Idea Finder: the full run on an example input

What it read

Solo, eight years in commercial insurance underwriting with the last three on mid-market property, non-technical, strong with spreadsheets, decent writer · scope real-business, side income, 10 hours a week alongside the day job, small budget.

Check this first

Read your employment contract and your employer's outside-work and conflict-of-interest policy, because if it bars selling to brokers or using industry knowledge on the side, only the property-owner guide and general writing stay open.

Start here

Start with the building-list spreadsheet kit and underwriter's guide. It uses all three things you have, insider underwriting knowledge, spreadsheet skill and writing, and the test costs you one post and a week of counting replies. The trap ahead is selling to the brokers who send submissions to your employer, or reusing anything from work. That turns an insider edge into a conflict that could cost you the day job, so keep it generic, anonymized and aimed beyond your own book. The second trap is drifting into the software idea because it feels bigger. A spreadsheet people actually ask for tells you more than any tool you cannot build alone.

Direction 1 · strong fit · nommi's suggestion

A ready-to-use statement of values spreadsheet kit (the list of every building, its values and construction details that a property submission depends on), plus a short guide on what underwriters flag in it, sold to account managers at small commercial brokerages.

Why you. You have three years of reading these spreadsheets from the receiving end and strong spreadsheet habits, so you know which gaps get a submission declined or re-priced. Your edge is insider knowledge and the ability to package it. It is not a software edge, and your reach to buyers is only partial.

Demand. No verified demand signal found in this run. Reasoned, unverified: Messy building lists are a common complaint on both sides of a property submission, and broker staff often learn the format by trial and error. Whether they would pay for a template rather than reuse their firm's old one is still open.

Competition. Contested, as a reasoned read. Larger brokers and carriers have in-house templates, and some data-cleanup vendors sell to big accounts. Small brokerages without a property specialist are less well served, and very little is written from an underwriter's point of view.

Solo feasibility. Doable in 10 hours a week because it is a spreadsheet plus a written guide you sell many times, with no coding and no client calls, as long as it uses no carrier's forms or data from your day job.

First validation step. Post a short anonymized checklist titled 'what underwriters flag in a building list' on LinkedIn or in a broker forum, offer the template to anyone who asks, and count the requests over one week.

Direction 2 · possible fit

A short written course or email series teaching new broker account managers how to put together a mid-market property submission that gets quoted.

Why you. You are a decent writer and you see weak submissions every week, so you can teach what good looks like from the other side of the desk. This is a knowledge-and-writing edge. Finding students is the open question.

Demand. No verified demand signal found in this run. Reasoned, unverified: Broker trainees tend to learn on the job, and agencies short on senior staff may want faster onboarding. It is not yet clear whether individuals or agency owners would be the ones to pay.

Competition. Contested, as a reasoned read. Industry bodies and designation programs cover insurance broadly, but rarely the practical work of building a property submission. The room is in a narrow, hands-on topic.

Solo feasibility. Feasible solo at a slow pace, because writing lessons fits evenings, but finding students without a public name will take months of posting before anyone signs up.

First validation step. Write one free lesson on the three most common submission mistakes, share it with a sign-up link, and count email sign-ups within five days.

Direction 3 · possible fit

Freelance help preparing and cleaning property submissions for small brokerages that have no in-house property specialist.

Why you. Your underwriting experience is directly useful here, and the work runs on spreadsheets. You have a real skill edge, but this is the direction most likely to clash with your day job.

Demand. No verified demand signal found in this run. Reasoned, unverified: Small brokerages sometimes take on larger property accounts without the staff to prepare them well. How often they would hire outside help instead of pushing through on their own is unknown.

Competition. Open, as a reasoned read. Few freelancers offer this specifically. Most cleanup help comes bundled with big broker or vendor services that small agencies rarely use.

Solo feasibility. The hours fit, but client deadlines collide with a full-time job, and preparing submissions that may land at your own employer is a conflict of interest you would need cleared before taking any client.

First validation step. Ask five broker contacts outside your employer's book whether they have turned away or struggled with a property account in the last year, and count how many say yes.

Direction 4 · stretch fit

A plain-language renewal preparation guide for owners of mid-sized commercial properties, explaining what underwriters look at and how to present the building well.

Why you. You know exactly what drives a property underwriting decision, and you can write it clearly. Your edge is knowledge only. You have no reach to building owners, and they tend to trust their broker over a stranger.

Demand. No verified demand signal found in this run. Reasoned, unverified: Owners facing rising property premiums often want to know what they can control. Whether they would look for a guide rather than simply ask their broker is very uncertain.

Competition. Crowded, as a reasoned read. Brokers, carriers and risk consultants already publish free renewal tips to win these clients. A no-name guide would struggle to stand out.

Solo feasibility. Writing it is easy solo, but selling into a high-trust market where buyers already have an advisor is the hard part, and 10 hours a week will not build that trust quickly.

First validation step. Ask three property owners or property managers you know personally whether they would read such a guide, and note whether any of them would forward it to a peer.

Direction 5 · stretch fit

A software tool that scores or checks property submissions automatically before they reach an underwriter.

Why you. You know the checking logic better than most software builders do. But you describe yourself as non-technical, so the build edge would belong to whoever you hire.

Demand. No verified demand signal found in this run. Reasoned, unverified: Faster, cleaner submissions are something both brokers and carriers want. Whether they would trust a solo side tool with client data is the main open question.

Competition. Crowded, as a reasoned read. Funded insurance-software companies already sell submission intake and data tools to carriers and large brokers. There is little room for a part-time newcomer.

Solo feasibility. This fails on feasibility: it needs a developer, handling of sensitive client data, and long sales cycles to carriers, none of which fit 10 hours a week on a small budget alongside a job.

First validation step. Before anything else, do the spreadsheet version by hand: build the checklist as a spreadsheet with simple formulas and see whether anyone asks for it, which is the first direction.

The open question

Do you have broker or industry contacts outside your employer's own book of business, or would every first buyer come through work relationships?