Why I Am Developing an Excel Add-in?

My long journey from a few simple macros to a full-blown-out Excel add-in.

As you know, I've spent most of my time in finance, dipping my toes in all sub-categories. I started my career in financial audit back in 2011, and that's when I really got hooked on Excel.

I quickly learned about the power of macros in Excel and VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and started learning how to write my own simple macros.

I started by automating some mundane daily tasks. I think the first one was a macro that removed blank rows from the worksheet. We were dealing with a lot of poorly formatted data, one of the top issues we faced. I know it's now integrated, but deleting blank rows wasn't on Excel's feature menu back then.

This was the first macro I had a button for, and I decided to show it to my colleagues. Everyone was so impressed that it's kinda hard to believe from my current standpoint.

Over the following years, I would change a few jobs, and everywhere I went, sooner or later, most people using Excel were also using my list of macros. It had a ribbon tab with custom icons and an excruciating install process involving locating a folder, copy-pasting files, and a few other annoying steps.

As more and more people were using my macros (and were finding value in them), somewhere around 2019, I started toying with the idea of trying to monetize them. I researched and discovered that many people sell XLA add-ins (the same painful installation process and no automated updates). However, the approach didn't really sit right with me.

I've always been prone to overcomplicating anything I start to work on, and this project wasn't an exception. I didn't want to share an installation manual with my product. I wanted it to install seamlessly, like proper software.

So, I did some digging and realized VBA won't cut it. I needed to develop a COM add-in in Visual Studio. I could use VB.net, which was a relief as it's pretty similar to VBA in terms of the functionality I needed.

I came up with the name Minty Tools for Excel, rolled up my sleeves, and poured a significant chunk of my nights and weekends into working on it.

It was now a larger project which needed proper tracking. Here, Notion came into play. I started with simple checklists and gradually arrived at a (probably overcomplicated) detailed project tracker to manage and support my entire development process.

I only work on the add-in in my spare time, so development has been relatively slow. But I am closing in on a launch, and I wanted to do some reflecting.

I didn't start the project to make a lot of money or get rich and turn it into a lifestyle business. The main goal of the entire endeavor is to prove to myself that I can take an idea and transform it all the way to a final product. From a few simple macros to a complete Excel add-in, the journey involves much more than the actual development.

Developing the features is the best part of the project. Figuring out how to make some Excel automation work is incredibly fulfilling. However, there's so much more that needs doing. And my wanting to go through the whole process on my own means I am the one who has to do it.

From dealing with code signing certificates and setting up licensing flows and workflow automations in Make, to writing documentation and creating tutorials, it's all waiting for me. It's not as satisfying as hammering away code in Visual Studio. However, it is still a vital part of the process.

I guess I'm trying to say that the journey from a simple macro that deletes blank rows to a packaged software product has been long and enriching.

So, if you take anything from my story today, I hope it's that no matter how small an idea or a side project is, if it's something you enjoy working on, keep at it. Try to approach it as a much larger project, almost as a business venture. My advice is to go as far as you can regarding tracking without pushing past the point where it's no longer enjoyable to spend your free time.

After all, there's no point in spending time on something that doesn't pay, and you don't enjoy.

Anyway, thanks for spending the time to read this week's story. I’m not paying you, so I guess you enjoyed it. 😅

Hit reply and let me know what you think about spending time on side projects and how you organize them.

Till next week!

Best,
Dobri 👋