It’s a fact. Problems will always be found in our lives, whether they’re in our business, home, or work life. Trying to solve these problems can sometimes be challenging and can lead us to either find a solution or create a new solution that fits our needs.

Quite often, business ideas start as a problem in need of a solution. 

Ideas are being created by us all the time. Some lead to doing things better, leading to action towards new solutions. 

For example, Jamie Siminoff used to work out of his garage. When the door bell would ring, he needed a way to see who was at the front door to decide whether to get up and open the door or stay put. So, he built a video doorbell for himself, which he transformed into a business called Ring. 

Mike Radenbaugh, when he was a student, had to bike about 27 kilometers (17 miles) each way to school. To make that journey easier, he added electrical components to transform his bike into an electric bike. Eventually all his tinkering resulted in a company at the heart of the e-bike revolution that became Rad Power Bikes.

I find stories like these very inspiring. Maybe you do, too?

My way started as a software developer, working on side gigs as a freelancer until I moved to be fully independent over the past few years. As an independent operator, I work as a software developer and consultant for startups and other small businesses.

As my client and project list grew, I found that everything started to “blend” together. Things got done and projects were completed on deadline. But, I had the growing challenge of keeping  everything organized and prioritized. Being productive and efficient became challenging. I started working until late, waking up really early, and, overall, I experienced a lack of balance with my work life. It was exhausting and stressful.

Obviously this wasn’t sustainable and something had to be done.  

I tried using tools like Trello and similar task management tools and they helped but there were still “bumps.” Collaborating and communicating with my clients and colleagues was still challenging and it wasn’t easy to keep the workflow going in a way where I could see the big picture and easily understand all of the project elements at the same time. 

It was becoming increasingly clear that I would need to create my own remedy to keep everything balanced and flowing in order to give better service to my clients and have more work-life balance. As I worked to scratch my own itch and build the productivity tools I needed, the roots of what were to become Tombolo took shape. 

This first blog post represents the beginning of the journey I’d like to document and share with you. Join our journey and send us an email and request to get the next posts delivered to your inbox. Let us know what you think. With your input to help inspire us, and some hard work on our side, we can continue to create, improve our work and learn some important lessons along the way.  

(Ifat Ben David, is a freelance consultant, technical lead, and software developer, who is now the founder and CEO of Tombolo.)