Who This Template Is For
This template is not for dreamers. It's for operators—individuals looking to start a business in 10 hours a week or less who need a realistic filter for their ideas. If you suspect your ambition might outpace your available time, this scorecard is your first reality check. We designed it to stress-test an idea against the brutal constraints of a part-time schedule before you commit significant time or money. This is a tool for validation, not motivation.
For a broader look at business models that fit this constraint, start with our complete Part-Time Business Ideas (10 Hours/Week) guide.
What’s Inside This Template
This framework is built around the metrics that determine success or failure in a limited-hour venture. We ignore vanity metrics and focus on the non-negotiables:
- Time Budget Adherence: Can the core work actually get done in 10 hours?
- $/Hour Viability: Does the required net hourly rate make financial sense after all costs?
- Operational Simplicity: How much friction exists in lead generation, fulfillment, and administration?
- Regulatory Risk: Will local rules kill your business before it starts?
A part-time business doesn't fail on the quality of its work; it dies from the friction of a thousand unbillable tasks that consume the founder's limited time and energy. This scorecard helps you identify that friction early.
Free Framework: The 10-Hour/Week Business Scorecard
Copy this framework and apply it to your business idea. Score each category honestly from 0 (terrible fit) to 5 (excellent fit).
Scoring Your Idea (0-5 Rubric)
| Category | Score (0-5) | Description & Rubric |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Time Sink Score | How much of your 10 hours is non-billable (admin, travel, setup)? 5: >80% of time is billable/productive. Minimal travel/setup. 3: 50-70% is billable. Some travel or admin required. 0: <40% is billable. High travel, complex scheduling, significant setup/teardown. | |
| 2. $/Hour Potential (Net) | Can you achieve your target hourly rate after expenses, tools, and taxes? 5: High-value service/product with low overhead. Easily exceeds target $/hour. 3: Meets target $/hour but requires careful expense management. 0: Low-margin work. The math only works with volume you can't achieve in 10 hours. | |
| 3. Lead Gen Simplicity | How consistently can you generate leads within your time budget? 5: Referrals, repeat business, or a single, low-effort channel is sufficient. 3: Requires consistent but manageable effort on 1-2 marketing channels. 0: Needs constant prospecting, cold outreach, or complex marketing funnels. | |
| 4. Regulatory Friction | How complex are the local permits, zoning, and licensing requirements? 5: No special permits needed. Compliant with standard home occupation rules. 3: Requires a simple business license or permit with a clear process. 0: Faces complex zoning (especially service businesses), HOA restrictions, or state-level licensing hurdles. | |
| 5. Context Switching Cost | How many different "hats" (sales, marketing, service, admin) must you wear? 5: The business is one primary role (e.g., writing, consulting). 3: Requires switching between 2-3 distinct roles. 0: Requires juggling 4+ roles, leading to constant focus-breaking and time dilution. | |
| Total Score: | / 25 |
Interpreting Your Score
- Green (20-25): A strong potential fit for the 10-hour/week constraint. The core model is simple and efficient.
- Yellow (11-19): Viable, but with significant risks. Success depends on aggressive systematization, ruthless simplification, or accepting a lower initial return.
- Red (0-10): A poor fit. This idea likely requires more time than you have, involves too much complexity, or presents major regulatory hurdles. Pushing forward without a major pivot is a direct path to burnout.
Where Most DIY Evaluations Go Wrong
Founders are optimists, which is why self-evaluation is notoriously unreliable. We see three common failure points when people use a framework like this on their own:
- Underestimating Hidden Time: They score the "Time Sink" based on the core service, forgetting the 30 minutes of invoicing, 15 minutes of email follow-up, and hour of materials prep. This is the time dilution that stalls momentum.
- Ignoring True Costs: They calculate the hourly rate based on revenue, not profit. They forget to factor in self-employment taxes, software subscriptions, insurance, and travel costs, which dramatically changes the viability math. See our guide on Startup Costs for Part-Time Businesses: Lean Tooling, Minimal Overhead & Cash Buffers That Matter.
- Assuming Regulatory Compliance: They start a home-based baking business or mobile detailing service without checking with their city's zoning department or county health inspector. These local rules, which vary wildly, are a common and entirely avoidable reason Why Part-Time Businesses Fail: Time Dilution, Inconsistent Lead Flow & Underpricing the Real Effort.
How Our Done-for-You Plan Improves This
This scorecard is an essential first filter. But a score isn't a strategy. It tells you if an idea might work, but not how to execute it.
Answering "how" requires moving beyond a simple checklist and into a structured, objective analysis. A high score on "Lead Gen Simplicity" feels good, but it means nothing until you validate it with a formal Market Analysis. A good "$/Hour Potential" is just a guess until you build out detailed Financial Projections.
This is where a comprehensive plan forces you to confront reality, replacing optimistic scores with data-driven assumptions. It transforms a high-level idea into an actionable roadmap.
Next Step: Get Your Customized Plan
A high score on this template is a green light to dig deeper, not a guarantee of success. A low score is a critical warning sign to pause and reconsider. In either case, the fundamental risk remains: without a formal strategy, you are operating on assumptions.
The IdeaJumpStart Localized Business Plan provides the structure to turn this initial evaluation into a viable launch strategy. It's a detailed, personalized strategy that validates your entrepreneurial vision, aligns your goals/budget, and provides the step-by-step roadmap.
This scorecard gives you a glimpse into the questions you should be asking, which are formally addressed in sections like the Operations Plan. But that is just one piece of the puzzle. A truly validated idea requires all 13 sections of our comprehensive plan—from Competitive Analysis to a detailed Marketing Strategy and a month-by-month Implementation Roadmap.
Have an idea? Start with a plan.