Jumping Head First into the Unknown WordPress Project

For the last several years I’ve working hard, head down developing and supporting Smart eCart (formally GBS) 1. Recently I’ve moved away from working full-time on that project but found myself without a clear direction as to what was next.

I contemplating getting back into full-time freelancing web development; for a stretch I was toying with getting a “real job” working for a team that I always wanted to work for; my original plan was go to school to learn iOS development. Instead I decided to keep doing what I’ve been doing, building and supporting a premium WordPress product. However the big difference: I’m on my own this time.

Deciding to build an app wasn’t as difficult as it was to figure out what I should build. At first I was looking to build an e-commerce solution for booking. That idea and many others didn’t last long because I found no real opportunity to break-in with the current solutions already available. I also didn’t want to build something that I’d never use myself.

I ultimately decided on building a WordPress plugin for estimates and invoicing after getting really annoyed with harvest 2. Under the advisement of good a friend I was led think bigger and build more than just an estimate and invoicing app. Instead, I could have the invoicing app as the cornerstone to a whole suite of apps/plugins.

That’s what I’ve been working on. Sprout Apps will start selling Sprout Invoices 1.0 in August and there’s a lot to get done in the next three weeks in order for that to happen. A. Lot.

 

Notes:

  1. SeC is a social e-commerce plugin for WordPress. It’s started as a small client project and turned into something huge and successful for everyone involved.
  2. A major payment incident occurred.