Mid-Month Review: How I'm Tracking Against My Q3 Goals

Hey everyone,

Rhythm Saha here, from NovexiQ! Can you believe we’re already halfway through Q3? Time flies when you're building, coding, and navigating the exciting (and sometimes challenging) world of web development and entrepreneurship.

A few weeks ago, I shared my Q3 goals – remember that post where I talked about my ambitions for NovexiQ, my personal skill development, and my commitment to giving back to the community? Well, true to my word about transparency, it’s time for a mid-month check-in. This isn't just about accountability for myself; it's also about showing you the real journey – the wins, the hurdles, and the constant learning process that comes with building a business from the ground up while balancing my final year of MCA.

Recap: My Q3 Game Plan

So, if you missed my last update, my Q3 plan was really built around three key areas:

1. Scaling NovexiQ: Client Acquisition & Project Delivery
2. Deep Dive & Skill Enhancement: Mastering Advanced Backend Patterns
3. Community & Content: Sharing Knowledge and Building Connections

Let’s break down where I stand with each.

1. Scaling NovexiQ: Client Acquisition & Project Delivery

This has been my absolute top priority, and honestly, I'm thrilled to say it's been a period of intense, hands-on growth for NovexiQ. My goal was to take on at least two new significant projects, focusing on complex web applications that really push my MERN Stack and Next.js skills.

Current Status: We've successfully signed on one major project – and it's a perfect fit! We're building a custom SaaS dashboard for 'FitPulse Analytics', a local fitness studio right here in Santipur. They really needed a robust system to manage member subscriptions, class schedules, and trainer availability, plus performance tracking for their clients. It's a fantastic challenge!

We're currently in the thick of development for FitPulse. I've architected the backend with Node.js and TypeScript, leveraging Prisma for an elegant, type-safe database interaction (using PostgreSQL). On the frontend, it's all Next.js 14. We're really leaning into server components and actions here, which has been great for optimizing data fetching and managing state. Tailwind CSS has been instrumental for rapid UI development, keeping the design consistent and maintainable.

Initial modules like user authentication (that’s NextAuth.js, integrated with role-based access control), member management, and basic scheduling are already up and running. We've got them deployed on Vercel for continuous integration, of course. The client is happy with the initial progress, and we're now moving into the more complex areas like real-time class booking updates and advanced reporting features.

While I initially aimed for two, securing one truly substantial project and dedicating my full attention to delivering it with absolute excellence felt like the smarter call for NovexiQ at this stage. It's always quality over quantity for me.

2. Deep Dive & Skill Enhancement: Mastering Advanced Backend Patterns

My personal goal was to dive deeper into advanced backend patterns. Specifically, I wanted to focus on optimizing Prisma queries for large datasets and exploring message queues for handling asynchronous tasks in Node.js. The big idea? To build more resilient and scalable applications.

Current Status: I've made significant progress here, largely driven by the demands of the FitPulse project itself. I actually ran into a really interesting scenario: fetching aggregated performance data for thousands of members was causing some pretty noticeable latency. It was a proper challenge!

My solution involved a combination of techniques:

• Optimizing Prisma Queries: I spent a good chunk of time refactoring several complex queries. I'm talking about leveraging select and include statements *much* more judiciously to fetch only the data we absolutely needed. And get this: I even dove into Prisma’s raw queries for those specific analytical needs where the ORM abstraction was actually starting to feel like a bottleneck. Super insightful!
• Database Indexing: Beyond Prisma, I really got my hands dirty with PostgreSQL indexing strategies. We identified the critical columns for frequently accessed data and added appropriate B-tree indexes. And *wow*, the difference in query times was dramatic!
• Caching Strategies: For frequently requested, less volatile data (think daily class schedules), I implemented a Redis caching layer. This significantly reduced database hits, which is a huge win! Honestly, it was a fantastic learning experience – really getting into the nuances of cache invalidation strategies and integrating Redis with my Node.js API. So much to learn!

I haven't fully implemented a message queue yet, as the current project's asynchronous needs (like sending email notifications) are manageable with simpler background jobs. However, the research into RabbitMQ and Kafka has been insightful, and it’s definitely on the roadmap for future projects with higher loads.

3. Community & Content: Sharing Knowledge and Building Connections

This goal is about giving back to the amazing developer community and building NovexiQ’s presence as a knowledge hub. My aim was to publish at least two technical blog posts and share more actionable insights on social media.

Current Status: I've successfully published one detailed post on "Building Secure Authentication with NextAuth.js and Prisma" on Dev.to, and it's been awesome seeing the great feedback and questions come in. My second post is currently in draft – it's going to be a deep dive into that Redis caching implementation I just talked about, complete with code snippets and performance benchmarks. Can't wait to share it!

