Behind the Scenes: Unveiling DemographIQ and Some Life Updates
Intro
Hello, everyone! I'm thrilled to share some updates with you about my ongoing projects, professional endeavours, and even a little glimpse into my personal life. There's been a lot happening, so let's dive in!
DemographIQ: A Game-Changer in Market Selection
For those who are not yet familiar, DemographIQ is a market selection and identification tool I've been developing. While I've taken a good look at the competition, I've found that their solutions tend to focus on visualizing singular metrics. On the other hand, DemographIQ utilizes all publicly available data which you can download yourself from the Census Bureau's website. In previous posts, I've mused on this idea and the problem it solves of getting demographics by address - a topic you might remember from this blog post. For those interested in a deeper dive into this concept, you can watch a six-minute walkthrough of the clickable prototype in this YouTube video:
Justifying Self-Development
Transitioning to the financial side of things, I've invested $5,413 of my personal funds into developing the backend database and front-end design of DemographIQ. This work has been performed to-date by a top-notch Ukranian consultancy. Yet to actually build the website, I received a fair yet hefty $50k quote for ~1,400 hours of work. As a result, I decided to self-develop this platform at least until first revenue. My goal is to get there without spending my own money, hence the self-development approach. The tech stack I'm using involves my developers' preferred stack of NextJS & React for the front-end, with a host of other technologies and tools on the backend (FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Traefik, Docker, AWS, etc.).
Consulting and Innovation: Finding the Perfect Balance
Many of you know that I spend 15-20 hours per week consulting on Upwork to keep the lights on. However, I'm considering dialing this back to ~10 hours per week to focus more on my innovative projects. This will let me focus more on my projects while still working with my current clients and applying for jobs that pique my interest. I've learned so much about different parts of the real estate investing world from my clients, and the scrappy individuals I meet, who are taking risks with their own funds, are truly inspiring.
Content Creation: Adding Value to the World
In addition to consulting and developing DemographIQ, I'm also focusing on content creation. For now, my goal is to build out things that people frequently ask for on Upwork, thus creating value and increasing exposure. Perhaps one day these resources might evolve into products, but for now, I'm just excited to contribute to the community via my portfolio page. I'll focus on building things like institutional-quality investor memo templates and intuitive financial models.
The Personal Side: Work, Life, and Fitness
On a personal note, I'm loving the autonomy I have over my time. I'm able to manage my workload while also thoroughly enjoying my days, which leaves me excited and energized for the week ahead. Fitness has been a significant focus, with my attention on the Olympic lifts and gymnastics skills. My love for coding remains strong and keeps me engaged - I'm hoping that my work with DemographIQ will provide an avenue to keep programming on my own terms.
Conclusion
To sum it all up, it's been an exciting journey working on DemographIQ, consulting, creating content, and enjoying personal pursuits. I am driven by the goal to innovate, contribute value, and foster personal growth along the way. Thank you for following along on this journey. I'm excited about the road ahead, and I look forward to sharing more updates with you soon!