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19 Comments

Help! Totally lost on what to make?

At this point I've lost all hopes in making a product.

I used to have really cool ideas on what to make but I didn't knew how to make it. But now, I have the technical knowhow and confident enough to make a production ready product, I have no ideas/problems to work on.

I'm running around forum(s) these days to find a problem and I feel like I'm turning into a wantrepreneur.

Have you been in this situation? if so how you overcame it?

I'm in the verge of doing something really stupid with my life because of the stress I'm going though and any help is appreciated!

  1. 3

    I think there is no one size fits all piece of advice for this question. I am assuming that you are a developer for some sort of software company, which is kinda the worst place to work to find an idea unless you are really passionate about development tools. I am lucky, although I can write code, my full time is for a manufacturer with a whole set of problems that need to be solved that are not normally seen by other programmers. I think my advice would be to find something outside of work first that you enjoy: hobbies, social group, games, second jobs (outside of tech), etc. and participate long enough to see some of the problems that other people are facing, or think of ways that you could do things better. My thoughts are basically this: there are heaps of developers trying to solve developer problems, there are not so many trying to solve everyone else's problems (and there are a whole lot more of everyone else). In addition developers are typically needed across the spectrum of businesses, not just at big web development shops.

    1. 1

      I am assuming that you are a developer for some sort of software company, which is kinda the worst place to work to find an idea unless you are really passionate about development tools.

      Well said. I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I struggle to find problems to solve.

  2. 2

    Practice activities, go outside, play games, this will come from nowhere ^^ You need to experience stuff to be able to make our life easier :p

  3. 1

    Yea, I was in the same boat, you know, we are like an artist, we need to inspire. I was inspired by classical music and look at what I have created - https://bestcalculators.net/best-calculator-for-exams-reviews/. It is my third project but I am so proud like dad can be proud of his son. Just do not stop searching!

  4. 1

    If you'd like to brainstorm on some ideas let me know. I have ideas but don't have the technical skills to get them built.

    1. 1

      Would be interested in listening in on that conversation 😁

  5. 1

    Patience!

    That's my advice, you literally have no idea where the "Eureka" moment comes from. I spent a year and a half working on a product that inevitably went no where but the product I've spent the last year working on came to me whilst I was washing some dishes at work after lunch. I was talking to a co worker and BAM! there it was.

    Like someone else said write ideas down. This helps because you never know when it could be the one. when I was washing the dishes the conversation I was having with my colleague came round to an idea I jotted down on my Evernote app a year ago. who would've thought I'd be returning to work on that idea!

    So, be patient. It's on its way to you.

  6. 1

    I know it's hard but try not to stress. Think about your journey in years instead of months/weeks. You are just in between the preparation & practice stage. Totally normal.

    Two things helped me:

    • Pick an industry or space that you are interested in focusing on. Down the road, shit will get hard and you will need to have a deeper motivation to press on than just solving some person's problem and making cash. Pick an area that you care about or come up with some ethos to follow. e.g., Mine is "I want to help people share their voice/message online".

    • Pick up some contract work in that space/area. This helps you get involved with businesses in that industry and learn where the real problems are, how they operate, etc., You gotta have experiences to draw from before finding the right thing to tackle.

    Or, just build something for fun in that industry and put it out there. This is how our business started. We built a fun audio forum app and realized there was a huge need for sharing audio on social media. The latter became our business.

  7. 1

    Hey!
    I totally understand you. Very often, when ideas came to me, I couldn't implement them for different reasons but when I could I didn't have any ideas haha.
    That's why I started writing my ideas down - just in case. Some moment I decided to share ideas of SaaS applications, so I created the email series called "SaaS Idea Weekly" - you can check it here https://www.caravelstudio.io/saasideaweekly
    And it's a very good practice to write down ALL the ideas, no matter how stupid they are or if you like them or if you can implement them or can not - some day you will thank yourself for it :)
    Look for problems the people struggle with and write down them too - it can lead you to the interesting and fresh ideas.
    Good luck!

    1. 1

      Hi, I just signed up for the newsletter. I once started experimenting with writing down the ideas, But I stopped it down the road as it was going no where for me. However, I have subscribed to yours and if something turns out positive I'll surely contribute back. Thanks again!

      1. 1

        No problem!
        I would still recommend to write down all the ideas because you never know when the quantity changes into quality.
        Another good thing is to see the repeating ideas. I started my list around 5 years ago, now it's about 35 pages and when I looked for an idea the last time I found one idea repeated in different forms - I decided to start it just because it looked like that idea was exactly what I wanted to make for many years but just didn't realize it.

  8. 1

    I've been in the same position. There have been some ideas that have piqued my interest, but not enough to build. Literally every idea has been done and it seems like the same ideas and projects are recycled. I do not want to build a project management tool, for example. Right now, I'm just working on client requests, which I can't keep up with. It'd be enjoyable to work on something of my own, though. I haven't overcame this ... yet.

    1. 1

      I'm on the same boat. I just don't want to build just another project management tool as well. The issue with me is I'm not lacking ideas, But I'm lacking the ones interest me. And I'm really confident enough to run a production ready app at this point, but sadly having issues with what to make.

  9. 1

    Umm, welcome to my life. I had no idea what to work on so I started a side project to curate SaaS growth case studies. I am still looking for what to create, but hoping time will help.

    1. 1

      I'm hoping for a good time as well, but all the pressure of hitting rock bottom is just making my days really hard. And it's negatively affecting the productivity as well.

  10. 1

    Maybe try and team up with someone who has an idea they want to get made, try https://www.indiehackers.com/forum/hashtag/looking-for-cofounder/recent

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      I have tried this as well, but ended up meeting bunch of idea guys who tries to draft an NDA even before a proper communication and once started the project they gradually loose the interest and persue some other stuff. All I'm left with wasted my hours working on it.

  11. 1

    No response? Hmmmm... :(

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