1 Month on a Side Project — What I’ve Learned
Hello,
These are just my personal thoughts and what I’ve experienced so far. I’m still a beginner, so feel free to share your own advice or experience.
- Understand what your product can actually do
You might think you need to oversell your product to attract people, but in the end, you may just disappoint them by giving them the wrong idea of what your product actually does.
Be honest. You might reach fewer people, but the people you do reach will be the ones you’re actually looking for.
- Don’t give up after a few days
It’s true that you need to know when to give up on a project when it clearly has no potential. But if you’re getting good feedback and the results are just coming slowly, that doesn’t necessarily mean the project has no future.
Some projects aren’t perfect at the beginning and can evolve over time. I don’t think every project needs to succeed within a week, like some of the SaaS success stories you see online.
- Keep going, even without immediate results
Building projects means moving forward without necessarily seeing results right away. It takes real discipline to keep working on something when you don’t know if it will work.
If you’re only motivated in the moment, you’ll probably give up very quickly without ever seeing the full potential of your project.
I still have a lot to learn, but I just wanted to share my thoughts after this first month.
My latest project for anyone curious: https://ideapz.vercel.app/
Thanks for writing this up. Bookmarking it for later.
Nice progress. What is the next thing you are focusing on?
Interesting approach. What was the hardest part to get right?
Hello,
Thanks! And I think, at first, it was mainly about finding a way to get users every day, and then staying motivated and continuing to work on it.
What made you pick this stack over the alternatives?
I chose my stack based on the technologies I’m most comfortable with and usually work with.
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
I posted my project very early because I wanted to get feedback as soon as possible. By the second day after launch, I was already getting my first feedback and users.
This is useful. How are you finding your first users so far?
Mainly indie hackers, and especially Reddit for now. And thanks, that’s really kind of you.
The distinction between “no results yet” and “no signal” is useful. A simple 30-day loop can make that less emotional: choose one user behavior to measure, ship one small change each week, and write down a review date with explicit keep/pivot/stop criteria before the next idea arrives.
Interesting perspective and approach, thanks for sharing! It’s true that knowing when to adjust or pivot before giving up on an idea is important.
Interesting approach. What was the hardest part to get right?
Thanks! And I think, at first, it was mainly about finding a way to get users every day, and then staying motivated and continuing to work on it.
Helpful post. How did you get your first bit of traction?
Thanks! If it helps, in the beginning, it was thanks to Indie Hackers and a few posts that made it to the homepage that I got my first feedback and traffic.
Interesting take. Would you still recommend this approach to someone starting today?
Honestly, that’s what I’m planning to do for my next projects, even though I’m still learning every day. But I’m making progress little by little. I’ll have another look at how things are going after two months. So that’s just how I feel about it. If it helps, then that’s great.
Nice progress. What is the next thing you are focusing on?
Nice progress. What is the next thing you are focusing on?
Nice progress. What is the next thing you are focusing on?
I’m going to focus a bit more on acquisition and getting more traffic, improve the design, and keep working on the project to make it as simple and enjoyable to use as possible.
I’ll see how it goes over the next 30 days, and I’ll share another update then with what I’ve learned.
Curious how long it took before you saw the first real results?
I decided to share the project early so I could start getting feedback right away. Within just two days of launching, I already had my first users and some useful feedback.