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How to start my own business? (feddit.org)

submitted 1 day ago by YUART@feddit.org to c/programming@programming.dev

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Hi,

I'm a programmer with a bunch of years in IT and currently I'm trying to build my own project that can bring me enough revenue so I can leave my full-time job and focus on my projects only and eventually start my own business.

The main struggle right now is that I have too little time to work on my projects (around 3 hours per week) and I estimate it will take me at least 2 more years to start earning anything (not talking about real money so I can leave my full time job). I don't want to create any sort of scam just to grab some cash, but building a real complex software is a time consuming process, not speaking about that I must handle other stuff than programming (which I enjoy but this means I have even more work to do).

I'm wondering if anybody can give me any advice how to speed up that process or where I can get money to be able to focus on my ideas full time? Or maybe somebody tried to do the same and failed and can share what lessons they learned from their mistakes?

I'm looking for a real solutions, so please cut out generic advices like "just keep working" or "just find an angel investor". I understand that starting your own business is hard and requires to take a risk, but I'm looking for practical advices and not advices based on luck or having a huge start capital.

Thanks

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[–] Weirdfish@lemmy.world 44 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm considered an expert in my field, and with almost 20 years experience I tried what you are suggesting.

The thing all us tech geeks forget about when starting a business, is all the stuff that actually goes into the running a business part of it.

You want to focus on the work, but there are bills, invoices, client and project management, etc.

I had clients, I had projects, but I didn't have nearly enough time in the day to handle all of it.

Then clients started paying late, causing all kinds of fees to stack up. So even when I had time to do the work, I was distracted and nothing got done the way I wanted.

I tried hiring an admin, but it was too little too late. In the end I went back to being the in house guy at a large company, where I get to focus on the stuff I am good at and enjoy.

I'm not saying don't do it, I'm saying be very very aware about all the other elements before going off on your own.

[–] YUART@feddit.org 1 points 2 hours ago

Hi, thanks for sharing your experience. Yeah, I understand that I will spend a lot of time on actual management rather than on coding itself. And, frankly speaking, I want this.

One of the reasons I want to start my own company is that I have a chance to be an architect and a manager on a project I actually enjoy instead of wrestling my way to an architect position in a random company and deal with people who is hard to deal with.

[–] BlackPenguins@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago

Yeah if it's anything like being a manager your entire day ends up being meetings and managing others and less programming. Don't ever become a lead if you enjoy programming.