Still working full time. Low stress. Great work-life balance. Here’s my exact process.

I’m not here to sell you a dream. I’m not going to tell you I quit my job and made $50K in the first month. That’s not real.

Here’s what IS real: I work a normal 9-5 as a software developer. I have a life outside of work. And I built a SaaS that brings in around $5K/month on the side.

This guide is for:

• Side hustlers who can’t quit their day job
• AI newcomers using tools like Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT to build
• Complete newbies who just want to build something that makes money
• Anyone tired of building things nobody wants

I’m going to show you exactly how I did it. No fluff. No get-rich-quick BS. Just a realistic playbook.

My Story (The Short Version)

I tried building 4 different SaaS products before this one. All failed. Zero revenue.

The problem wasn’t that I couldn’t code. I could code just fine.

The problem was I was building things I THOUGHT people needed. Not things they were ACTIVELY asking for.

Then I changed my approach. I stopped guessing. I started listening.

8 months later: $5K MRR. 147 paying customers. Still working my full time job.

Here’s how.

Phase 1: Finding the Right Problem (Week 1-2)

Most people fail here. Don’t skip this.

The Old (Wrong) Way:

• Think of a cool idea
• Build it
• Try to find people who need it