Software Side Hustle Anti-Pattern: Creating Something You Wouldn’t Use Daily Yourself
Be your app’s first customer. A solution that addresses your (or your family member’s) own needs is likely to address the needs of others as well.
This is an article in the Software Side Hustle Anti-Pattern series.
Get the first customer too late, and assume adding the second customer is easy.
Use the same tech stack as daytime work.
No E2E (UI) Test Automation as regression testing
According to a survey (2022), “ 44% of Americans reporting having a side hustle”. There are two kinds of software side hustles:
Service-based, e.g. design/maintain websites or contract-based manual testing
Product-based, e.g. software apps.
I will focus on the latter one, as successful apps not only bright pride but also possible passive income. I believe the ratio of programmers engaging in side hustles is quite high. However, most software side hustle projects tend to fail.
In this new article series, I will share my own experiences, including my mistakes, with side hustles. I started in 2006 and continued until 2022, after which I have been working for myself as Miro-ISV.
The first step is always the hardest. The №1 question for a programmer who wants to pursue the pride of developing their own app and hopefully some passive income: “What kind of app should I do?”
Table of Contents:
· A Safe and Practical Way is to Start with Something that you find useful
· Why?
· Examples: My Side Hustle apps
∘ 1. TestWise, functional testing IDE (Desktop App)
∘ 2. ClinicWise, a clinical practice management system (web app)
∘ 3. SiteWise, a content management system (web app)
∘ 4. BuildWise, a Continuous Testing Server (web + Desktop app)
∘ 5. LoadWise, a load testing tool (Desktop app and deprecated)
∘ 6. SupportWise, an internally used support system (Web app)
∘ 7. WhenWise, a service booing app (PWA)
∘ 8. TestWisely, a cloud-based continuous/load testing lab (SaaS)
A Safe and Practical Way is to Start with Something that you find useful
A common mistake is aiming too high, such as “a Facebook in X” or “Airbnb for spare car parking lots”. First of all, there are high likelihood that there are already apps for it.
Be realistic: starting with an ambitious goal, like becoming a millionaire quickly, often requires more resources, which can be challenging when you have a day job. A generic app might be more manageable but will come with increased competition.
Advice: Develop a software solution that assists with your own or a family member’s daily tasks.
This is simple to grasp, naturally, you get the first real customer: yourself (or your family member), With the feedback, you can add more features to suit real needs.
Why?
The chance is some people might also find your solution beneficial. That does not sound as cool as “next JIRA or Airbnb”, but it is practical and more real.
The nature of side hustle means:
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