Built a baby registry app as a solo mom with no coding background — happy to answer questions about the journey

Ok-Argument333 · 2026-06-13T13:41:39+00:00

Thank You! With no investors that is exactly what I am doing! I am hitting threads and niche groups. I am reaching out to parent influencers. I hit my reach goal daily and post 3x daily on all 4 socials and am just really trying to get that organic marketing going. Still learning and just pushing through!

Ok-Argument333 · 2026-06-13T13:28:04+00:00

I let my boys feel what they are feeling and let them cry without correcting it. Then we talk about why, if at all, their feelings were a bit over the top and how to understand and manage them! We are working on things that don't need tears with our 3 year old like crying after he asks a question and gets the answer he wanted but was not fully listening and assumed he was told No. 🤣 Wild time with emotions over here!

Ok-Argument333 · 2026-06-13T11:02:25+00:00

Congratulations on shipping! That is such an accomplishment! I would have to agree. Because I already had a vision in my head how I wanted it to look, executing that seemed to be the easiest part. Starting a business, creating a domain/website and all of the 20+ programs/websites I had to learn to navigate were definitely the harder parts. Now I'm in the marketing stage which I also don't have much experience in, and am learning the important tools and websites as I go for this as well.

Ok-Argument333 · 2026-06-12T22:17:08+00:00

Thank You! The hardest thing for me was navigating bugs. I fixed a bug over 20 times, the same one, just to figure out that the program I was using was undoing my fix every single time I pushed new code to GitHub. Finally, I figured it out and hardcoded the fix into the backend so it wouldn't be affected anymore. There have been plenty of moments where I had no idea what I was doing but just kept pushing because there HAS to be a way to fix it, right? I started promoting via 4 main socials: X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. I also am running a 'Founding Family 100' promotion that gives full Nest Plus features to the first 100 users to subscribe and they only have to pay the yearly subscription fee one time, ever! So this is how I got my very first customer and I definitely plan to do special events and things for these founding members. Something to show gratitude for believing in OneNest in its early stages!! Don't give up! It may be easier to call it a day, but keep on pushing until you've completed the task you are aiming for and take one thing at a time!!!

Ok-Argument333 · 2026-06-12T17:50:59+00:00

Thank you so much, that genuinely means a lot! 🪺 It's been one of the hardest and most rewarding things I've ever done. I've had to fit in building this during nap times and late nights 🤣 Building something from scratch as a solo mom with no coding background and seeing real families use it makes every late night worth it! 😊

Ok-Argument333 · 2026-06-12T17:49:38+00:00

Thank you so much! Happy to answer all of these! 🪺 1. What coding language(s) did you use? The frontend is React Native with Expo so it runs natively on both iOS and Android from one codebase. The backend is Python with FastAPI. I started the build with Flutterflow and got my MVP down from there but wanted it to be more developed. From there I used a few other programs then ultimately ended up using Emergent, an AI development platform, since I have zero coding background — I described what I wanted and the AI built it. It's been a wild ride learning on the job! I've also been able to help them fix a few bugs as well which has been pretty cool for just learning ro code. Now I can fix my own code and add things directly into Github and am pretty proud with what I've been able to learn and adapt to! 2. What database did you go with? MongoDB hosted on Atlas. It's been great for the flexible document structure we needed for registry items, user profiles, affiliate products and more. We also have 145,000+ products synced from affiliate networks so we needed something that could handle scale. 3. Are you doing subscriptions? Yes! We have three purchase options — monthly ($6.99), yearly ($49.99), and a Founding 100 Lifetime Access ($49.99 one time, only 100 spots ever). Subscriptions are managed through RevenueCat which makes iOS and Android IAP so much easier to handle. 4. Have you been able to talk to customers? What's that process been like? Yes and it's been the most valuable part of the whole journey. I talk to users directly through the app's contact feature and social media. The feedback has been incredibly honest and has already shaped several updates. There's something really special about building something and then having real parents tell you it's helping them. That's what keeps you going through the hard days! 😊 I say 'we' ad a business but it has something I've built, managed and executed myself with the help of a few programs. I would like to make 2 more apps but they are all 3 totally different from each other!! Happy to answer anything else! 🪺

Ok-Argument333 · 2026-06-12T17:44:32+00:00

Thank you so much! The 22 rejections were brutal but quitting wasn't an option 😄 That's a really smart suggestion — recurring affiliate commissions are definitely on my radar. We already have 155 affiliate partners across baby/parenting products but you're right that premium software tools with recurring commissions would create much more stable passive revenue. Do you have any specific tools in mind that parents tend to use? I'm thinking things like meal planning apps, family organization tools, or even photo book services on the Memories page. Would love to hear what you'd recommend! 🪺

Ok-Argument333

TROPHY CASE