For my alternative rock band and our groupies (there were only a few of them), I programmed an online community aimed at punks, just for fun. I was in my early 20s at the time. The platform later grew to 100,000 members and provided me with a good monthly income.

That was a coincidence. Or rather, I was naive and started the project without a business model. But what I realized later was that, without even knowing it, I had connected two things: a technological trend (social networks) and a target audience with a specific need.

When starting your own projects, it makes sense to focus heavily on your target audience.I often check out global trends or the opinions of futurists and try to develop ideas from them. But I always try to avoid creating a one-size-fits-all solution. I’d rather have a small but loyal target audience than a large but disloyal one.

Right now, I'm working on https://github.com/janrakete/healthcore-bulp.io. For now, it's aimed at a small target audience (tech enthusiasts who have to care for people, such as their parents). But I have no idea if it will be a success.

My advice: Keep at it, keep trying. Eventually, you’ll have enough code and experience under your belt that you’ll be able to whip up a solution in no time when the next trend comes along.