“The first inventions were very simple and were suggested by necessity.”
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I might not be creating something for the very first time, but necessity is what triggers me to try on different stuff, work on projects that would fulfill the need, and people will benefit. Building an empire that doesn't serve anyone is a waste to me; rather, a hut that gives shelter to a few needy would be more appreciated by me.
As you know, the developers or the people engaged with the tech industry learns and build various things. To test their skill sets, they end up doing various projects, some might be for work purposes, and some are solely to test their learning curve, to showcase their skills, and to bring the ideas alive. So even in my workplace, I am learning and contributing to various projects, all to serve the company's needs, but what bout my personal portfolio to showcase apart from the company? And that's where the thought came for me to build some personal projects, to showcase my skills outside the company circle, because I can't disclose what I am doing for them as these are some confidential projects until or unless they get public. Even after being public, we can't share the core concepts; that's where the company policies come in.
So the very first project I did also came from a repetitive necessity of the whole team; they were dependent on me to do that task. Over and over again, daily, I am serving them with manual efforts. So one day, I thought of why not automate this, do it in such a way that serves a general purpose, not within the team boundary, but can also be used by others who need it solely. With that point of view, I began building that in my free time, and by the grace of Almighty Allah, that was a fruitful one. Each and every day, it is getting used by the teammates, and I am getting some applause.
It's been a month, I dont have any more perfect idea on what to work on next, how to get an idea?
So today, during a trial test, I saw our lead going for a third-party service free trial option that would help us in a need. So I was like, "Interesting, I think I can replicate this service and offer it to them to use for our needs."
The Question is, Why would they use mine?"
It's because they don't need all the services or stuff that the paid package comes with, and the limitations of the free plans will get them locked within a couple of days. So why not a free service that fulfills exactly the same need? That too was built by their own guys? Highly customizable and trusted.
So the good thing for me is that I got a new idea to work on, to explore some different new stuff, technical aspects to dig into, to learn, as the opportunities are endless for people like us in the tech sector. I know I might fail, things might not go as I am thinking of, might end up in dead ends, they might see their ones or a paid plan more feasible than mine. Anything can happen, but what about my learning through the research and implementation attempt? It's never wasted; even the failed projects teach us lots of things to carry forward for the newer innovations. And so, it's never going to be a loss project, hehe.
So yeah, even if you are someone like me, looking for ideas to work on, look for real problems to solve them, to serve the purpose. Trust me, that's the best way to keep up the learning motivation ongoing....
See you on this if I am able to break through the idea,
Take Care.