If I write about business in various ways, it would be hypocrisy not to engage in business myself. I’ve already had a few companies in my life that, unfortunately, failed. Mainly due to my own foolishness. But for me, business is more than just that. I’ve always struggled working for someone else. And I always wanted to create something of my own that would finally bring in real money. However, I had a long break. A very long one, almost 10 years. This was the time I devoted to gathering my thoughts on what to focus on. In the meantime, technology has advanced significantly. And since I previously programmed after hours, a business based on programming is an obvious choice. With the help of AI, what would have taken me years will take me months. I deliberately say months, because I don’t want to create a website/app/anything else based on a single prompt. That’s not the point here. I will write about my adventure and experiences with AI another time.
Today, I would like to present one of my two ideas that I am implementing: the DlaPolakow.app application. When I started creating it independently a few years ago, it was intended to be just an Android app with a small amount of dynamic content. But over time, the project began to evolve. I am currently building the entire infrastructure: the backend, the mobile app, and integrated web services. DlaPolakow.app will be a pocket guide for Poles in the Netherlands. It will include job postings, events, statistical information, and many other useful things. Will it be profitable—I have no idea. But I operate on the assumption that if I don’t try, I won’t find out. Only hard work on the market will give me hard data, allowing the project to evolve.
Why this idea? I am a Pole myself, an emigrant in the Netherlands. The Polish community in this country is large enough that even if 1 in 10 people use the app, it will be profitable, yet small enough to be a target group in itself.
A bit about the technology:
The mobile application is being created using Flutter. This is a universal programming language from Google. Thanks to this, I can create an app for Android and iOS with a single codebase. So why only Android? Because I develop on Windows, and Apple does not want anything for their system to be made on Windows. Plus, the costs. The one-time cost for an Android developer account is $25 and nothing more. For iOS, it’s $99 annually. And since Poles are “Android people” (androidziarze), this is an obvious decision.
The backend for the app and websites is JavaScript, based on Node and VUE.
The entire backend ecosystem will be split between Firebase and Cloudflare. I will use Firebase for dynamic data such as user accounts, job offers, and event data. Static pages with rarely updated content, like the landing page or FAQ (frequently asked questions), will be deployed on Cloudflare. The whole system will, of course, be heavily integrated with AI (how could it not be?). Specifically with Google Gemini and Cloudflare AI, among other things, to automate the approval/rejection of announcements.
What will make my project stand out? Besides the app itself (for which I haven’t seen an equivalent), I am strongly focusing on my own API for adding content. There are many services, but none have an API. For the uninitiated: thanks to the API, my clients (companies) will be able to fully automate the process of adding content. Instead of doing it manually on every similar site, they will be able to connect to my system. A one-time code creation on their side, and the content is synchronized.
Payments and invoicing. Initially, I wanted to rely on Stripe. It’s a very good service, but given that I will initially be operating as an unregistered business, clients would not receive VAT invoices, which is quite important for business. That’s why I switched the payment service to Lemonsqueezy. This service also relies on Stripe, but it acts as a sales intermediary. This means it issues a full VAT invoice to my client and pays me the money like an employee in the form of a collective transfer. This will also mean much less work for my future accountant.
The project will also be constantly developed. I plan to reach my MVP around the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year. And here, I plan to share with you the problems I encountered and how I solved them. For now, I still have a lot of programming ahead of me. Wish me luck.