From Student Struggle to SaaS Startup: Solving Invoicing with InvoiceTastic

Hey dev.to community,

I'm a student developer with a passion for building things that solve real-world problems. Lately, that problem was invoicing.

Like many of you, I've been freelancing alongside my studies. It's a great way to gain experience and earn some extra cash, but it comes with its own set of challenges. One of the biggest hurdles I faced was managing invoices and tracking payments.

I started with the usual suspects: spreadsheets and free online invoice generators. But they all fell short. Spreadsheets were messy, and the free tools were clunky and unprofessional. I was spending way too much time on admin work, time I could have spent coding or studying.

The Pain Points:

Manual Invoicing: Time-consuming and prone to errors.
Payment Tracking: No clear overview of which invoices were paid and which weren't.
Late Payments: Awkwardly chasing clients for payments.
Time Management: Juggling development work and administrative tasks.
The Solution: InvoiceTastic

As a developer, I thought, "Why not build my own solution?" And that's exactly what I did. I created InvoiceTastic, a SaaS platform designed to automate the entire invoicing process.

Tech Stack:

Next.Js, and Api Routing
Datbase: Postgres Neon
Payment: Stripe

Key Features:

Simple Invoice Creation: Generate professional invoices in minutes.
Automated Reminders: Send gentle reminders for overdue payments.
Real-Time Payment Tracking: Monitor payment status at a glance.
Customizable Templates: Create invoices that match your brand.

Challenges and Learnings:

Balancing Development with Studies: It was a challenge to manage my time effectively.
Learning New Technologies: I had to learn new skills and technologies along the way.
Deployment and Scaling: Getting the platform live and ready for users.
The Result:

InvoiceTastic has helped me streamline my invoicing process and focus on what I love: coding. I'm no longer stressing about late payments or spending hours on admin work.

Call to Action:

I'm sharing my experience to inspire other developers and to get feedback on InvoiceTastic. If you're a freelancer or small business owner struggling with invoicing, I encourage you to check it out: Click Here

I'm also keen to hear your thoughts on the tech stack I used and any suggestions for improvements.

Thanks for reading!