I've also been more active on Twitter, sharing snippets of my daily coding challenges and solutions, and engaging with fellow developers. I even managed to participate in a small, informal online meetup for Next.js enthusiasts here in India, sharing some insights from my recent Vercel deployments. Honestly, connecting with others on similar journeys has been incredibly rewarding.

Challenges Faced & Lessons Learned

You know, no journey is without its bumps, and Q3 has definitely presented its fair share. The biggest challenge, hands down, has been managing the intense workload of a significant client project while simultaneously juggling my MCA studies and trying to maintain some semblance of a personal life. It's a constant balancing act, for sure.

Technical Hurdle: Prisma Transaction Management for Complex Operations.

One specific technical challenge I faced was ensuring atomicity for a complex 'class booking' operation in FitPulse. A single booking involves:

1. Creating a booking record.
2. Deducting credits from the member's account.
3. Updating class capacity.

If any of these steps failed, the entire operation needed to be rolled back to maintain data integrity. I initially tried handling this with individual await calls, but honestly, it quickly became messy and super prone to errors. So, I had to deep-dive into Prisma's transaction\ API ($transaction). It's powerful, no doubt, but getting the error handling and rollback logic *just right* within a Next.js API route was pretty tricky, especially when dealing with potential concurrent requests. Definitely a head-scratcher at times!

import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const prisma = new PrismaClient();

async function bookClass(memberId: string, classId: string) {
  try {
    const result = await prisma.$transaction(async (tx) => {
      // 1. Check class availability
      const classToBook = await tx.class.findUnique({
        where: { id: classId },
        select: { capacity: true, bookedCount: true }
      });

      if (!classToBook || classToBook.bookedCount >= classToBook.capacity) {
        throw new Error('Class is full or does not exist.');
      }

      // 2. Deduct credits from member
      const member = await tx.member.findUnique({
        where: { id: memberId },
        select: { credits: true }
      });

      if (!member || member.credits < 1) { // Assuming 1 credit per class
        throw new Error('Insufficient credits.');
      }

      await tx.member.update({
        where: { id: memberId },
        data: { credits: { decrement: 1 } }
      });

      // 3. Create booking record
      const booking = await tx.booking.create({
        data: {
          memberId,
          classId,
          bookedAt: new Date()
        }
      });

      // 4. Update class booked count
      await tx.class.update({
        where: { id: classId },
        data: { bookedCount: { increment: 1 } }
      });

      return booking;
    });

    console.log('Class booked successfully:', result);
    return { success: true, booking: result };
  } catch (error: any) {
    console.error('Booking failed:', error.message);
    return { success: false, error: error.message };
  } finally {
    await prisma.$disconnect();
  }
}

The key learning here was huge: the absolute importance of using explicit transactions for multi-step database operations to ensure data consistency, especially in high-traffic applications. It added a layer of complexity to my API routes, but boy, did it improve reliability!

Adjustments & Path Forward for Remainder of Q3

Looking ahead, my focus for the rest of Q3 will be primarily on:

1. FitPulse Delivery: First off, my absolute priority is ensuring the FitPulse Analytics project is delivered on time, within scope, and truly exceeds client expectations. That means rigorous testing, seamless client feedback integration, and continuous performance optimization.
2. Knowledge Sharing: Then, publishing that Redis caching blog post. I'm also planning a small, practical online workshop on integrating Tailwind CSS with Next.js – it's a common area of interest I've noticed among aspiring developers, so I think it'll be a great way to help out.
3. Strategic Planning for Q4: And while I’m delivering on Q3, I’ll also start laying the groundwork for Q4. That means exploring potential new client leads and identifying the next big technical challenge to tackle.

That initial goal of two new projects? It might be slightly adjusted. My focus will definitely be on the successful delivery of FitPulse, and then maybe securing *one more* smaller, perhaps internal, NovexiQ project to really refine a specific new technology or pattern. Flexibility, right? It's key in entrepreneurship!

Wrapping Up

Honestly, this mid-quarter review has been such a valuable exercise. It's super easy to get lost in the day-to-day coding, but taking a step back to assess progress, acknowledge challenges, and recalibrate? That's absolutely crucial for sustained growth, both personally and for NovexiQ. I'm immensely grateful for all the progress NovexiQ has made so far, and for the continued support from my family, mentors, and this incredible developer community. You guys rock!

So, what about you? Have you set any personal or professional goals for this quarter? And how are you tracking against them? Share your experiences in the comments below – I truly believe we can learn so much from each other’s journeys!

Until next time, keep building, keep learning, and keep pushing those boundaries!

Warmly,

Rhythm Saha

Founder, NovexiQ