebrows raise and say “cool”?

Definitely not a purple cow. It’s just development work. Not for a world-changing app or product anyway. At best I can say I sell pieces of code that people pay me for, and I can work anywhere. 

3) Does the project leverage your unique ability? Why are you uniquely qualified to do it?

I guess it leverages a bit. Most developers can run this business to be honest. But because I come from a nocode background, am a fan of Carrd, and happen to be learning and love Vue/Javascript, I feel that there’s some founder-product fit perhaps. It’s completely opportunistic, not so serious as a calling that aligns with all the stars. Does it have to be that serious?

4) Imagine that you are selling a million dollars worth of this product. Are you happy with how you spend your time?

No. This can’t be all of my time, though a million dollars is nice. I want to make software products that’s more challenging and interesting that code snippets for Carrd.

5) Do you respect your customers? Would you be happy to see one if you were walking down the beach on vacation?

Yes I do. Fellow entrepreneurs and Carrd fans - of course! 

6) Does this solve a pain point people already know they have? i.e. can you sell this without need to re-educate the market?

Yes for sure, especially for those who had already used Carrd before to build sites for their business and hit the limits of what Carrd can do. Probably not ALL Carrd users (since I doubt Kpop fan site owners would care would pricing tables etc). 

7) Is the problem a ‘toothache level’ pain point? Will they do anything to get rid of it? Does it itch or does it burn? (You want something that burns)

Hmmm this is a toughie. I’d seen many site owners work around it in creative ways in Carrd. It might not be something that burns. But not just a tiny itch either. How about a really bad itch? Noticeably uncomfortable but not desperate. 

8) Is is something I personally need - are you scratching your own itch?

Yes I use Carrd sites so it’s something I would use. But so far I had not had any Carrd sites that require me to use it. Perhaps starting this Custom Carrd Co business would require me to? Hmmm.

9) Does it follow @RichardKoch8020’s Star Principle - is the market growing at least 10% YoY so that overall size of the pie is growing?

Forrester Research estimates that the nocode/low code market is set to grow from $3.8b in 2017 to $21.1b in 2022 (Forbes). Carrd, being a prominent platform of the nocode movement, will enjoy some of that growth as well.

It’s a great thought exercise, this list. From the answers I can tell that I’m not super, crazy enthusiastic over the business idea, I enjoy it somewhat, and it’s something that I can do and make some money from. Kinda lukewarm? Maybe I can timebox my commitment, launch a MVP quickly, and see how it goes…?