Many people aspire to have their own product, especially front-end developers who tend to harbor this desire more easily. Whenever this moment arises, people often fall into a mental dilemma: Which project should I choose to make profitable? When addressing this question, my perspective is to break it down into several sub-questions.
Question 1: What project should I work on?
Question 2: How will this project make money?
For Question 1, I suggest developing an app that you would use every day. This way it keeps your passion for development alive. For an individual, the entire development process is a highly challenging task.
Once you’ve settled on your tech stack, product direction, and basic framework, everything that follows becomes physical labor. The intellectual effort is concentrated in the initial conceptualization phase, after which it’s just a matter of typing out and bringing to life what’s in your mind.
After solving Question 1, then consider whether it can make money. My advice is not to focus on profitability with your first product. As I mentioned in a previous article, don’t suddenly go all-in as an independent developer or solo entrepreneur—this is essentially adding leverage to your investment in yourself, which is highly irrational.
When you’re free from income pressure, you can slow down your thoughts and actions. As the Analects say, “If you hasten, you won’t succeed.” Keep in mind that slow is fast. Polish each step carefully (though I’m not emphasizing perfecting the details here, because details can be a trap—once you get caught up in them, you might never release your first product. Just ensure the process and usage flow are smooth).
Online, people often mention the “holy trinity” for independent developers—notes, budgeting, and to-do lists. They say these are the products most developers start with, and some suggest going against the grain by choosing less competitive products.
However, I believe these are the most frequently used daily tools and have the lowest development costs. Everyone has some exposure to these products. If you aim for a less competitive niche market, you first need to be part of that market’s audience. Otherwise, it’s hard to immerse yourself and create a product that resonates with their needs.
Even if you choose something like a budgeting app, as long as you innovate in certain aspects and make the design highly appealing, you can still attract a decent number of users. It might not make you a fortune, but it will give you a starting point on this journey. Completing a full, smooth process is incredibly valuable experience.
Popular products are easy to promote and introduce on social platforms because everyone is familiar with them. This makes it convenient to market your product after launch, as there are plenty of established cases and copywriting examples for you to learn from and reference.
If you target a niche, you sometimes have to figure things out on your own, which can be a painful process.
From idea → design → development → launch → operation → promotion → customer service → ongoing maintenance → plus all the miscellaneous thinking in between, a popular product allows you to complete this “beginner’s mission” relatively easily.
If you go too niche, your product might get no attention after launch, leaving the subsequent tasks incomplete. Without gaining the corresponding experience, you’re just treading water. You might immediately start a new project, only to hit the same roadblock again, trapping yourself in a vicious cycle.
For your first product, choosing something mainstream and completing the beginner’s mission with ease is a solid option.
With the experience and initial user base you accumulate, when you move on to your next product, you can quickly find a group of seed users willing to try it out and provide feedback.