Building an Open-Source CRM Alone: Lessons Learned Over Five Months Using Laravel and Livewire

Embarking on the development of an open-source Customer Relationship Management system from scratch can be both rewarding and challenging. Over the past five months, I dedicated myself to this project, managing everything with just one developer—myself—and leveraging powerful tools like Laravel and Livewire. Here’s a detailed recount of my journey, insights gained, and lessons learned along the way.

The Highlights: What Worked Well

Exceptional Tools that Accelerated Development

One of the standout experiences was discovering Filament. This admin panel package for Laravel drastically reduced development time—what might typically take weeks can often be accomplished in days. Its intuitive interface and robust features made managing the CRM backend efficient and straightforward.

The Power of Laravel + Livewire for Solo Development

Building the entire application without a separate frontend or API layer was made possible by Laravel combined with Livewire. This approach streamlined development, allowing me to create dynamic interfaces without needing a complex frontend stack or multiple developers. It’s a game-changer for solo projects, enabling rapid prototyping and iteration.

Writing Modern PHP is Enjoyable

Thanks to a codebase with nearly complete static typing (about 99.6%) and static analysis with PHPStan at level 7, PHP became quite a pleasurable language to work with. Modern PHP practices helped catch bugs early and improved overall code quality.

Challenges Encountered and How I Overcame Them

Scaling Custom Fields

Initially, adding custom fields to records seemed straightforward. However, once the number exceeded around 50 per record, page load times increased from roughly 250ms to 2 seconds. The solution involved implementing more efficient eager loading strategies and caching mechanisms, which significantly improved performance.

Target Audience Refinement

Striving to build a solution suitable for “everyone” often leads to overcomplication. I realized focusing on small teams yielded better results, allowing me to tailor features more effectively and provide a genuinely valuable product.

Maintaining an Open-Source Project

Open source doesn’t equate to free time. It requires ongoing commitment for updates, bug fixes, and community support. Managing this workload is part of the reality I’ve come to accept and plan for.

Technical Decisions that Accelerated Progress

• Adherence to Laravel Conventions: Sticking to established Laravel practices kept development swift and predictable.
• Early Integration of PHPStan: Starting static analysis from day one surfaced bugs