For weeks, I built.
One feature after another. One fix after another. One idea after another.
I started with a journal. Then the journal became an application. The application became a system. And the system finally became something I could actually put in another trader's hands.
But one thing was still missing. It had to be sold.
Building the site
I had a working application, an infrastructure, licenses, automatic updates, and a largely automated system… and yet a client couldn't buy LowFlow directly from my computer.
There had to be a storefront. A place where someone could discover the project. Understand what LowFlow does. See the different possibilities. And above all, understand why I'd built all of this.
The site became a new part of the project. And like everything else, I wanted to keep it simple. No need to turn LowFlow into something it isn't. I just wanted to present the product clearly.
Then I had to be able to get paid
And that's when a new reality set in. Building software is one thing. Building a store around that software is another.
Payments now had to be connected. I chose Stripe to handle that part.
The payment needed to talk to the rest of the system. A client buys. The payment gets confirmed. The system knows what was purchased. The account can be linked to the product. And the process can continue without me having to step in manually for every sale.
That was exactly what I'd been after from the start: automate as much as possible.
The payment becomes the starting point
I didn't want the payment to be an isolated step. I wanted it to trigger everything that follows.
Before, I had several separate pieces. The application. The Control Panel. The licenses. The distribution. The updates.
Now, the payment came and connected all of it. A purchase could become the starting point of an automatic process.
And that's when, for the first time, I really felt LowFlow could become a commercial product. Not just an application I could hand someone. A real system capable of managing a client.
The client doesn't need to know the whole story
It's almost funny when I think about it. The client who discovers LowFlow will probably never see most of what I've built.
They'll see the site. They'll pick their product. They'll pay. They'll get their access. They'll install the application. And they'll get to work.
They won't see the hours spent thinking through data paths. They won't see the distribution problems. They won't see the updates. They won't see the controls. They won't see the automations.
And that's exactly how it should be. Because that's the whole point. The complexity has to stay behind the screen.
But LowFlow stays true to where it started
Even though the project has now grown much bigger, I haven't changed the core idea.
The trader chooses. Their data stays local. Their trades stay with them. Their photos stay with them. Their history stays with them. Their replay data stays with them.
LowFlow doesn't need to become a giant data warehouse to work. The application is local. It talks to the internet when it needs to. And the infrastructure around it lets me manage the product.
It's an architecture that fits much better with what I wanted to build.
The launch is getting close
And then, one day, I found myself with something rather strange. I'd spent so much time building the pieces that I'd barely noticed they were now forming a whole.
The site was there. Payment worked. The licensing system worked. Distribution was in place. Automatic updates were there. The Control Panel was there. The application worked. The data stayed local. The addons existed.
And suddenly… LowFlow could be sold.
From my journal to yours
This is probably the most special part of this whole journey.
At the start, I was building something for myself. I wanted a journal that matched the way I worked.
Then I started adding features. Then more. Then tools. Then an application. Then all the infrastructure needed to turn it into a product.
And now, someone else can use it. That's a huge shift. Because from here on, LowFlow won't just be my project anymore. It'll also belong to everyone who decides to use it.
Eight episodes later
Looking back at the road traveled, I find it almost amusing to see where it all started.
An idea. A journal in HTML. Then an application. Then local data. Then infrastructure. Then updates. Then security. Then automation. And finally… a website and a payment system.
All because, at the start, I just wanted to build a better trading journal for myself. I didn't know exactly where that idea would lead. I only knew one thing: I wanted to build it.
And I built it.
Now, LowFlow is ready to step out of my computer. The project becomes a product. And the adventure is only beginning.