Where the heck is BlaqPanel headed?
We’ve been really quiet for a while. Head down in the sand and also taking a much needed break from our exhaustive development.
Earlier in the year, I set out to create the best WordPress hosting solution I could think of for myself. I had all these crazy demands and ideas in my head. And as with most things…they were much harder to build than I expected.
Don’t get me wrong…we made a ton of progress:
- Automating our billing system to fire up new servers (and also delete when people cancel). This alone is a proud marvel of work.
- Hacking the UI to death.
- Adding many custom features. Even some not found in any other host. We really built our own things.
That’s all it really is, right? Adding features and redesigning the UI to fit them gracefully.
But it’s really not so easy. Many things didn’t work, or broke other functionality. Or they worked only half the time. There were also things that weren’t hard but would require a lot of hacking into the existing code. At some point, you have to decide how dead-set (*cough* rigid *cough*) you want to be on things. All while this happened…I had spent a solid 5-figures into a project that wasn’t making any money.
Most clients that signed up found it a bit cumbersome, unreliable, or still too much of a beta-product. They were right. It still very much is a beta-product. (Although a much better one today than before.) And I decided to continue staying quiet until it’s the right time to announce.
Development disruptions
One of the first ones was that our 2 main developers on this project got really busy. One with a family member critically ill in the hospital, and the other was completely swamped by his regular work contract elsewhere already. I myself also needed time to clear my head and decide where I was going with this very expensive “passion project”.
I was never going to quit on my dream. But I did have to consider quitting on my existing clients. It’s just not fair for me to sell them something I knew wasn’t as good as other products out there. As I’ve said before to everyone who knows me…I’ll always tell the truth until I die. I’ll always point you to what’s best for you regardless if it’s me or not.
And so I stopped caring to take on new clients. If they randomly found this BlaqPanel service, fine…great, they can try it. But I’m gonna hold off actively pitching it right now.
What lays ahead?
The much needed break has re-strengthened my mind and giving me newfound composure in this project.
- Our code hacks have since been integrated into the core software in a much more official way.
- Our dear developers have since found more time to continue. The family member in the hospital has since been discharged from the hospital.
- I also have newfound clarity in where I want this to go.
I’m prepared to build my favorite private little hosting panel solution. I know how I want things to work and look and the vision is almost realized. I just need more time. Once it’s finished, I may look to build more on top of it. But I’m only here to serve myself. I’m not here to chase all the latest features to justify a higher price point.
What do I want from my clients. I’m only looking for clients that want to work the way I do. That like a panel built the way I like it. You’ll see what that means (hopefully) soon enough.
For everyone that’s taken the ride with me thus far, thank you. Your words of encouragement and criticism mean a lot. It’s been fun. And it’s going to be a hell of a lot more fun. 😀