The First Project I Never Finished

My First Real Project

Around a year and a half ago, when I was still learning development in college, I started what I considered my first real project.

The idea was simple.

I wanted to build a marketplace where developers could sell code or unfinished projects.

Maybe you worked on a project for days or weeks and then stopped. Maybe you lost interest, got busy, or started working on something else. Instead of leaving that project on your PC forever, you could put it on the marketplace.

Someone else could find it, buy it, and continue working on it.

A small unfinished project could be cheap. A bigger project, already published or already used by people, could be worth more.

I really liked the idea.

It wasn’t only about selling code. I liked the idea that a project someone stopped working on could still be useful to someone else.

And because it was my first big project, I wanted to make it really good.

That was also where the problems started.

How the Project Started Getting Bigger

At first, I wanted to start small.

Build an MVP, put it online, see if people liked it, and then add more features little by little.

But while I was working on it, I kept thinking about more things I wanted to add.

If someone was going to pay for a project, I wanted to make sure the code was actually good.

What if the project had a lot of bugs?

What if someone used AI to generate everything and didn’t even understand the code?

What if there were security problems?

Then I started thinking about seller profiles, reviews, project verification, payments, search, documentation, and a lot of other things.

Every new idea gave me another feature to build.

The problem was that I was thinking too much about the final version instead of finishing the first small version.

I wanted the marketplace to be really good before I even knew if people wanted it.

Where the Real Problems Started

After some time, I started thinking more about the cost too.

I needed hosting, a database, login, storage, and maybe more things later.

Now maybe $10 or $15 a month doesn’t sound like a lot for a project.

But at that time I was a student and I didn’t have an income.

Paying every month for a project with no users and no money coming from it was expensive for me.

I also had another problem.

Even if I finished the marketplace, how would people find it?

A marketplace needs buyers and sellers.

If nobody is selling anything, buyers have nothing to buy.

If there are no buyers, sellers have no reason to put their projects there.

So now I wasn’t only thinking about coding.

I was thinking about money, hosting, marketing, competitors, security, users, and all the features I still wanted to build.

And at the same time, I was still studying.

I didn’t have enough time or money to handle all of that.

The project kept getting bigger, but what I had available stayed the same.

Why I Stopped

After a while, I started losing motivation.

Not because I didn’t like the idea anymore.

I still liked it.

The problem was that every time I opened the project, I saw more work.

I wasn’t thinking, “What small thing can I finish today?”

I was thinking about everything the marketplace still needed.

I told myself I could keep working on it locally and think about hosting later.

But then I started asking myself what I was actually doing.

If the project stayed only on my PC, I couldn’t really show it to people.

I couldn’t know if anyone wanted to use it.

And I couldn’t know if the idea was actually good outside my own head.

Between college, not having much time, not having enough money for hosting, and making the project bigger and bigger, I finally stopped working on it.

I never finished it.

For some time, I just looked at it as the first project I gave up on.

Now I understand it differently.

What I Would Do Differently Today

If I started the same project today, I would make the first version much smaller.

I wouldn’t start with all the security systems, reviews, advanced checks, and every feature I thought a marketplace needed.

I would only build enough to test the idea.

Can someone add a project?

Can another person find it?

Does anyone actually want to buy or sell projects this way?

That would be enough for version one.

If I could run that version for $1, $2, or $3 a month, I would start there.

I didn’t need to think about a big server before I even had users.

If people liked the first version, then I could add another feature.

Then another one.

Step by step.

That is also what I learned about planning.

I don’t mean making a huge plan for the next two years.

I mean knowing what I’m building first.

What does the first version really need?

How much will it cost?

What can wait?

What am I trying to learn from it?

I didn’t think enough about those questions with this project.

I had an idea I really liked, and every new idea became another thing I wanted to add.

The project never became the marketplace I had imagined.

But I’m still happy I started it.

It taught me that knowing how to code the project is not enough.

You also need time, money, users, and a plan.

And if I ever try this idea again, I won’t start with the big marketplace I had in my head.

I’ll start with a small version, show it to people, and see if anyone actually wants it before making it bigger.

If I ever try this idea again, I won’t start with the big marketplace I had in my head.

I’ll start small, show it to people, and only make it bigger if there’s a reason to.

That was my first real project. I never finished it, but I’m still glad I started it.

Good luck with whatever you’re building. — Boussen