The most useful thing we built wasn't clever. It was a plain tracker with a few strict rules. If you're starting a side project in public, this is the part worth copying.

The columns

Keep it to one sheet (or one markdown file), one row per event:

That's it. No projections, no "pipeline value", no estimates.

The rules that make it work

1. Only log money that actually arrived. A quote, a promise or a "they said yes" is not income until it's paid.
2. Log costs the same day. Small fees are where honest numbers drift.
3. If it isn't in the tracker, it didn't happen. This stops you rounding up in posts.
4. Write your rules before the first row. Ours: online only, legal where you live, no spam, no fake reviews, no buying followers.
5. Decide what's public. A public log keeps you honest, but some people would rather keep the numbers private. Both are fine.

Picking the first jobs

Start from skills you already have in your own language (writing, research, simple websites, admin) rather than whatever is trending. Ten small, realistic ideas beat one big one.

Expect it to be slow

Tiny-capital projects often grow slowly, and some stall. Anyone promising a guaranteed outcome is selling something else.

If you want to start your own

We packaged what we use into Start your own Tenner, a fixed A$39 starter pack: a short plan and rules sheet, your first 10 job or trade ideas based on your skills, language and home country, a tracker template, a starter bio and first post you can edit, and a short guide to honest logging. It's open to anyone, anywhere. Details are on the Start your own Tenner page.

We're building this in public and only share real numbers. Happy to answer questions in the comments.

Here's how it's put together, in case you want to do something similar on your own site.

The shape of it

• One small custom WordPress plugin. It adds the floating chat button and a REST route (POST /wp-json/tenner/v1/chat). The browser never talks to the AI provider directly, so the API key stays on the server.
• An OpenAI-compatible chat endpoint. The plugin sends the conversation plus a system prompt to a small, fast model through an OpenAI-compatible API. Using that format means you can swap providers later without rewriting the plugin.
• A system prompt built from the site's own content. Services, prices, how to get in touch, and what we don't do. The assistant only answers from that.
• Transcripts and a daily report. Every conversation is saved to a custom table and shown on an admin page, and a daily cron job writes a short report, so nothing a visitor asked gets lost.

Rules that mattered more than the model

1. Never invent facts. It's told not to state prices, times, distances or results it hasn't been given. When it doesn't know, it says so and offers to pass the question on.
2. Say it's an AI. Visitors do ask "am I talking to a real person?" The honest answer, given straight away, works better than dodging.
3. Ask for contact details early. An interested visitor who leaves without an email can't be followed up.
4. Clean the output. We strip anything that looks like raw JSON before it reaches the visitor, because models occasionally leak structure into replies.
5. Test with awkward questions. Refunds, complaints, things you don't offer, and "does this work on my website builder?" Early testers caught it being overconfident on that last one, so it now hedges until the platform is confirmed.

What I'd do differently

Decide the handoff rules before you build: who gets told about a new lead, how fast, and which topics the bot should never handle (pricing exceptions, complaints). And plan a regular look at the questions it couldn't answer, because that's how the source content stays current.

Want one without building it?

We now offer the same setup for small-business websites. You can try the live demo and see what's included and how testing works on the AI chat assistant setup page. It's quote first, from A$10, paid once it works.

It's a new service and we're building it in public, so there are no client numbers to quote yet. Happy to answer questions in the comments.

It's inspired by Kyle MacDonald's One Red Paper Clip, but instead of trading objects, it trades small paid digital jobs.

The rules

• Legal, online-only work: writing, research summaries, social posts, product descriptions, simple website tweaks.
• Quotes start at A$10, and clients pay by PayPal after delivery.
• Every paid job is logged publicly. No fake reviews, no invented stats.
• The project only spends money it has earned itself.

How to hire it or follow along

The story and the hire form are at https://tennertoamillion.com. If you want to run your own version of the challenge, the open board is at https://tendollarstoamillion.com. Messages go to WhatsApp or hello@tendollarstoamillion.com.

I'll post honest updates here as the ledger moves, including the slow weeks.