So I've decided to do some freelancing, now what?
Well, my main client work is great, it pays the bills and it generally involves some great projects but...
I'd like to build some new shiny things for startups or individuals who are looking for help and maybe can't afford agency prices. I'm not cheap by any means but for what I can do in development terms I believe I'm far "cheaper" than getting things done twice or finding someone else to fix things when it all goes wrong.
I am a firm believer of building relationships rather than milking clients of their money - if there is a solution already available or a quicker way of doing things then I will say so.
I've created a (very) quick website with more of what I do here: PHP freelance developer.
What I have planned so far
First things first, I am looking to build a project or two publicly #buildinpublic. I've not done that before, usually everything is top secret until it's go-live day!
So I have a few ideas at the moment:
A social ratings app for businesses
A location tracking app for bike buddies
Secondly, I'm open to helping others to build their ideas too when and if any requests come through, I'm always on Reddit and other platforms helping out so I might see you there!
Social ratings app for businesses
I'm thinking of a responsive web-based solution to allow businesses to build connections. There are existing solutions out there such as LinkedIn and Facebook but there is so much spam and adverts it's just intolerable.
Generating income can be left for another time but I do have some ideas.
Probably web-based initially, built using PHP and MySQL for the backend and then Tailwind and Laravel Livewire for the front end. Haven't used Livewire yet, so a good excuse to give it a go.
Location tracking for bike buddies
I picked up an electric bike last year as I could no longer keep up with everyone else on theirs, my Cannondale Quick was no longer quick enough and I can now go far further than I have before without thinking if I can get back!
So the idea came about when my normal bikers were all busy, what about an app where you can find others who want to go for a ride? A simple app showing your buddies, their location, if they're available and allow the app to track your stats and routes.
Again there are other solutions out there but something simple for everyday users rather than targetting Strava users in their full-on biker gear.
So native mobile build, Android-only initially but built with Flutter so can roll out to iOS later. Will probably build using FlutterFlow initially and then add custom code using Android Studio when needed (such as the background location tracking).