Something that gets me is how to even get started down the path of being your own boss. The insane networking required to keep up a contract queue is a lot. I'd love to setup an ecommerce business or side business, but there is so much clutter out there on the internet about getting started, it's hard to find the needle in the haystack for how to do it right. I'm a web dev with about 10 years of experience, but my business know-how is basically at 0. Anyone have suggestions on where to start?
My advice is to find a company that more or less specializes in IT consulting/outsourcing and spend a couple of years learning the ropes. Get an understanding for how it operates, how they generate leads, the contract side, negotiation, etc.
Doing this will give you not only a good sense of the business side, but also whether it’s something you really want to do on your own.
Also, find a niche and specialize. Part of the reason there is so much noise is your skill set is presumably generic. Saying “I’m a senior web developer” puts you in competition with millions of others.
The competition is global as well, when it comes to the freelance market (e.g., India, Pakistan, etc.). Whereas, I’m a “Senior developer in X technology” when there are only 5-10 others who can do the same thing puts you in a league of your own.
One suggestion is to do a half-step instead of full leap.
Find a small business or smaller shop to work for (even accept less pay and use a little savings so you know how that feels), raise your hand to do stuff you normally wouldn't do (if you're an engineer, volunteer to help with sales, marketing, customer service, etc.), make nice with the owners, and constantly learn what they do.
Once you get their playbook, jump out on your own or side hustle practicing it until you're ready.
That is what I did. It took a few years, but I'm happy I did.
> Something that gets me is how to even get started down the path of being your own boss. The insane networking required to keep up a contract queue is a lot.
I sent a message to a slack channel on the 20th of October, talked to a bunch of people, and started another contract on the 1st of November.
And - I must stress this - I have no big names on my resume, I'm not the author of a famous open source lib. I'm just some dude who specialized and took a real interest in the business vertical I was in.
People need software professionals. Be easy to find. Talk it up where people in your industry hang out. Have conversations without any thought of whether they'll go anywhere. No hard selling required.
> I sent a message to a slack channel on the 20th of October, talked to a bunch of people
the fact that you have a bunch of people you can message (in slack, or email or otherwise) is already a leg up, and that would've taken work to setup previously - may be even years for such a network.
When people ask about networking, or how to line up clients for contracts, they are actually asking the methods to which you (or anyone) setup such a list of contacts.
Could have been just some slack channel of some open source project? Like let's say you want to be a Rust developer, there may be a channel advertised on the Rust web site? Not saying there is, but I remember seeing such things for several programming languages.
Where to start really depends on what your goals are but you mention no knowledge of business. You'd probably quickly realize you know more than you give your self credit for. If you want to check out a classic primer there is as book called The Personal MBA. It's a super high level overview/quick read and does a good job covering a bunch of basic business topics.
As a web dev, the problem would probably too many offers, not too few. Headhunters call regardless of what you put on your resume.
I would say "just give your resume to some agencies", but it's like leaking your email address on the internet, you will get spam forever. Or use LinkedIn.
Start with your immediate network. Folks that already know what you can do are likelier to hire you first and as you build out your reputation, feel free to piggy back on other consultancies, VC firms, etc.
