Why Every Freelancer Should Build Their Own Product

Lessons from Building “Speech to Note”

Hi, I’m Abhishek — founder of Team Codesign and creator of Speech to Note, a voice-to-text tool helping thousands of users worldwide capture ideas, thoughts, and meeting notes effortlessly.

In this piece, I want to reflect on how building Speech to Note has transformed the way I think, work, and pitch — and why I believe every freelancer or agency should consider building their own product alongside client work.

1. You're Never “On the Bench”

Client work has cycles — sometimes you're booked, sometimes you're waiting. But when you have your own product, the bench doesn’t exist. There’s always something to test, design, iterate, or launch.

For me, Speech to Note became that always-on project. I didn’t have to wait for briefs. I was constantly experimenting — with features, user flows, messaging, onboarding. That constant motion? It keeps your creative muscle active.

2. You're Solving a Problem You Deeply Care About

Speech to Note started because I personally struggled with organizing voice notes and meeting summaries. And when you're solving a problem that hits home, you don’t need external motivation.

You keep coming back to improve it — not because you have to, but because you want to. That kind of energy is rare in client projects, but supercharged in personal ones.

3. You Develop Overlapping & Adjacent Skills

Building a product forced me to go beyond UX and design. I dipped my toes into:

• Speech-to-text technologies like Whisper and GPT-4o

• Backend choices like Supabase, Mongo DB

• Payment logic, onboarding, customer support

• Go-to-market and ASO strategies

Not everything I learned was directly useful to a client project, but every bit of it made me a better product thinker — and a more valuable collaborator.

4. It Elevates Your Proposals and Client Conversations

When I apply for new gigs or pitch clients, mentioning Speech to Note changes the tone of the conversation. I’m not just another agency anymore — I’m someone who has shipped, scaled, and supported a real-world product.

Yes, clients do ask,
“Will you be as invested in our project as you are in your own?”

Fair question.

But if you've been running your product with discipline, clear timelines, and customer focus — you have proof. And that proof goes a long way in building trust.

TL;DR — Build Your Own “Microsoft”

Okay, maybe not Microsoft. But build something.
Something small. Something personal.
Something that solves a problem you care about.

Your product doesn’t have to go viral. It just needs to be real, used, and evolving. Because that alone is proof of:

• Initiative

• Ownership

• Curiosity

• Long-term thinking

In my case, Speech to Note turned out to be more than a tool.
It’s been a mirror, a canvas, and a resume enhancer — all at once.

And I truly believe you can create your version of it too.

Curious about Speech to Note?

It turns your thoughts, ideas, and meetings into clear, searchable notes using AI.
Try it here → www.speechtonote.com