Insights from Five Months of Developing a CRM with a Solo Developer Using Laravel and Livewire

Building an Open-Source CRM in 5 Months: Insights from a Solo Developer Using Laravel and Livewire

Embarking on the journey to develop a customer relationship management (CRM) platform as a solo developer has been both challenging and rewarding. Over a span of five months, I dedicated myself to creating an open-source CRM, leveraging the powerful combination of Laravel and Livewire. Here are the key lessons I learned along the way:

What Went Well

Filament UI Framework: I achieved remarkable efficiency using Filament. Tasks that would typically require weeks were accomplished in mere days, significantly accelerating the development process.
Laravel + Livewire Duo: This combination proved ideal for solo development. It allowed me to avoid the complexity of separate API and frontend layers, enabling seamless, dynamic interfaces within a single framework.
Modern PHP Practices: Writing modern PHP, with 99.6% typed codebase and leveraging PHPStan at level 7, made development enjoyable and reliable. Static analysis helped catch issues early, streamlining the workflow.

Challenges Encountered

Handling Custom Fields: While adding custom fields was straightforward initially, performance issues arose once records exceeded 50 fields. Page load times jumped from 250ms to over 2 seconds. Optimizations like eager loading and improved caching strategies resolved these bottlenecks.
Target Audience Focus: Aiming for universal applicability led to the common pitfall of overgeneralization. Narrowing the focus to small teams allowed for more tailored features and better user experience.
Open Source Maintenance: Recognizing that open source projects demand ongoing commitment was essential. Maintaining the CRM involves more than just initial development—it’s about continuous improvement and support.

Key Technical Decisions

Adherence to Laravel Conventions: Sticking to established Laravel patterns slowed initial development but resulted in faster implementation, easier maintenance, and better scalability.
Early Adoption of PHPStan: Integrating static analysis from day one caught numerous bugs early, saving time and reducing technical debt.
Leveraging Filament: Instead of building admin interfaces from scratch, using Filament significantly sped up the UI development process and offered professional, customizable components out of the box.

Final Reflection

Creating an MVP for this CRM took five months—a timeline that, in my view, balances speed with quality. It was fast enough to deliver a production-ready product while reminding me that a meticulous approach inevitably extends development time, especially when prioritizing robustness and future-proofing.