Two weeks ago, my high school friend who runs an ice cream store asked if I knew any good inventory management apps. He didn't want the usual platforms, and honestly, I couldn't find anything decent either. My first instinct was to just recommend whatever was out there. But then I slept on it, and something wouldn't let it go.
"I'll just build it myself"
I wrestled with this crazy idea of building it myself. I'd tried learning to code before through a bootcamp and didn't really get it. I wasn't confident. My mind immediately went to all the time I'd need to spend just learning the basics, breaking everything down into tiny pieces. It felt overwhelming.
But then something clicked. When I looked back at everything I'd pushed myself to learn (piano, Japanese, other skills) I always had to start from somewhere. What made the difference was having a clear goal, an intended outcome that motivated me. My friend was willing to pay me a few thousand pesos for this solution. But honestly, even if it took me forever, I was willing to do it. This was my chance to learn, help a friend, and actually practice building something real.
Learning in real time
The hardest part wasn't the coding itself, it was figuring out where to start. Most of my work was research, watching YouTube tutorials and consulting friends who are software engineers like Seaver. I took it step by step, one piece of the puzzle at a time. What surprised me most was how fast I could learn when I had focused, undistracted time to work on projects and really dive in. Having dedicated time to step back and not think about it was equally important. When I'd return, everything felt clearer.
But it wasn't all smooth sailing. There were definitely overwhelming moments. I'd hit bugs I couldn't fix and want to give up completely. I sacrificed sleep, weekends, my after-work hours, me-time. My fiancée was incredible through all of this. When I told her what I was working on, she got excited and supported me the whole way.
I was building something to solve a real problem. My friend's store was doing everything with pen and paper (tracking inventory, deliveries, spotting discrepancies and theft). There was no way to catch problems quickly. So I built them a complete system: user login, daily inventory logging, delivery tracking, discrepancy detection, sales reporting. Now they can spot issues almost instantly.
Demo day
Then came the moment I knew it was working. I deployed it to its own website and demonstrated it to my friend. He could log in, use all the functionalities we'd talked about. The look on his face... wow. I was exhilarated. He even commented on the design, said he was impressed.
That's when it hit me: I actually built this. From nothing to something that solves a real problem.
Something unlocked
I feel completely different now. Empowered. More confident. It's like I unlocked something I didn't know was possible. Programming always seemed incredibly difficult (I'd tried multiple times before and hit that wall). But breaking through that limiting belief changed how I approach learning everything now.
I've never felt so alive building something that actually matters. This isn't about becoming an employed software engineer, it's about building software for businesses, marrying my business background with technical skills to solve real problems.
The path forward
I'm scared because this path feels unfamiliar. But what excites me most is that I'm at the cusp of creating things. I love the process of building. Success looks like generating $5,000 a month in revenue in the short term. That's what I'm going for.
This feels like the beginning of something big. I want to keep practicing, keep building, turn this from a weekend project into something real. There are so many small businesses wanting to digitize their operations, and I think I found where I fit.
Thanks for letting me share this moment with you. It means everything to have people who understand why this matters. If you know any small businesses still doing things manually, send them my way. I'm just getting started.
P.S. The best part? I can't believe I almost didn't try.