3 Ways Programmers Escape The Corporate Grind

January 8, 2024 IT Consulting • Lean Startup

39:45

If you're tired to the deadlines, pressure, and unrealistic expectations - it may be time to take programming for money into your own hands.

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3 Ways to Escape the Corporate Grind as a Software Developer

Are you feeling drained by the corporate world, tired of endless meetings, office politics, and grinding through someone else’s priorities? If you’ve been dreaming of a way out, today I’m going to share three ways you can escape the corporate grind if you’re a software developer or someone in tech. We’ll also dive into the pros and cons of each approach to help you decide which one could be the best fit for you.

1. Become a Solo Consultant or Freelancer

One of the most straightforward ways to leave corporate life behind is by becoming a solo consultant or freelancer. As a freelancer, you’ll do similar work to what you’re doing now—whether it’s programming, DevOps, product management, or something else—but you’ll be working for yourself. You’ll set your own hours, choose your clients, and decide how you want to structure your work.

Pros:

• Flexibility: You can take on projects that interest you and leave when a client or project becomes too much.
• Control: You can define your scope of work in clear terms, so there’s less risk of getting overloaded or pulled into areas you don’t want to handle.

Cons:

• Effort for income: You’ll still need to trade hours for dollars unless you find a way to scale, like building a small team or increasing your rates.
• Client dependency: You may rely on one or two clients for your income, making it risky if they cut the contract.

2. Build Your Own Software Product

Another path is to build your own software product. If you’ve been in tech for a while, you’ve probably thought about it: “What if I built this tool or app that could solve a real-world problem?” You don’t have to build the next Facebook—there are plenty of niche software products out there with just a few thousand users that are profitable. The key is to find a small but lucrative market and create a simple product that solves a problem.

Pros:

• Scalability: Unlike freelancing, you can build a product once and sell it repeatedly without trading time for money.
• Potential for high income: If the product takes off, it can be extremely lucrative.

Cons:

• High upfront effort: Building and marketing a product takes time, and it’s difficult to do this while holding a full-time job.
• Ongoing support: You’ll need to handle customer support, deal with bugs, and make regular updates.

3. Sell Courses or Education Online

The third way to escape the grind is to sell your expertise through online courses. If you’re experienced in a specific area, such as React development, DevOps, or cloud architecture, you can package your knowledge into a course and sell it online. There are platforms that make it easy to host and sell courses, and with enough effort in content marketing, you can build a steady income stream.

Pros:

• Low transition cost: You can build and sell courses while still holding a full-time job, working on them in your spare time.
• Passive-ish income: Once the course is built, you can sell it again and again without putting in as much ongoing work.

Cons:

• Content marketing required: To sell courses, you’ll need to build an audience, which requires creating regular content (YouTube videos, blog posts, etc.) and managing your brand.

How to Decide Which Path is Right for You

Now that you have a sense of these three options, let’s talk about five aspects that can help you decide which one is right for you.

1. Effort vs. Income

• Consulting: High effort per dollar. You’ll likely be trading time for money.
• Selling Courses: Medium effort with potential for higher income once established. After the upfront work, the courses can keep earning.
• Building a Software Product: High upfront effort but potentially high long-term income if successful.

2. Marketing Effort

• Consulting: Low marketing effort, especially if you rely on referrals or your existing network.
• Selling Courses: Medium marketing effort. You’ll need to be consistent with content marketing (videos, blogs, podcasts) to build an audience.
• Software Product: High marketing effort. You’ll need to actively promote your product, run ads, and possibly attend trade shows or do in-person marketing.

3. Dependency on Others

• Consulting: High. You’re dependent on your clients and their success.
• Software Product: Medium. You can mostly work solo but may need to collaborate with others as your product grows.
• Selling Courses: Low. Once you’ve built your courses, you’re mostly self-reliant, with minimal dependence on others.

4. Transition Cost

• Consulting: Medium. You can start small while keeping your full-time job but may need to ramp up over time.
• Software Product: High. Building a product on the side while working full-time is tough and requires significant time investment.
• Selling Courses: Low. You can work on building your course slowly while still working your full-time job.

5. Learning Curve

• Consulting: Medium. You’ll need to stay on top of your industry knowledge, but you’re already familiar with much of the work.
• Software Product: High. You’ll not only need technical expertise but also market research, sales, and product management skills.
• Selling Courses: Low. You’ll mostly need to learn content marketing and how to package your knowledge in an easy-to-consume format.

Conclusion

If you’re serious about escaping the corporate grind, any of these three paths can work for you. But each comes with its own set of challenges. Whether you choose to consult, build a software product, or sell courses, make sure to weigh the effort, learning curve, and transition cost.

What’s your biggest barrier to getting started? Have you considered going solo but aren’t sure how? Check out my Solopreneur Jumpstart.

About the THRIVING TECHNOLOGIST show

On YouTube and all major podcast networks, Jayme shares teamwork and leadership strategies, guidelines for healthy company culture, and stories about real projects so you can have a sustainable career in the software industry.

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Jayme Edwards

A family man and veteran of nearly 40 software projects, Jayme experienced many wins and losses over his career as an architect and consultant.

Now he's coaching software developers, managers, and business owners to overcome challenges in the IT industry - so they keep growing.