After 100 days of resignation, I completely failed
Sorry, this is a total whining post
I was a c++ programmer working for just one year, and I quit my job on a impulse to become an independent developer.
But I neglected to mention that my programming skills were not enough for me to survive by taking orders independently from Freelance or Upwork. In other words, I was a complete newbie and I didn't have any programming skills that I could rely on to make a living. I am not competent enough to be a remote full or part-time developer.
Also, my native language is not English, I can read, but not listen or speak, which makes the situation even worse.
I didn't use familiar tools like Reddit, Facebook, Notion, Google Sheet, which are not available in my country, caused me to be out of touch with everyone and I had a hard time finding out what other people wanted.
I was too optimistic about making money.
I spent more than three months writing a desktop application using electron and python, it's a batch downloader of images similar to wfdownloader, I thought with a better UI and support for some websites that wfdownloader doesn't support, it would sell, but it didn't.
Now I'm backing out before starting a new project, I can hardly afford another six months of no revenue and wasted effort.
But I can't go back to my old job anymore, I'm in an area where the economy is down and unemployment is up.
I completely don't know what to do, and I'm trying to find a very low-paying job (non-programming, and frankly, I've lost faith and interest in programming). I think that's it for this life
Like you, I don't know how to promote it. My product link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wcd.unblock.clockvpn
Hi,
I'm happy WFDownloader App gave you inspiration to create something but like you've discovered, the market is quite competitive and especially if there are good free alternatives to what you are making.
Nowadays, making a great software isn't enough. Marketing it is extremely important and if it's good enough, it will eventually pick up momentum by word of mouth.
100 days is too early to give up. If you work on your marketing approach, it might work out but you won't know unless you try.
If your software is really impressive, I could give you a free boost like I've done in the past.
Cheers.
In my opinion, if you can start a job for a short period of time, it's not for the money but for the experience.
I faced a situation where I had little experience, so I left my job to start my own business. However, after wasting my time, I realized that starting a business is not a small feat.
I started the job again for 1.5 years got industry experience and again back to my projects and now they are working and in a good state.
You need a lot of experience to make it successful. To start a project, you need a minimum of two years of professional experience in the market industry because you're not creating the product for yourself, but for others who have multiple options similar to yours. If your product is good, they will pay you, otherwise, you will have wasted your time.
Failure is a step towards success. Don't be disappointed. You can always start again and win. I have shared my personal opinion. You can agree with me or not.
Don't get discouraged, try to be optimistic. Here are couple of opportunities that i see in your post
Non native english speaker : Just like you people who are having work but are non native english speaker would also struggle in giving the job to freelancers as it would be difficult for them to communicate their requirements. Where do they go? i bet there is a sizable number of them. This your opportunity, create a community of your language/region for freelancing opportunities. Test the waters first with just a forum and once you are able to get a decent size create something formal like upwork for x lang with escrow etc. features.
No familiarity with tool since they are not available in your country : Are there better tools available in your country for smae tasks? if not this is your opportunity to create them. You can compare the tools available in your country and these tools and can see if some features are missing on either side and it can be your window of creating new products. Start with creating a white paper "opportunities in X country" and compare tools, features missing and market available and try selling it in your country/outside your country to test the waters.
I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling stuck and discouraged. Building an app is easy, but the most challenging part is often finding your product-market fit.
It's not uncommon for entrepreneurs to face setbacks and struggles on the road to success, but 100 days is kinda short.
Have you considered starting your next project as a side hustle and only quitting your job once you've validated your idea and made some profit?
It can be a safer and more sustainable approach to building your business. Keep your head up and stay positive - the journey is tough, but the rewards can be worth it in the end.
Leaving a job and going full time for side hustle without even generating a single dollar from it, was obviously a big mistake.
Not necessarily. Sometimes taking a leap of faith can make a big difference.
I completely understand your feelings, as I too have quit my 9-5 job to become a full-time indie hacker.
It was incredibly difficult at the start, I had no revenue, no users for the products I made, and there was no indication that it would change soon.
So I decided to look for a new job, at least to cover my living costs, but I didn't give up on my indie hacking plan. I changed my expectations and took it as a side hustle, and to my surprise, after 5 months it began to make a difference - I got new customers from SEO and social media.
What I'm trying to say is, make sure you can make a living first, then pursue your dreams, and don't go all in unless you are ready, both financially and mentally.
Also, always test your ideas before investing too much time and money in product development. As a newbie, you don't want to waste either your time or money.
To use Reddit, Facebook and others you could use a VPN ?
100 days is not that long. You only fail when you stop trying. It's like a marathon. You are not gonna make it if you stop walking. But I'm sorry to hear that your path seems a little bit harder.
You can built web app.