What’s your definition of success? Is there a magic number, lifestyle, number of people helped, families supported (including your own)?
Everyone has their own goals. For me its financial freedom and not worrying about any bills with a property paid off.
Just started making over 500k a year (with multi year contracts) and still not satisfied. I’m thinking at 1m/yr I will be, but maybe not. Need to buy that property free and clear. Btw, my metrics on home have changed. Had a 4/3 house with a large pool in the backyard. Now want a house with a view of the ocean. The idea that will somehow make me happier is part of this post.
Did you hit your goal and level of success? Were you satisfied when you did?
Hello, I am 19 right now and I would like to start my own business. Do you have any advice? Am I learning to code. I have made some projects but didn’t manage to get any client. Maybe the product wasn’t good enough or the idea. I also have seen that many people start with an MVP but I still can’t manage to get people to try my MVPs, there are supposed to focus on the functionality and not the design but I haven’t got any success
Hi, I also started my first business at 19. Before that I played live music at wineries Fri-Sun and taught guitar lessons. Unlike most of my friends I did not attend college and taught myself. In fact, I have been programming for the last 10 years :)
While not impossible and I can attest you can make great money with programming services it is a tough road. The problem is there is a lot of competition.
For music, I wrote my own and got a lucky break when looking for a job as a server. They asked if I had any experience which I didn’t and ended up asking if I played music (the odds of that are probably pretty low). So, it was the right time and luck.
For the property Preservation company I was 19 and had worked at another company for only a few months before starting my own. This was in early 2011 and the foreclosure boom was still running strong. There were lots of contractors, but they were clueless in how to get these jobs for themselves. The bigger part was that the banks and property management companies wanted to work with someone that could cover a large area – so I just had a list of contractors and knew the requirements for work orders.
So, the same thing applies with coding or anything else. You need to find a niche you excel at (within programming), can offer at a great price, have better service, or whatever the customers care about. You can always grow from there and add on services, but you need to build trust and recognition first. The more saturated it is the harder it is to break through (example “web development”). To start you will be competing with others on price – that’s fine as long as you don’t get stuck long term. You need reviews, word of mouth, other services you can charge more for after getting in.
Good luck!