The Reality of Building a Full SaaS Product Solo

When people think of building a SaaS product, they often imagine a team of engineers, designers, product owners, and testers working together. At Holiday Caravans Direct (HCD), it was just me.

I wrote every line of code, built every API, handled deployments, fixed every bug, and acted as the primary point of contact for the business. It was an experience that was both incredibly rewarding and relentlessly demanding.

Wearing Every Hat

There were no backlogs being refined by a product owner, no scrum master to facilitate stand-ups. Every decision — from naming database tables to setting pricing rules — came through me. I negotiated requirements with the business, translated them into technical tasks, and executed them.

When you’re building solo, time becomes your biggest constraint. Every new feature is a trade-off, and every technical debt decision has immediate consequences.

I had to:

• Prioritise ruthlessly

• Automate where possible

• Document well enough for future me to pick up where I left off

• 
  

Building with the Future in Mind

Even though I was the only developer, I never assumed I’d be the last. I built the codebase with maintainability and clarity in mind — modular services, clean API boundaries, and a decoupled front end using Vue.js.

The goal was to create something that could scale — both in terms of users and contributors — without becoming a nightmare to maintain.

The Mental Load

The biggest challenge wasn’t technical. It was mental.

Switching between deep development work and strategic thinking is hard. Add to that client meetings, bug reports, and infrastructure management, and you’re constantly shifting gears. There’s no time to get into a flow — and no one to delegate to.

But it also meant I had full control. I could steer the product in the right direction without red tape, adapt quickly, and deliver value in real time.

What I’d Tell Anyone Going Solo

If you’re considering building a SaaS product on your own, here’s what I’d say:

• Start with clarity. Know your product’s purpose and audience.

• Automate everything you can. From deployments to error reporting.

• Use mature, well-documented tools. They’ll save you when time is tight.

• Don’t skip design. Bad UX will hurt more than you think.

• Talk to your users. Often.

The Payoff

HCD taught me more than any previous role. It pushed me to the edge of my comfort zone, but it also gave me complete ownership. I didn’t just build a product — I built a foundation for how I think about software today.

If you want to learn architecture, product thinking, and delivery under pressure — try building a SaaS product solo. You’ll come out the other side with more than just a codebase. You’ll come out with perspective.