If the core of this blog is going to be about my journey to build a side business 'brick by brick', then I had better share some intent as to how that is going to happen.
I do have an end goal in mind - a 'concept of a plan' if you will - but I am not quite ready to share that in detail. For now, suffice it to say that I want to build a software-as-a-service (SAAS) business (based around the industrial use of augmented reality technologies. I have been working with AR/VR technologies for years now and I think I see a niche where I can build a product that will add significant value. Let's call that the 'big SAAS goal' and park it for now because there are some steps I think I need to complete before starting.
Building an enterprise grade SAAS solution is not easy, and may not even be feasible as a side-hustle. Before I commit to building a complex distributed solution that is likely to take months of development, I want to start smaller and build some confidence (and competence!) by tackling some smaller projects.
My development experience is largely in enterprise integration and XR development, focusing on .NET, Unity and Microsoft Azure Enterprise technologies. This means that I am most comfortable with back-end development and working in a Microsoft Azure environment, but it also means that I don't have a lot of current experience with non-MS hosting options and with front-end (e.g. web/mobile UX) development.
There are a few reasons why this concerns me:
Firstly, Azure is expensive. Anything based on Azure is likely to cost more money than I prepared to invest right now. I am going to try and get this side hustle going for $0 dollars. This means that I need to start making money before considering a paid hosting option.
Yes - there are startup programs and free monthly credits etc etc and I am aware of them but a quick look at their hosting costs for a simple webapp + SQL database gives me concern. Azure is great when someone else is paying for it, but if it is my money then I want to look at other options before committing.
Secondly, my big SAAS idea has a user design component that is going to need some web-centric UX development. While I could potentially use Blazor for this, I would like to try improving my JavaScript skills with a JS first web/UX technology.
Thirdly, a key motivation of this whole exercise is to avoid boredom. While I want to eventually make some money I wan't to enjoy the journey - and for me learning new technologies is both something I enjoy and something that makes me more employable if the whole 'side hustle' thing doesn't work out.
I love RPG games. So to use an RPG analogy I need to grind some experience and level up before taking on the Big Bad Evil Guy. Also, like RPG games I have a skill tree that I need to complete as part of this levelling up process before I feel comfortable with starting development for The Big Idea.
The first skill I want to 'unlock' is JS web development. So, the first project I am going to tackle is to build and host a simple front-end only web site.
