Fresh from high-school, self-taught software developer, jumping into entrepreneurship

[gandalf113]

INTRODUCTION AND ORIGIN
I'm a 19 years old male from Poland who graduated from high school this year. Most of my friends went to college, and I decided to go down a different path.

From a young age, I was really into coding. I first started at about 12. Inspired by Minecraft, I wanted to create my own video games so I learned Java. I played around with making video games for some time, hoping to develop and sell the next GTA and become a millionaire at 14. For some reason that didn't happen and I moved away from video games into mobile/web development. That's where I made my first money.

FREELANCING
In my free time, I developed a mobile app for myself that tracks my progress in the gym (weight, sets, reps) and plots the volume and estimated strength on a line chart.

One day at the gym I got into a conversation with some guy and somehow ended up showing him the app. He was really impressed. It turned out that he was a CFO at a big steel company and that they needed a mobile developer. He offered me a job (simple calculator app), which I happily accepted and made 1.5k PLN.

My second commercial project was for my parents' business (a second-hand clothing store). They needed software for managing their customers, sales, contracts, etc.

MY FAILED SAAS VENTURE
As a person who is into fitness, my biggest pain is eating healthy while tracking macros and calories.

I thought of a solution. How about a big database of simple recipes (with video instructions) and an algorithm that generates a meal plan based on target calories? Genius!

I searched for competitors and found one - EatThisMuch. However, it's an American (I believe) company and my business was supposed to target a Polish audience.

I began working immediately. In six months I developed a fully functional website with a working algorithm. Now I needed one last thing: the recipes. I reached out to the leading Polish Youtuber who posts recipes for bodybuilders. I offered him a big percentage of income from subscriptions in return for consent to use all of his recipes and promote the website on his channel. He refused. He said he wanted to retain autonomy and not be associated with third-party companies.

That's when I realized I should have sent the email BEFORE starting to code.

WHAT NOW?
I'm not sure what to do next. My parents are willing to support me for the next year, so I have all this free time and energy to spend on something. I just don't know where to direct it. I signed up for Fox Web School where I'm getting really valuable knowledge (marketing, sales), but I'm not sure if making HTML websites is the best possible use of my skills. I need some advice and perhaps a kick in the a$$ to send me down the Fastlane. Thanks!

 

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[Jaxsss]

Hey Gandalf,

good to know there are also young ambitious people on this forum, I'm 20 myself and also in the same path, didn't go to college and pursue entrepreneurship. Currently working as python dev and trying to run digital agency - websites, graphic visual identity, video production.

I think your idea is great, I struggle a lot with a diet while working out, gaining weight for me as an ectomorph is really hard. Always searching for easy to do meals that are healthy, and not eating the same thing over and over. If you have it ready, you should pursue it down more, contact more people (maybe some fitness people on Instagram, that are promoting recipes, to promote your website), make social accounts, promote the website and there will be people that are interested in it. That way more people will know about it, more credability for the whole thing and if the person who you'd take the recipes see the social account with at least 5k followers, they'd know, that there is demand.

There's also another way - present the idea to some investors or make a kickstarter (that would be better with established audience).

I've made a mistake of when something didn't work at first sight, I'd left the whole idea and do something else, so I started practicing that one idea - one year of fully pursuing it. Continue with it and see if it does have demand.

I also want to ask, you mentioned subscription, how much would it be? For me personally I'd more likely choose
a website / app that is free and offer those recipes -> maybe make it with ads and subscription will mean no ads. But I agree that for profit monthly subscription is better model than ads.

What other things would you add to the website / app to make it more valuable for people?
Some things come to my mind:

• make the people add the recipes by themselves, they'll submit it, you'd decide if it's correct and worth adding to the database, and they could get some benefits from adding the recipes,
• keep track of weight progress,
• show the average meal prices (co-op with companies that are doing grocery delivery, make a list of ingredients of the recipe, and add it to shopping cart in grocery delivery app),
• maybe connect it with fitness trainers to find them potential clients.

Those are just ideas how to improve it, not considering the hardness of executing those things. That way if you add more value, people will more likely pay a subscription if it's meaningful for them.

I have a few friends that are graphic designers, maybe they could help you out with the social media posts?

Mark

 

[chazwazzer]

Perhaps you just engaged the wrong joint venture partner?

 

[gandalf113]

Hey Gandalf,

good to know there are also young ambitious people on this forum, I'm 20 myself and also in the same path, didn't go to college and pursue entrepreneurship. Currently working as python dev and trying to run digital agency - websites, graphic visual identity, video production.

I think your idea is great, I struggle a lot with a diet while working out, gaining weight for me as an ectomorph is really hard. Always searching for easy to do meals that are healthy, and not eating the same thing over and over. If you have it ready, you should pursue it down more, contact more people (maybe some fitness people on Instagram, that are promoting recipes, to promote your website), make social accounts, promote the website and there will be people that are interested in it. That way more people will know about it, more credability for the whole thing and if the person who you'd take the recipes see the social account with at least 5k followers, they'd know, that there is demand.

There's also another way - present the idea to some investors or make a kickstarter (that would be better with established audience).

I've made a mistake of when something didn't work at first sight, I'd left the whole idea and do something else, so I started practicing that one idea - one year of fully pursuing it. Continue with it and see if it does have demand.

I also want to ask, you mentioned subscription, how much would it be? For me personally I'd more likely choose
a website / app that is free and offer those recipes -> maybe make it with ads and subscription will mean no ads. But I agree that for profit monthly subscription is better model than ads.

What other things would you add to the website / app to make it more valuable for people?
Some things come to my mind:

• make the people add the recipes by themselves, they'll submit it, you'd decide if it's correct and worth adding to the database, and they could get some benefits from adding the recipes,
• keep track of weight progress,
• show the average meal prices (co-op with companies that are doing grocery delivery, make a list of ingredients of the recipe, and add it to shopping cart in grocery delivery app),
• maybe connect it with fitness trainers to find them potential clients.

Those are just ideas how to improve it, not considering the hardness of executing those things. That way if you add more value, people will more likely pay a subscription if it's meaningful for them.

I have a few friends that are graphic designers, maybe they could help you out with the social media posts?

Mark

Hi Mark, thanks for responding!

Your answer inspired me to continue this project. I really like the ideas you came up with (partnering up with a grocery delivery company and personal trainers).

Regarding subscription:
First, I thought about 16 PLN per month (around $3.40) for using the meal planner algorithm. However, I think you're right, it's way better to offer this for free and perhaps sell a more robust version of the algorithm at a premium. Besides, any user could simply generate 100 plans in advance and then cancel the subscription.

This is my idea for the platform now: verified users can upload recipes for everyone to see and use. This would allow them to promote their own social media. I would probably start by making my own videos to get some traction, build a brand and stay independent from other influencers (Control Commandment). What do you think?

For the next month, I will adjust the website and record 50 videos and shorts. Then I might actually reach out to you to help out with the social media.

 

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