Apps Script Addon. Part 3. Motivation
🙌🏼Introducing My First Paid Add-On
A Story of Motivation
Greetings, readers!
My name is Max Makhrov, and I am thrilled to share my journey with you as I embark on the creation of my first paid add-on. Last year, I developed a Google Sheets add-on that allowed users to convert Sheet ranges to images. Although it received a poor rating and only a few users, I did not let this discourage me. Instead, it motivated me to try again and do better.
This experience has led me to become a Google Workspace Innovator Champion, and I now possess the knowledge and expertise needed to publish an add-on successfully. My story is not about the technical aspects of creating an add-on, but rather about the motivation that has driven me to pursue this endeavor.
Later in this story…
- Goal
- Hard Skills
- Soft Skills
- Motivation
🏆Goal
“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill: The Book that inspired me to Pursue Long-Term Goals
Last year, I began reading a book that has had a profound impact on my life. Released in 1937, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill may seem outdated by today’s standards, but its message is timeless. The book taught me the importance of setting long-term goals and not giving up until they are accomplished.
Although the idea may seem simple, I had spent five years of my life thinking of my product without taking action. It wasn’t until I read Hill’s book that I finally found the motivation to start my project this year.
Creating an Add-On for IT: My Ambitious Goal and Requirements
My passion for automation in Google Sheets has led me to set an ambitious goal of creating an add-on that specifically caters to the needs of the IT industry. My vision is to provide a tool that makes automation easier, faster, and more intuitive for users.
- “Automate automation” — I aim to design an add-on that streamlines the setup process, reducing the time and effort required from the user. Users will have two options to set up tasks according to their preferences. They can either manually select the necessary fields or provide a JSON representation of the task.
- “Do things faster” — I will utilize advanced techniques to increase the speed and efficiency of routine tasks on the back-end side.
- “Remember what I said” — my add-on will save user settings and previous automation runs, allowing for a seamless experience without the need for repetitive form-filling.
- “Design” — I wish all fields in the addon to be accessible with a keyboard, and mouse. I wish to type less setting things up.
In addition to this, my requirement is I must love and use my add-on. This is not an easy task, as I’m myself a professional developer in Sheets and Scripts, and I can do most of my work without any add-ons.
The first plan
My goal consists of several key components. Firstly, “Show up the product” — I plan to create an MVP this summer and launch the add-on at the end of 2023.
I have set an ambitious goal for the coming year. I aim to secure my first 10, 40, 100, 400, and ultimately 1000 paid users.
💪🏼Hard Skills
Despite my 10+ years of experience in professional development using Apps Script and Sheets, I realized that I had not yet launched any successful UI products. This year, I decided to make a plan and educate myself on modern web development to overcome this hurdle.
After some research, I decided to use the Svelte framework, which turned out to be a game-changer. However, I knew that simply learning in February and March wouldn’t make me a front-end pro. To keep improving, I now spend at least 30 minutes every day watching YouTube videos on technical aspects of Svelte.
I’ve also developed a learning strategy that works well for me:
💡”Learn as I go.” For instance, if I’m working on a design, I watch a few videos on CSS that morning. If I’m working on memory, I look up best practices using stores, etc.
This approach helps me stay focused on the task at hand and save time in the coding process.
Finally, I want to express gratitude for the incredible resources available today that make the education process easy and enjoyable. Thanks to YouTube, professional blogs, and tools like Chat GPT, I’m continually growing my hard skills and advancing my development capabilities.
🫶🏼Soft Skills
I’ve come to understand the importance of soft skills and realized that I need to improve in several areas, such as launching and promoting products, managing people, and building a subscriber base. Initially, my skills in these areas were poor, but I am now taking steps to improve myself.
To start, I purchased a book on launching products and installed a podcast app on my phone to stay up to date on industry trends and insights. I’ve also changed the way I spend my leisure time, now watching psychology videos on YouTube and incorporating tips from books like “Atomic Habits” into my daily routine.
Improving my soft skills not only helps me in my professional endeavors but has also brought greater happiness to my personal life. I have noticed improvements in my relationships with my family, a better work-life balance, and an overall sense of well-being.
Motivation
Here are a few things that I have found helpful in my daily routine:
- I wake up one hour earlier to spend some time on myself. During this hour, I engage in activities like contrast showering, reading, exercising, journaling, and thinking over my add-on project.
- I dedicate at least one hour every day to working on my add-on project, before starting work on my paid projects. With a successful workflow with my clients, I now have fewer clients, but more valuable ones, which allows me to have a more flexible schedule.
- I use various tools to stay organized and on track, such as a daily goal tracker on my wardrobe, a notepad for daily plans, and a TODO list for my add-on project on Google Sheets. These tools help me to stay motivated, see the bigger picture, and reward myself when I complete my small tasks.
The end?
That’s the end of the article. I hope you found it helpful and informative. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic and any feedback you have on my writing.
I’m also curious to know how you motivate yourself and what works for you. Additionally, if you have any advice or tips on how to improve soft skills, I would greatly appreciate it. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Thank you for reading!
Conclusion
Will all of these efforts and improvements lead me toward achieving my goals? Only time will tell, and I will update you in the next installment of this series.
