TL;DR: Stop hunting for a "unique" idea. Solve a problem from your own day, ship a free version in 1–2 weeks, measure everything, and give it 6–12 months. That's how I built a small side income next to my full-time job.
A lot of developers I know want to build their own product and earn a little extra on the side. Most of them get stuck at the very first step: finding an idea. They spend weeks looking for the perfect one, never find it, and give up.
I've been there too. For the past year I've been shipping small software products next to my job, and a few of them now bring in a small side income. It's not life-changing money yet, but it's real, it keeps growing, and it came from a simple, repeatable pattern. Here it is.
1. Start with your own day-to-day life
Forget about hunting for a "unique" idea. Look at your own life instead.
- What annoys you every day?
- What problems do your friends, family or coworkers keep complaining about?
- What tasks feel slower or harder than they should?
Then ask yourself: can I make this easier for them and for me?
When you build something that fixes your own problem, you become your first user. You use the product every day, so you notice what's missing, what's broken and what could be better. Nobody has to file a bug report, because you feel it yourself. That feedback loop is hard to get any other way.
A note on asking AI about your idea
Many of us now ask an AI assistant: "Should I build this app?" The answer is almost always "This market is already very competitive" or "Maybe try a different angle."
Don't let that stop you. AI is great at helping you build apps, but it can't predict what will work for you, your circle, or your users. It doesn't live your life or feel your problems. Let AI write the code. You decide on the idea.
2. Ship a free version in 1–2 weeks
Once you pick an idea, don't spend weeks researching every competitor. Build an MVP. Honestly, I think "MVP" isn't even the right word anymore. Think of it as a free version of your idea.
- Build it and ship it within one or two weeks
- Share it with friends, family and people at work
- Because it's free, anyone can try it without thinking twice
- Add analytics from day one
- Ask for feedback constantly
- Launch on a few product launch sites to reach real users outside your circle
- Make your landing page SEO-friendly
You don't need a big marketing push at this stage. You just need real people using it.
3. After launch: where most devs give up
This is where most people lose hope. They launch on a couple of platforms, get a few signups, and think: "Nobody wants this."
That's normal. No product gets thousands of users in launch week. Without a marketing budget, growth takes time, and that's okay.
Here's my post-launch checklist:
- Proper analytics so you know what users actually do
- Google Search Console to watch your SEO grow
- Session recording to see how people really use your app (it's often very different from what you expected)
- A support chatbot so users can easily reach you to report bugs, ask how a feature works, or get unstuck
And most importantly: give it 6 months to a year. That's how long it takes to reach people and really understand how your users behave.
4. Why free?
Yes, some products cost money per user (servers, API calls and so on). You have two ways to spend money:
- Spend on marketing to bring people in, or
- Spend on each user by giving the product away for free
In my experience, the cost per free user is much lower than what you'd pay for marketing. And free users stick around. Later, when you add a paid plan, even 2–3% free-to-paid conversion is a solid start.
5. Stop overthinking and over-researching
You don't need a never-seen-before idea. In fact, pick something that already exists and already makes money.
Why? Because that's validation. It proves people are already using and paying for this kind of product. The hardest question, "does anyone even want this?", is already answered for you.
6. "But why would anyone use mine instead?"
Because no software is perfect. Every product has bugs, missing features, or things users wish it did differently.
Your job is to find those gaps, build what's missing, and make it your key USP (unique selling point). That becomes your reason to exist.
Think about how you pick tools yourself: you don't stick with one product forever. You try several and keep the one that fits. Your users do the same. Give them a reason to pick yours.
7. Fellow devs: don't think "this is too small"
I hear this a lot: "Anyone can build this for free with AI now."
Sure, people who already use coding tools can. But only a tiny share of people (maybe around 1%) actually know how to build, deploy and maintain an app, wire up APIs, and so on.
The other 99% just use existing apps. Even a to-do app could be built by "anyone," but be honest: how many times in your career have you built your own instead of just downloading one?
So build for the 99%, not only for other developers.
Who am I?
I'm an indie developer running small SaaS products that actually make money, all built next to my full-time job using this exact pattern:
- Rewritly (Mac & Windows app): getrewritly.com
- Side Notepad (Chrome extension): sidenotepad.com
- Clay B2B Lock: clay lock
If you're sitting on the fence, start with a problem you face every day. Build it, ship it free, and give it time. That's the whole secret.
Over to you 👇 What's one annoying problem in your daily life you'd love to build a fix for? Drop it in the comments. Maybe it's your next side project.
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