4 ms·
Ask HN: Business ideas for solo developers?
What are some business ideas that a single software engineer can successfully develop on their own (generate income on par with being employed at an average -not SF- company)?
Does one need a fundamentally different skill set to run a small business?
What are some stressing cons to consider?
- Bino 10y agoStressing concerns; I would say the IRS (and alike).
- willcate 10y agoAgreed -- I've been a one-man-band for 13 years now, & it's the business administrivia which is the biggest time-suck. That and finding health insurance.
- dhruvkar 10y agoI'm branching out on my own with a few freelance projects. Two questions: 1. What tactics do you use to ensure a stable income? 2. What percentage of your time is spent actually developing?
- samblr 10y agoIRS - what does it stand for ?
- himlion 10y agoInternal Revenue Service. The tax agency of the USA.
- dgreenlieber 10y agoThere are many great Micro SAAS idea you could build on your own any day and make an income of. A skill that is needed is focused on running a SAAS business, but there are so many great content and tools out there to support you. Go for it! See : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9877881 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9877881
- debacle 10y agoIf you're willing to do even a modicum of the business leg work you can make 2x what an SV dev makes as a consultant, while working far less.
- brudgers 10y agoTo me, there seem to be two successful paradigms for running a business, being engaged by the administrative side of the business or being engaged by the operations side of the business...these of course can be merged into some single notion of being engaged. Plain old working for money is on the close end of the spectrum to the first. Putting up with the pain of running a business for the sake of the work is along the spectrum toward the other. The biggest stressor for the owner's of most small businesses is not getting a regular paycheck. Good luck.
- BjoernKW 10y agoConsulting. If you really want to be successful in this industry, then yes you need a different skill set from engineering: Sales, marketing, being able to network with people and talk about your work, accounting. There's this idea of a T-shaped skill set that I think very much applies to this kind of business: You have your primary skill (i.e. the service you offer, in your case engineering expertise), in which you have in-depth knowledge, and then you have supporting skills (like accounting) in which you're no expert but which you know sufficiently well enough to be able to market your services. Finding the right balance between earning sufficient revenue sustainably (and the always reasonably full sales funnel required for that) and not taking up more work than you can handle can be particularly stressing.
- JSeymourATL 10y ago> T-shaped skill set that I think very much applies to this kind of business... Solid advice, I might add the wisdom Alan Weiss is a must read for new consultants > https://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Consulting-Professionals-Practice/dp/1259588610/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 https://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Consulting-Professiona...
- wprapido 10y agohttp://7daystartup.com/ http://7daystartup.com/ is a great resource