Title: After five years wrestling with my side project, I&#x27;m finally optimistic I&#x27;ll ship it.<p>How did I become optimistic? The short answer is money. The longer answer is indifference.<p>The Journey.<p>Since 2017 I&#x27;ve been working on a side project which I always intended to launch as a paid SaaS product. I matched every cliche about people bootstrapping their SaaS:<p>- The code isn&#x27;t clean enough
- The UI isn&#x27;t pixel perfect
- The export feature doesn&#x27;t work correctly
- I need to completely refactor the entire app because I learned a new way to write a for loop...<p>On at least two occasions I became so stressed out I had to take a break from working on it.<p>On a side project!<p>Here&#x27;s how I finally got some momentum.<p>Step 1: Hire a freelance developer<p>You need help. You need a new perspective. Most importantly, you need indifference.<p>Freelancers are hired to achieve a specific outcome. After achieving that outcome, they move on to the next project. They don&#x27;t have time to refactor that same library three times. They force you to prioritize what&#x27;s important to ship.<p>Step 2: Hire a UI&#x2F;UX designer<p>Having a rough outline of what the app should look like gives you a target to work toward. Instead of becoming an expert with Figma, hire someone that can do it for you. You&#x27;ll be shocked what value two weeks of a designer&#x27;s time can bring.<p>Step 3: Hire a marketing agency<p>Digital marketing is a highly complex endeavor. If you think spending money on Google Ads or posting on Twitter is sufficient to bring your product to life, you&#x27;ll be disappointed.<p>Yes this all costs money.<p>Yes you have to give up some control.<p>Yes you might miss some learning opportunities.<p>But if there&#x27;s one lesson I learned after five years, it&#x27;s all about shipping!
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