How a lawyer turned redundancy into opportunity and became a no-code solopreneur

Briefly introduce yourself

I’m Kate, a founder of a SaaS company called Expordite. I’m based in Bristol, South West England and before becoming a full-time founder, I was an in-house lawyer for over seven years.

I also just launched a website called NoCodingWithKate, where I’ll be publishing content on low-code, no-code, and making the most of what it can offer.

I always wanted to run my own business venture - but I’m of the belief that if you really want to do something, you need to give it your best and do it as well as you can. After being let go, I thought - this is really the best time to do this!

Describe your career journey prior to discovering no-code

I completed a degree in Law and Spanish at a top British university ten years ago. After that, I was an in-house counsel, whilst being a freelance writer at the same time (I know, my brain was permanently in the “on” mode!). In 2022, my last employer of over 5 years has unfortunately let me go.

And that’s when I went full-time as a SaaS founder!

How did you discover no-code?

I think Bubble was my first encounter with no-code! Prior to that, I have had some training in Python and HTML5, but seeing how much can be achieved in Bubble really blew my mind! I guess my “a-ha” moment was when I saw how powerful its API Connector Plug-in was - with a little tinkering and JSON parsing, the possibilities really were endless!

When it came to Glide, I actually discovered it via Darren Alderman, who is a Thunkable expert. Initially, I wanted to use Thunkable to launch a community food-sharing app, but after having a chat with Darren, I realised that Glide’s tech-agnostic capabilities and data-based functionality can deliver much better results.

Prior to discovering no-code did you have much experience with technology? Is it something you’ve always been interested in?

I’ve always loved experimenting with technology and seeing what it can do!

I would say that I view it as a tool to accomplish something or to solve a problem. I’d say that in my previous job, I tried to introduce digital transformation initiatives. One of them was a legal knowledge management database, which used Microsoft’s OneDrive technology.

Now as a solopreneur, I’m really excited to see what technology at my fingertips can do!

By using my own writing and analytical skills and expertise to abstract information, and by leveraging the capabilities of Bubble, I’ve built a relatively simple solution that will hopefully make a big difference in efficiency, cost-saving and risk mitigation to many businesses.

Describe how no-code has changed your career trajectory

I always wanted to run my own business venture - but I’m of the belief that if you really want to do something, you need to give it your best and do it as well as you can.

After being let go, I thought - this is really the best time to do this! I’ve been learning Bubble and APIs, so I thought that the combination of my no-code expertise and my international commercial law expertise can really create something that makes people’s lives easier!

I went over the pain points experienced in my career.

And that’s when I realised that changes in the international law resulting from Brexit and other things, combined with the British government’s digital transformation initiatives, have created a real opportunity for professionals like me to make a difference and help international companies make the most of foreign markets, despite all these changes! And thanks to Bubble’s huge offerings, I managed to build a SaaS solution that aims to do just that.

My solution called Expordite is built on Bubble and leverages different APIs, including those of the British government.

Before launching Expordite, I played around with NoCode, including making a sales map for my friend’s online social enterprise, making a Christmas game for my partner (both with Bubble), and building a community food-sharing app on Glide. I should really take up Glide again!

How are you leveraging your previous skills and experience in your new career?

As a lawyer for an international company, I did a lot of work that required me to identify a problem my colleague was having, analyse the best possible solutions and tailor my response to my audience.

At the start of that career, I quickly found that lengthy essays I was used to writing at uni are far from the best approach when dealing with non-lawyer colleagues! They want quick and clear answers that solve their problems in the least risky and most cost-effective way.

And that’s how Expordite came to be. By using my own writing and analytical skills and expertise to abstract information, and by leveraging the capabilities of Bubble, I’ve built a relatively simple solution that will hopefully make a big difference in efficiency, cost-saving and risk mitigation to many businesses. And the key USP of my solution is simplicity!

What were the biggest challenges to learning no-code and making the career change?

A lot of my challenges in no-code tied into the overall challenges of being an entrepreneur. NoCode is still a niche industry and there aren’t many people to bounce ideas off from, and being a solopreneur can be quite lonely as well.

So, at times, such professional isolation was quite striking, especially compared to my previous position. Which is why I’m really glad to be a part of the NoCode Twitter community, as well as the local entrepreneur and tech communities in Bristol!

Another challenge was not anticipating how long things can take and how much there is to do as an entrepreneur. When you’re a solopreneur, you’re in charge of product, sales, marketing, legal and financial stuff and everything else in between.

Luckily, NoCode tools have made my life easier - there’s a plethora of choice of tools when it comes to both creating your product and leveraging business operations!

What were your biggest lessons learned?

Don’t assume you know best! That applies both to NoCode development and customer interactions.

Building in NoCode is a skill, like coding, or law, or writing - it takes time to learn and hone. But it’s a very applied skill, so the best way to learn it is hands-on. And it’s so accessible that most people can do it!

Building a business is costly. I’m not talking about money - although that’s also a factor. I’m talking about time and mental resources. NoCode reduces a lot of SaaS deployment time - but it still takes time and effort to master and use to build something, and it’s just one aspect of running a SaaS business. So, when deciding to build a NoCode business, make sure you have the time and mental capacity for it.

What’s your plan for the next 5 years?

I’m hoping to take both Expordite and NoCodingWithKate to the new heights.

I’d love to scale Expordite to help more companies with their international trade needs as they evolve, and hopefully make it a full-service international trade solution.

With NoCodingWithKate, I’d like to make it a knowledge portal for all-things no-code - tutorials, statistics, interviews, you name it!

What advice would you give to others hoping to change careers the way you did?

Don’t be afraid to do it!

But be prepared for hard work. And make sure that you’re in love with what you’re doing - whether it’s the idea of the no-code market itself and where it’s going or the problem you want to solve with no-code.

You’re going to need that love to sustain you during the many hours of parsing JSONs and web-hooking! But there’s nothing like seeing your creations working properly after those hours. Trust me - they’re worth it!

The main dashboard in Kate’s app, Expordite.