In answer to your first question: a friend of mine hired me to work on a store locator software in 2012. It was basically a widget you put on your website that

In answer to your first question: a friend of mine hired me to work on a store locator software in 2012. It was basically a widget you put on your website that allowed searching for nearby stores/locations. He took it over all by himself from that point and was making six-figures for years. Maybe he’ll come along and elaborate. Beyond that, I’ve known people who were single-owner entrepreneurs for years and made enough to pay the bills and live comfortably. Browser extensions, CRM plug-ins, stuff like that. To answer your second question: yes and no — it depends on the niche. I did some research for my past employer and they accidentally voided the NDA when they laid me off… according to my lawyer anyway. I’m still not going to take the chance of dealing with the court system to prove one way or the other…. So sadly, I can’t tell you which niches are better than the others.