Great article. A mind that is constantly thinking can doing something great. For developers, we turn it into productivity and into programming. Constant never

Great article. A mind that is constantly thinking can doing something great. For developers, we turn it into productivity and into programming. Constant never-ending ideas. My goal is to have my side business/side projects and my main job. I see it this way: aside from learning new things and even being able to bring them to the table to advance the primary company I work for, I would love to be making $100,000+ a year. I'm far from ever making that. I probably will never ever make that salary if I continue working for my company. I also can't ask my company for and expect them to pay me that much. They are a business trying to cut their expenses and save money as well. I'm pretty sure the job I do is not worth that much but it would be awesome if it was! Yes, I could go get another job, but why? I love my job, and I love the people I work with. But its not a job that entitles me to make that much money, no matter how well I do my job, or what "senior position" I obtain, or how much convincing I do, or how many times I ask for a raise. While I'm certainly not in any competition with my company, working on my side projects, I feel, is going to help me make up for what the company cannot. So hypothetically, if I can make $50,000 from side projects and $50,000 from my main job, than I would say that is a successful accomplishment of hitting my goal and making it happen. Why would I want to put that awkwardness and demand on my company? I have some expectations that they will pay me close to what I ask for, but they may think otherwise. They set the price for how much they should be paying me and compare it against the general salary for my title position and then they may even pay me lower than the national average to save a bit of money. Now lets say hypothetically, they gave me what I asked for. When it comes down to it, in a tough market, in a tough economy, or in slow times, the very first person/people likely be let go are those they feel they can save the most money on by laying off. Most companies think that way too: "We could hire 3 college students and pay his salary to them." But side projects go beyond to encourage creativity and ambition!