Show HN: TrackMyDrive - My 2 year side project

Hello HN!

Just wanted to share with everyone TrackMydrive. It is my 2 year old side project. It is a simple GPS mileage tracker for business mileage.

Back story: A friend of mine worked for Key Bank and he was complaining about spending hours each week filling out his expense report. We discussed how he was recording his mileage and decided there could be a better way. We initially thought of just having a simple website that would allow to enter in locations. However, now that everyone had a fancy new smartphone (with a built in GPS), that it would be easier to just track the mileage using the GPS in the smartphone, and thus TrackMyDrive was born.

Technical Notes: Website built using Ruby on Rails. iPhone app built using RubyMotion (I love ruby if you couldn't tell).

Business Lessons: 1. It always takes longer than you think You might be looking at my project and wonder why the heck it took two years to get to where I am. I do the same thing when looking at other websites. What you don't see is the countless hours of debugging, testing, designing, and building. What you don't see is thousands of customer emails. What you don't see is trying out lots of different marketing techniques and channels. This gets worse when you are only putting in 5-10 hours a week.

2. It's freaking hard to get noticed. Why do you think I am posting here? The app store is crowded with thousands of apps, it is really, really hard (and expense) to get noticed, this gets worse when you are only making a few bucks an app. I think many people think there product will “just go viral” (good luck on that one).

3. Keep at it. I have wanted to give up. I have wanted to go do something else. I am glad I have stuck with it. I think people “pivot” too often just because things get tuff. Building a business is tuff. You can end up pivoting your entire life and never end up building anything. Many compare themselves with Facebook or some other Cinderella story. A good business normally takes 4-5 years (or even 10).

4. Enjoy the journey. Oh how I wish I had more time and money. I wish I could hire more and get all the amazing features I want in my app. However, I am not there yet, but I think it is important to enjoy the journey. Many successful companies look back at the early ears with fondness. Enjoy interacting with your customers, enjoy being small, enjoy being in control of your own business.

5. Connect with customers. People go through all sorts of loops to try to get positive reviews (including reminding you ten times a day). Why not instead focus on excellent customer service? I have gotten tons of positive reviews by going the extra mile with customers and then even asking if they wouldn’t mind writing a review of their experience.

What’s next?

Stick with it. I have big plans (that is why I have a big day planner) :) It will be slow, but I am excited to be on the journey.

Cheers!

I am working on a very simple side project, and its taking a lot longer than anticipated. Its difficult when I can only grab an hour or two at a time. Refreshing to see you admit taking two years over it. I assume you must put some emphasis on quality.