About Rat Race Escapers

Ever had this thought halfway through a working day?

“Surely I’m meant to be doing something other than this.”

Then someone sends you another meeting invite.

Lovely.

There goes another hour you’re not getting back.

I’m Ady, and welcome to Rat Race Escapers.

Over the next five minutes, I want to show you a simple way to start thinking about something of your own.

An app. A small online service. A digital product.

Something that could eventually give you more choice about how you spend your days.

Perhaps you already have an idea.

The one you keep coming back to.

You’ve thought about the name. Possibly checked whether the domain is available.

Maybe you’ve even designed the logo.

It’s surprisingly easy to spend an entire evening choosing orange.

But somewhere underneath all that excitement is a slightly uncomfortable question.

“What if I spend six months creating this, and nobody wants it?”

That question deserves an answer before six months have disappeared.

And that’s where we start.

Because with AI and no code, there’s plenty you can explore without knowing how to programme.

You can get help researching a problem, putting together a rough version and showing people how something might work.

There will still be things to learn and test.

But getting started can feel a lot more achievable.

Which leaves you with a rather important question.

What should you actually create?

Ask AI for ideas and it’ll happily give you fifty.

Ask for another fifty and it’ll give you those too.

Very obliging.

Unfortunately, the people you hope will pay for one haven’t been consulted yet.

So here’s something I’d like you to try.

Think about the last time you heard someone say:

“Why is this such a pain?”

Perhaps they were chasing customers for information.

Copying the same details into three different places.

Or trying to organise something through a collection of messages that would test the patience of a saint.

Now, imagine a dog groomer says:

“I spend half my evening messaging people about tomorrow’s appointments.”

You could immediately think:

Appointment app.

There’s my idea.

But hang on.

What’s actually making it difficult?

Are customers forgetting?

Are the appointment details scattered everywhere?

Does an existing tool already solve it, but the groomer finds it confusing?

Those are different problems.

And you could spend months creating the wrong solution if you never ask.

That little complaint is a starting point.

At Rat Race Escapers, I call it an Escape Signal.

Something worth investigating.

It might be a complaint that keeps appearing in reviews.

A clumsy workaround people are already paying for.

Or a particular group of customers who keep saying:

“This would be great if it just did this one thing.”

You follow the signal.

Find out what’s happening.

Then see whether there’s an opportunity you could realistically do something with.

And if you already have an idea, this works for you too.

Sometimes a promising idea needs a smaller audience.

A clearer benefit.

A better answer to the question:

“Why would someone choose this?”

That’s what I mean by finding, fixing and validating an idea.

It’s the thinking behind our ESCAPE Framework.

Look for the problem. Examine the alternatives. Challenge your assumptions. Find a small way to test demand.

Before you give it every evening between now and Christmas.

Every Tuesday and Friday, I’ll bring that thinking to your inbox.

Sometimes we’ll pick apart an everyday frustration and explore the opportunities inside it.

Sometimes we’ll examine a real business and ask why customers pay for it.

We’ll look at ways to test your own idea, too.

And I’ll research developments in AI and no code, showing you what they could help you do and where the limitations are.

Because “here’s another new tool” is only useful if you know what you might use it for.

Each letter will give you something practical to consider or try.

A question to ask.

A problem to investigate.

A small test you could fit around the job you already have.

I can’t promise which idea will work for you.

But I can help you ask better questions before you commit your time.

And that’s a useful place to begin.

So, if you’re tired of wondering what else you could do with your life, enter your email below.

Bring your idea if you have one.

Bring your curiosity if you don’t.

Let’s give “one day” something to work with.

I’ll see you in your inbox.

Ady