Turning a daily dinner argument into a new app
A developer built an app to stop the daily argument with their spouse about what to eat for dinner. This shows how turning a personal, everyday frustration into a tool can create a new product.
Many successful small businesses start as a Side Project solving a very specific personal problem. In this case, the creator spent a few months building a tool to help couples decide on their evening meals. Instead of trying to invent a massive new concept, they focused on a common household friction point. For solo business operators, this highlights the value of looking at your own daily annoyances for product ideas. If a problem bothers you every day, there is a good chance others will want a solution to it as well.
Key points
Quick term guide
- Elo
- A number that represents how skilled a player is in competitive games — it goes up with wins and down with losses.
- business
- An activity where you provide value to others in exchange for money.
- side project
- A small project someone builds outside their main job or main business.
- IDE
- A software tool that combines a code editor, a way to run code, and error checking all in one app.
- build
- A chosen set of in-game abilities or items a player equips for their character.
- OC
- Short for Original Character — a fictional character invented by the user themselves, not from an existing story or franchise.
- friction
- Anything that makes it harder or slower for a user to start using a product.
- leads
- People who have shown interest in a product or service and may become customers