In my last post, I talked about how to get started if you have little to no coding or software experience. I walked through how to take an initial idea, mock it up into wireframes, and document your vision using tools like ChatGPT, Balsamiq, and possibly Figma. From there, I explained how to develop a prototype using no-code AI tools. If you followed along, we primarily focused on the UI and prototype to ensure the idea was functional. We kept it simple, aiming for an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to move forward.

But what happens after that?

This is where many people, myself included, have struggled. In my daily work with Ecor Rouge, I focus on developing ideas into functional software. Whether it’s for projects like DutyHQ, SlayTime, or Email Vault, my main role is to shape an idea into something tangible. Often, I hand off these designs to a development team—either full-stack developers or a combination of front-end and back-end freelancers, many of whom we’ve worked with for years.

I usually prepare everything: the wireframes in Figma, written expectations, detailed step breakdowns (e.g., creating sign-in and sign-up pages, password recovery, emails, etc.), and flowcharts of what should happen at each step. This documentation makes it easier to pass the project to developers.

But what if you don’t have the budget to hire a developer? What if you don’t even know how to manage one yet because your technical knowledge is limited? That’s where platforms like Loveable.dev come in.

Continuing Development Without a Developer

If you’re in the same position I was—someone who has never coded—you can still move forward. Loveable.dev integrates with Supabase, an open-source platform that provides backend services for applications. It allows you to build scalable web apps and can connect to GitHub for version control.

While you may not want to code or develop, GitHub is still an important tool to be aware of. It’s a website that helps developers store, share, and collaborate on code. Loveable.dev will automatically generate code and push it to your GitHub repository, allowing you to manage your backend services via Supabase. Even if you’re not an expert, it’s good to familiarize yourself with these platforms because they will be integral to your development journey.

The goal at this stage is to launch your MVP, prove it works, and start generating revenue. Eventually, you will need developers, but the aim is to reach a point where you don’t need them right away—especially if you don’t have the budget to hire one at $40–$100+ per hour. However, you’ll still need to understand what GitHub, Supabase, and Loveable.dev do and how they fit into your workflow.

Expanding Functionality with ChatGPT

As I mentioned in my previous post, we use ChatGPT for prompts to help build the front end in Loveable.dev. Now, once you’ve validated your MVP and confirmed the functionality works, it’s time to integrate backend features. ChatGPT can guide you through this process by helping with prompts that instruct Loveable.dev to connect to Supabase and GitHub.

For example, let’s say you want to set up a sign-up page that collects users’ email addresses. You can ask ChatGPT how to configure this in Supabase, and it will provide step-by-step instructions. While some manual work might be required (like checking tables in Supabase), it’s a manageable process that you can tackle incrementally. This step-by-step approach ensures you don’t get overwhelmed.

Taking Your Product to Market

Once your MVP is functional, you can purchase a domain and launch it. At this point, you might be thinking about adding more features and transitioning into more complex development, including test environments and production environments.

This is where companies like Ecor Rouge come in. Once you’ve proven your product can generate sales, you can reach out to a development team to help stabilize and expand your platform. By this stage, you will need to understand key concepts like:

• Tech stack – The combination of technologies used to build your application.
• GitHub – How your code is stored and managed.
• Environments – Development (dev), test, and production environments for deploying updates and fixes.

Development and Deployment Strategy

When moving beyond the prototype stage, professional software teams use structured development environments:

1. Development (Dev) – Where new features are created and tested internally.
2. Test (Staging) – A stable environment where functionality is validated before release.
3. Production – The live environment used by customers.

Additionally, some platforms use a feature toggle (often called “Show Future”), which allows developers to build new features in the background without exposing them to users until they’re ready. This ensures that bug fixes and updates can be tested without disrupting the live product.

Why This Matters

Many companies, even large ones, don’t implement stable development environments, which is why you sometimes see software outages when updates are pushed. While this isn’t something you need to worry about in your prototype phase, it becomes essential as your product matures.

If you’re not comfortable hiring developers directly, you can eventually transition your project to a company like Ecor Rouge. They can refine your codebase, implement a solid infrastructure, and develop new features. But before you reach that point, focus on proving your idea in the market and validating your product.

By taking things step by step—learning the basics of GitHub, Supabase, and Loveable.dev—you can build a functional MVP and gain the confidence to scale when the time is right.