5 things every developer should know before starting his own business

Hello, I’m Ilyass a Full-stack Javascript developer, I’ll share with you what I’ve learned during my journey of trying to create a tech startup as a developer
(with emphasis on trying).

Junior developers in their first years, often get excited by the field and they want to build the next Facebook or next Google. You can’t blame them for such a bold statement, we always hear that all you need is a laptop, internet connexion, and a little bit of passion; and here you go, you can create the next thing from your garage like Bill Gates, Mark and Steve jobs.

Believe me, you will need more than that.

Here is a list of 5 things, in my opinion, you should know before you start your journey. 

?You must resolve a problem and have a market:

Thankfully we are developers, we know our boundaries in terms of what’s possible to implement, and what’s not. So we’ll not try to build some science fiction ideas that are hardly possible to achieve from a tech perspective.

An application that takes video to people, then can read their minds is a nice idea, but no one will say that it’s possible to make (At least for the time being).

However, The common mistake every first-time founder does is trying to build or create a product that no one cares about, or no one needs.

According to CBInsight, 42% of startups fail because there is no market need for their solution.

which makes total sense, if you want someone to pay you for something you have to resolve a problem for them.

So your solution should resolve a problem for so many people, to have a market need.

It’s not about developing the product  

The majority of developers are introverted, and it’s a huge problem for your business.

You need to sell your solution whether it’s a service, a product, or whatever you’ve developed; you need to sell it and most importantly get the client’s feedback.

This means talking and communicating with your clients or potential clients, and as we said most of the developers don’t love talking with people they are introverted, they prefer talking with a machine rather than communicating with someone.

So you have to work on your soft skills, or at least be aware of the essence of communication and soft skills.

Expect iteration on your idea/product.

One Crucial concept in product development or in Startups, in general, is that you have to iterate on your product.

Meaning, the first vision you had about your product will definitely change depending on the market need and client feedbacks.

Something common between first-time founders is they often stick to their first vision of the product and they barely make some changes to it, and by default, your product idea needs changes.

So you have to expect changes in your idea or product and be open to doing them.

I wouldn’t miss the chance, without referring to a great book in this context. it’s the famous Lean Start-Up by Eric Rise.

The main idea of the book is to build an MVP (Minimum viable product) then measure/test your product and get clients feedback, based on this feedback you will need to make some iteration/changes in your product. 

look for a co-founder

Have you noticed that most of the successful startups in the world are not founded by one person, even those that seem to be founded by one person turns out they have other founders, like Facebook or Oracle…

is there a reason behind that or it’s a coincidence? 

In my personal opinion, it’s not a coincidence. And I would say it’s something essential for the life of your business.

You can’t grow a serious business alone.

Looking for a co-founder isn’t something easy, some describe it as looking for a wife/husband, and it’s pretty much true, you will spend most of your time with your partner whether it’s a business or marriage life. 

You will doubt yourself.

Doubting yourself is something you will go through more than once in your journey, you have to believe that it’s something normal, and please don’t start questioning your passion based on doubts you have.

Just keep in mind that doubting yourself and your passion are two different things. 

Work hard is not what you think

Every success story has some part of working hard, and it’s true, creating a successful business comes with the cost of weekends hustle, and sleepless nights.

However, we are humans and we don’t have the energy to do that for a long period, plus a successful business is a really long journey.

What I’m saying here is don’t take the word WORKING HARD and do it for a long period for the sake of growing your business. You will end-up with burnout, and trust me that’s something you won’t need to be near to having in your life.

Also, your willpower will decrease over time, if you didn’t find a balance between working hard and having a life.