Lessons learned from making the first $ online

Today I had the 50th customer on Picturize. That means I have made 1000$ in almost pure profits in a few days.
It is the first project that actually made money for me. There were a few things that I did differently this time that made me succeed:

Focus on yourself

Or don't compare yourself to others. Instead, try to handle the things that you can control. I know there were other apps earlier on the market very similar to mine. I did not let that stop me and just pulled through with my idea.

Verify your idea early

I pitched the idea to friends & family and had them on a VERY early prototype asap. Their response was positive and verified the product idea. In any other case, I probably would have spent countless hours on an idea no one wanted.

Do not over-engineer

I am an SW engineer by trade, and in my daily work, I have to write clean, performant, and scalable code in a complex stack.
It is easy to bring this mentality to your own projects. You have to fight it!
Instead: Make it work, make it right, make it fast!

Do not forget about marketing

You can have the best product in the world - if no one knows about it, it won't succeed.
I tried to share progress during development already. The virality factor of the product itself certainly helped.

Set yourself a release deadline

To hold yourself accountable and prevent over-engineering. You will have to cut corners and scrap some features to meet the deadline and that is the goal...

Work like a lion

Lions patiently prepare for their prey, then sprint to capture. Then feast in celebration, then rest and recover. Prepare, sprint, rest, rinse, repeat, again and again. Focus productivity on critical projects with high velocity then celebrates and rest.

Get support from friends&family

Your journey will have ups & downs, and it will sometimes seem hard. You will be demotivated, ready to throw in the towel.
Luckily I have a lovely supporting wife. She supported me along the way and pulled me out of the dark valleys. 😍