The data · 2026
What 156 scored business ideas reveal about what actually works
We ran 156 business and side-hustle ideas through our audit engine, scoring each 0-100 on demand, competition, revenue, feasibility, and timing. Here is what the data says, and it is not what the get-rich-quick crowd will tell you.
156
ideas scored
58
average score / 100
18%
break 70 (genuinely strong)
0%
were genuinely new
Finding 01
Most ideas cluster in mediocrity
Nearly half of all ideas land in the 60s. The curve barely reaches green: only 18% break 70, and just one idea cleared 80. Most ideas are not terrible, they are mediocre, which is harder to spot and more dangerous to quit your job for.
Finding 02
Ideas don't die on demand. They die on competition.
Demand is rarely the problem. Across every idea, competition is the weakest dimension by far (averaging just 9 / 20). Most people pick a market customers clearly want, then walk straight into a fight they cannot win. The opportunity is a proven market with a gap, not a brand-new one.
Finding 03
The myth of the original idea
Not a single idea we scored was genuinely new. 85% were better execution of a model that already works; the rest were a new angle on an old problem. Stop hunting for the idea nobody has had. The money is in doing a proven thing noticeably better.
Finding 04
What people are actually trying to build
AI and automation is now the single biggest category (27%) and it scores best (66 average). The opposite end is telling: the classic creator dream, content and blogs and podcasts, is rare (6%) and scores the worst of any category (50). Where everyone is rushing is not where the scores are.
Finding 05
The highest and lowest scoring ideas
Top 10
The duds
The winners share a pattern: a specific buyer, a real budget, and usually an AI or service angle on a boring problem. The losers are novelties and creator plays with no proven willingness to pay.
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Score my idea →Methodology: each idea was scored by the BigMoneyIdeas audit engine across five dimensions, with the overall gated on real demand and a real money model. Figures cover 156 ideas scored as of June 2026 and update as we publish more. Categories are auto-derived.