Welcome to The Rails to SucSaaS

Welcome to The Rails to SucSaaS: where I build a Software as a Service using Ruby on Rails, and it will either be a success or it will suck-ass.

Let me tell you about what this is and my motivation behind it.

What is this project?

I was exploring some pain points in a niche market when I discovered a problem. Upon receiving some market validation, I decided it was worth pursuing. Yes, I am being intentionally vague. I won't be discussing the actual problem for quite a while. The problem I aim to solve is irrelevant to what this is.

The point of this blog is to share my journey of building a SaaS product. Documenting the design, development, and, most crucially, the issues that arise.

Why am I writing this blog?

There are a few reasons why I'm writing this blog. The first is that explaining material helps you learn better. When you have to formulate what you're doing so that others can understand it, you understand it better yourself. I will learn a lot during this project, and this is a great way to promote retention.

The second is that documenting what you're doing now enables you to learn from yourself in the future. Being able to look back and see the approach you took to solving a problem and how you dealt with issues that arose is invaluable. You'll know exactly where to look if you ever encounter a similar issue.

The next is that sharing my experience through this process might help others wanting to do something similar. Exposing what I do as I build a SaaS with Ruby on Rails might help people wanting to create something themselves. This series will show some steps that others can follow, and it will also show examples of what not to do.

The last of the main reasons is that sharing my process opens things up for feedback from others. This is the biggest project I've embarked on yet. Working with a tech stack I'm still getting comfortable with. Feedback is a gift. I will gladly welcome any pointers or ideas anyone is willing to offer.

When do I start?

Well, right now. Between school, internship, family, and health, time is slim. But time is always slim. If there's something you really want to do, you make the time for it. There's no point waiting until you have the time because that day will never come. Whatever time I can scrap together each week will allow me to make some progress.

As for when I will be posting, there isn't a regular schedule. I'll post to this series whenever I implement a fascinating feature, tackle an annoying bug, or make sufficient progress. I'll announce on LinkedIn when I publish, so connect with me if you want to keep up to date.

Where do I go next?

Reiterating what I mentioned above, I start now. In fact, I've already started. I researched various tools and technologies and deliberated on what I should use for this project. The next post in this series will explain why I landed on using Ruby on Rails as the heart of my tech stack instead of some other popular frameworks.

Additionally, I started building a SaaS prototype template to familiarize myself with Rails again. This project will be available on my GitHub for anybody to check out! It will include an authentication system for two types of users and an asset-sharing system. The post after the next will be dedicated to this prototype, so stay tuned! For now, here is a sneak peek of the landing page:

Thank you for reading! This will be a long journey, and I hope it offers some value. Enjoy the series!