🌟 Side Quest Directory 🌟
Welcome! This is a constantly evolving directory of the projects I’m building in public as part of Side Quest Summer. I’ll be updating it in real time as each quest unfolds.
What is Side Quest Summer?
I’ll be launching seven micro-businesses and running three personal experiments over the next three months, with a new launch every 10 to 14 days. You can read the full backstory about why I’m doing this in Issue #51 of Extracurricular Pursuits.
How does this directory work?
Each quest is labeled as either a micro-business or a personal experiment, with a short description and a link to its dedicated page.
Last Updated: July 3, 2025
💰 Micro-Businesses
Project #1: An e-commerce shop…
This will be my fifth go at launching an e-commerce shop, so I already know the ropes quite a bit — although with only two still open for business, a 50% success rate means there’s still plenty to figure out. I will likely be using print-on-demand products (with my own original designs) to stock the shop.
Launch Date: June 25
Target Grand Opening Date: July 8
✨ View Project Progress →
Project #2: A digital-only product…
If you didn’t already know this, I’m about to let you in on a major secret: Digital products are THE BEST — Zero inventory, create once/sell a billion times, insane profit margins. The tricky part is that original ideas that people are willing to pay for are tough to come up with, so I guess I will document the brainstorming process, too.
Project #3: A productized service…
Earlier this year, I set out to give my freelance design work a glow-up by turning it into a full-blown creative agency. But when it came time to go live, something felt off. I was trying to do too much, and I quickly realized it wasn’t built to scale the way I’d hoped. It’s not totally DoA, though — I want to rework it into one or two more simple, focused productized services and give it a proper relaunch.
Project #4: A physical, printed zine…
I miss tangible, paper publications. I recently went to a second-hand bookshop and ended up spending a few hours flipping through old magazines and antique books. The texture, the weight, the smell, MY GOD the smell. It me realize that not only do I miss print publications, but I could totally make something of my own. A small, scrappy, personal zine, something I can fold, staple, hold. Just for the joy of it.
Project #5: A physical, handmade product…
If you couldn’t tell from the above project, I have an itch to get out from behind my laptop screen and use my hands again. Perhaps this is inspired by the absolute GEM (no pun intended) of a craft store I stumbled upon in Valencia last week — it’s literally called Casa De Piedras Y Cristales (House of Stones and Crystals), and the walls are lined with beads, charms, clasps, and pendants galore — which reminds me, I really should share the funny story of my first ever Etsy shop…
Project #6: A niche mobile app…
I’m a complete rookie at building apps, but I’ve been wanting to figure out how to do it for a while now. And now with LLM-guided vibe coding, I can’t promise it will be perfect but it’s more possible than ever to give it a shot.
Project #7: TBD
I’m intentionally leaving this blank for now, because I know I will learn a ton from the first six projects and this will inevitably change. Stay tuned…
🧬 Personal Experiments
Experiment #1: TBD
Coming soon…
Experiment #2: TBD
Coming soon…
Experiment #3: TBD
Coming soon…