WHY START ALL OVER BUILDING MY APP? WHY DID I CHOOSE WEWEB?

I’ve decided to two weeks ago, that I needed to launch on a different platform than Bubble. The more time I spent on their forum, the more I realised how big an issue their new pricing model (based on workload units) can end up being. At first, I didn’t think their new model would be anything to worry about, because the numbers are so high. But with the specific type of app I’m building the number of workload units would quickly add up.

That means if I had launched on Bubble the best thing would be to get a lot of users, that didn't use the software very much. Which is not the point. The idea is for people to actually use it. That's because the more buttons people click on, the more integrations they use etc., the more it costs to run the app. I don’t think the solution would be to tell my customers, that the price they need to pay, is based on how much they use the app. That just sounds like a bad business model and a tough sell. WeWeb on the other hand have a pricing model based on storage, that means I can decide how much storage you get with each package. Now that’s something people would understand - and it makes the expenses predictable for me.

So I decided to go with WeWeb instead. I don’t think the time spent (just over 1 month) working in Bubble is lost. I’ve learned a lot about databases and how to organize the back-end. Also even though Bubble and WeWeb are no-code tools, it doesn’t mean that everything I need exists. So the elements I had to code in Bubble, I’ve been able to copy/paste in WeWeb. Starting over is not ideal and can feel like taking a step backwards. But I think it’s much better to make that decision now, than to waste too much time on it.

I could probably launch in Bubble without any issues. But what about in 3, 6 or 18 months? Then this workload unit thing could mean I’ll end up in a situation, where it costs more to run the app, than what my customers would be paying for it. And having free users also costs money. So If they’re using the software a lot, I could end up going bankrupt, because of Bubble's pricing based on workload units combined with using a freemium model. The idea with launching on a no/low-code platform first, is to be able to stay on it, until I can afford hiring people to build it with Python, which takes time.

Technically WeWeb requires more knowledge about coding than Bubble, but it’s a lot easier to learn and build with. It’s an earlier stage company than Bubble and it shows. There is less pre-built components to choose from, but I think the quality of them is a lot better than Bubble’s pre-built elements, and they have all the basic elements you need. Some of the important features I want, doesn’t exist tough. But that can be solved with HTML and CSS, so that’s not a big issue.

Bubble is quite complex causing it to take longer to build things, when you're just getting started. Every time I had to build something new, I could easily spend 5-10 hours getting it to work – to later add new functions, causing the first element to stop working again. I felt the process in Bubble was much slower than it should be. In two weeks I’ve pretty much build the same thing in WeWeb, that I’ve spent 1,5 month building in Bubble. I’ve only needed to contact their support like 3 times, compared to having written +40 emails back and forth with Bubble's support.

Another important difference between WeWeb and Bubble is, that WeWeb only focuses on front-end, where Bubble has back-end features. So you will need a separate back-end platform to use it. That was my plan anyway, so it’s not an issue. I’ll probably use Snowflake.

CYBER SECURITY MISTAKES THAT BEGINNERS MAKE:

One of the thing I really like about WeWeb, is that they have created a video on how to prevent the most common security mistakes beginners make. I wanted to share it in case other non-technical founder’s wanted more knowledge about specific things, you can do to keep data safe on your app. You don’t need to use WeWeb for it to be relevant to watch:

Mistake #1: unrestricted user access

Mistake #2: filtering data in the frontend

Mistake #3: no control access check on user id

Mistake #4: no control access check on user role

https://youtu.be/G-Qw1gKFZmo?feature=shared

FEEDBACK FROM TECH NORDIC ADVOCATES ON MY BUSINESS PLAN

This month I also got feedback on my business plan from Tech Nordic Advocates after finishing their international mentoring programme. It was great! After putting a lot of work into creating a business plan, it’s nice to get comments like:

“Overall you are doing everything right”

“Nicely presented, professional, meticulous, and well-written document. Great design.”

“You have made a very good business plan”

SEE YOU AT TECHBBQ?

It’ll be my second time attending and I’m excited about going again this year.

I’m interested in talking about Formta with anyone who’ll listen – especially investors.

I haven’t officially started a funding round yet, but I’m hoping to launch the beta version within the next few months. I’m thinking it'll be easier to get investors once I actually have customers. But if you're interested in Formta, let’s start talking! Also any relevant introductions would be appreciated 🙌