Attila Olbrich.

Ah, the side hustle returns! Like an old friend who shows up unexpectedly, this one was back to knock on my door—and it had grown significantly since our DOS days. The company that started with invoicing and stock management software for schoolbooks had evolved, and the owner needed something new: a Windows-based system with enough features to rival a Swiss Army knife.

The owner, a true visionary, had started his empire two decades earlier from his kitchen. Yes, his kitchen. Schoolbooks were stacked between plates and blenders, and the man was navigating orders while dodging soup pots. But he wasn’t a procrastinator. Oh no, this was a man of action. With his perseverance and willingness to learn from every mistake—his own and others’—he had transformed that chaotic kitchen into a mini-empire.

By now, he was distributing schoolbooks across three counties, and during peak school seasons, he needed warehouse space the size of an Amazon fulfillment center. His annual ritual? Renting an old factory and turning it into a chaotic logistical dance. The challenge? Taking orders from schools all over, summing them up to place a master order with publishers, organizing deliveries, and ensuring the trucks weren’t loaded like Tetris blocks with no plan. The cherry on top? Managing late arrivals, backorders, second deliveries, and keeping the bookshops running. No big deal, right?

The Challenge of a Lifetime

This is where I came in. The task: build software to handle stock management, commissioning, ordering, pre-ordering, returns, and logistics planning. But wait, there’s more! The system needed a local module, software for teachers to prepare orders at schools, and an online platform for schools that preferred to go digital. Essentially, I had to be the tech wizard for a one-man logistical orchestra.

The owner had a hands-on approach. He’d sit beside me, brainstorming and testing as we built the system. We spent countless weekends together, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., fueled by coffee, sandwiches, and sheer determination. After months of work and thousands of lines of code, we did it. Teachers were thrilled with the ease of use, the company was efficiently humming, and deliveries were executed with military precision. It was a masterpiece.

Enter: The Hungarian Government Plot Twist

Ah, but life loves a good twist. Just as everything was running smoothly, the Hungarian government, not exactly known for its squeaky-clean reputation, decided to centralize schoolbook distribution. And by "centralize," I mean hand over the entire market to a bankrupt distributor mysteriously aligned with the government.

This newly minted national distributor, armed with political favors, won the country-wide tender. My client’s 20+ years of hard work? Obliterated overnight. His business was reduced to a handful of bookshops, operating at razor-thin margins. The glorious empire was no more, and with it, my most prosperous side hustle vanished into the abyss.

The medical books division clung to life, still running on the old DOS system—a bittersweet reminder of simpler times. For the owner, it was the end of an era. For me, it was time to pack up, reflect, and prepare for the next chapter.

The Road Ahead

This wasn’t the end of my story—far from it. Challenges and adventures awaited, some of them taking me abroad. But those stories are for another chapter, so stay tuned, dear reader, as we venture into uncharted territories filled with new opportunities, unexpected hurdles, and perhaps, just perhaps, a little redemption.