Part time for programmers

Question

I would like to start a small part-time business besides my full-time programming job. Have you done this before? I know programmers who study in evening schools after work. But then again, this is not a business. What would you recommend getting another income stream?

Answer 1

I have a full-time programming day job, and this year I just started working on a small software company.

My advice would be to start small, and make sure you have the time and energy to work on something after your day's work is done. If possible, choose a business in which the code you write will be different from the code you write at work. Another language is a good start, but different problems will be much better. If you finish work on the same thing 12 hours a day (8 at work and 4 on the work side), you will go completely insane in less than two weeks.

As for where to start a business, pay attention to a few things:

• Which project do you like?
• What skills do you have or can you learn to do this?
• What time do you have?
• How much is your time?

Once you find out, you will know which projects make sense to you.

The only other advice I can think of is to specialize. If you work with one person, you cannot compete with Microsoft. Choose a market in which you offer something really good for a small group of people. These small niche markets are the best place for small software companies to flourish.

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 2

I guess you mean consulting when you say "small business." Networking with people you know in real life. Communication skills are king. Find out exactly what you need and what your client needs. Never promise something that you cannot deliver, it will be bad for you. State all the requirements of the project and start drawing mocks / specs on a piece of paper with your client. State their budget and see if their implementation is possible for their budget. If you are developing software for medium-sized businesses, talk with the staff who will use your product as an end user. If they currently have a solution, ask them what they don't like in terms of features and usability. See how this can be improved.

Be as helpful and knowledgeable as you can. If the project goes beyond your competence, bring them to those who can help. You cannot land at this concert, but they will probably tell about three or four of their friends about you, who may return in a year or two.

One of the relatively unreached markets that I have found is to search for people who have recently outsourced. In order not to make any generalizations, except for the "outsourcing boom", a bunch of sub-parallel software was created, as a result of which tons of code needed to be saved. I found a few cases, finding people with ready-made software and rewriting their code into something doable.

Answer 3

I would recommend having some kind of business plan. Do not just start writing some kind of application or create some kind of website and think that it will sell. Do some research into the actual market for your product.

In addition, having done this earlier, I would suggest having at least 1 other business partner. Doing all of this quickly becomes a waste of effort. You can do this, but of course it is much easier if you have someone who can help with ideas, programming, accounting, web design, etc.

Also consider whether you really need another job outside of your current job. I don’t know what your life is outside of your daily work, but other work (especially one that requires daily attention, like a website that needs to be constantly updated) can be a real leak in your life.

If you come up with a business plan and start a business, do what you like! This can be very helpful if you do.

Answer 4

I do not know why you reject the doctrine of "out of control." After 10 years working in industry, I started teaching evening courses "Adult Education" in college. I found this an excellent revenue stream that did not contradict my day job (IT consulting). It was also a great way to stay “fresh” in my chosen languages ​​(originally C).

Teaching keeps you on tiptoe and allows you to meet many interesting people (teachers and students) in a very fun atmosphere.

In addition, when you are ready to look for a different career in the future, teaching is a great choice. Teaching is also surprisingly isolated from economic shocks, as recessions often send people to training as a way forward.

Plus - you are returning something.

Greetings

-Richard

Answer 5

I did some work on the open source project (DotNetNuke) as a developer and made good contacts with him and became a consultant doing DNN work for different clients.

You definitely need to invest to find out what the OSS project you are working on is, but, on the other hand, you have a good chance that you can cut a pretty nice niche for yourself.