i am 22, a computer science graduate, working a lowpaying job rn thats about 17/hr. i live in nj, this is not enough on its own to move out my parents and live independently even with roommates, even tho i made a real tight budget. but i really wanna move out asap because my family is toxic and i realize itll make me feel better. i was applying to software engineering jobs buts its taken a while and no dice, so im revamping my approach, making a portfolio website, while brushing up on coding interview problems. itll take me prob a few month of serious applying beforeni get a better job, but i want to move out asap. so im gonna start food delovery/amazon flex after work or on weekends in addition to my job so i can sustain living independently.
i dont even like programming anyways. wat i really want to do is grow my youtube channel into a full time career. i made some videos, have some success so far so im motivated and i believe i could do it, it just takes time.
my videos will probably cost a few hundred each, since my channel is about creating things. this makes working a side gig even more necessary, not just to survive, but to invest in my business.
i really dont want to wait until i get a better job to work on my channel, i frel like thats just delaying my goals. so, ill be doing a full time job, in addition to probably ~20 hours a week of uber eats/multiapping or amazon flex, whatever pays better, in addition to investing all my spare time and money into my channnel.
im very passionate about my youtube channel. ive been editing videos for about 9 years now, i always find it so exciting to make videos/projects. i feel like this isnsomething i mayblook forward to doing anyway and im hoping i dont feel too exhausted and overworked.
has anybody else been in a similar situation, starting their business while working full time and a side gig to keep afloat?
I work probably more than this and the balance is hard, but I found that it helped to have boundaries. If you give all your energy to your day job, you don’t have much left to give.
I would do the youtube on the side, it will take time to build up anyway and will give you the motivation and energy to use your creativity on something fulfilling.
If you can make more in your day job, it’s never a bad thing, as long as it doesnt drain you to a point you have nothing left to give on your passions.how the hell is 17/h lowpaying damnit Americans, I get 14/h in France and it’s above average.
Bro $17 an hour is basically poverty no matter how you spin it, they are two very different countries. $17 an hour I’m pretty sure some Dunkin’ Donuts are paying almost that, no offense to OP as you are a recent grad and young so it makes sense.
You are young and have time on your side, follow your dream. You can fix it all if you mess up 5 years from now. NOW is the time to take risks.
17 usd is roughly the same as 14 euro
and almost 26 dollarydoos, but, I am assuming they did a conversion and are comparing dollars to dollars. What it doesn’t take into account is the relative cost of living.
The Big Mac Index is always fun. $4.71 in France, $5.45 in the USA but only $4.63 in New Holland, so definitely getting more mac for your buck downunder.
Can you explain more why your YouTube videos would cost $100 each to make? Is there no way you could make these for free maybe doing commentary or video essays on other people creating things?
I’d pick one at a time to jumpstart and give it a month then try the next. Doing 10% of each idea is only going to take more time and burn you out more if each starts demanding more of your time.
He mentions “creating things”, and in one of his other posts linked a video where he creates a water-cooled pillow.
So, I believe his belief is based on acquiring parts to make things in each video.
And you’re absolutely right. Lots of ways to make videos in this niche without spending a fortune.
Starting something you believe in is hard. Just don’t lose the passion with burnout. Yes it’s mentally and physically exhausting yes it’s financially draining yes it takes up all of your time and kills your social life… but once it gets going by itself it gets a lot better.
Try tutoring - you can get paid highly to tutor in math, CS, and other STEM courses
It’s not bad when you’re 22. In fact that’s the age to do this type of stuff
Yes 22 is a risk taking age so go for it hard and try your luck. You always have option to work full time.
Most of the safe startups grow this way where you need a stable income and you invest your time and extra money to your startup. It takes time where you have to wait for your first big project which can give you long term work and where you can leave your full time job and continue your business. If you can share your portfolio to me I can give you some suggestions what you can add or delete. Also how to approach a client.
Same brother but you have very long journey and i am going with this around 3 year right now i am thinking to do some bussiness or startup
Just suck it up you will be making more money every year
No information to share from my end, but I just wanted to wish you the best of luck bro.
Supporting someone is also helping. Your best of luck will motivate him.
Keep looking for a better job. Don’t stop because you didn’t have success. Spend just 15 minutes a day searching and applying for jobs related to your degree
I serve tables 30 hours a week and make a perfect amount of money to pay bills and fund my start up. It is exhausting still and I get moments of panic, I cannot imagine working 60!! I recommend finding a hospitality job like serving or bartending that pays up to $30/hour so you can make good money and have plenty of free time!
I work 6 days a week at my day job (usually until about 7pm at night), and in the evenings and on my one day off we run our business. My wife also works full time, but she’s “only” 40 hours a week, so she’s able to help in the afternoons while I’m still at work.
Fuck everyone who plays into the whole hustle/grind culture. This shit is NOT fun. This shit doesn’t make me more “manly”. This shit is not admirable. It’s fucking stupid, it’s a lot of work, and it’s a great way to make me start hating the industry I’m in.
Having said that, if I don’t work my ass off getting this business to be extremely successful, then I’ll never leave this 6-day-a-week job. The pay is too good and there’s no way a 3-time felon like myself can land another six-figure job elsewhere working less hours.
So our business is my current exit plan. This time last year when we were getting everything off the ground it was brutal. There’s so much planning that goes into properly launching an ecommerce operation. But, we have our first year behind us and things are going really well!
Again, it fucking sucks. Like, it suuuuucks to have this schedule. But I know in 5 years I’m going to be so glad I took the time to do this now.
Live at home.asong as possible .just grind your young
Your situation is hard, but it’s possible to improve it. IMO, the first thing you need to remove is the low-paying job, which doesn’t give you any relevant experience. Uber, delivery, McDonald’s, telecom companies, and so on are really bad deals — if you don’t really want to make a career there. You spend your time but receive almost nothing.
Look, you can do good videos, right? If you’re really been doing that for 9 years, you are probably highly skilled in this. That means you can do freelance easily. IDK that much about the video edit sphere, but I think that $17/hour is around the lowest possible rate for this job on Upwork(ofc you can find $3/h guys from other continents, but I don’t talk about this).
But just imagine, even if you find a freelance video editing project for $17/h, you will receive much more experience than in Uber. You will be involved in many different projects that you will never make yourself otherwise, will be pushed to learn new things for your freelance projects, and will have a bunch of good contacts (and a lot of not that good, but this is the price).
Again, $17 on freelance video editing> $17 on McDonald’s. And I think the average rate for this is around 30-35 USD, so after gaining some exp you will make more than now.
But if you decide to do freelance, take it seriously. For the first orders you will need to send a lot of proposals, learn how to sell, make your portfolio and learn a lot. The learning will be not about the videos/animations/your professional stuff, but how to sell, how to communicate with clients, how to present your work and yourself (not so bad skills, better than knowing how to make Big Macs probably).
Starting on Upwork is hard. You will be sending around 30-50 proposals, buying connects and mostly receiving nothing, your proposals will not even be viewed. But that’s definitely possible.
And then you’ll have a steady income and you’ll be inside the hustle, making your own videos in parallel.
What I’d definitely recommend is to find a proper community. For freelancers, for YouTubers, for entrepreneurs, not matter what you want. When you see guys who work for $60/hour on Upwork, 20k/month on their projects, you start believing that it’s real. Then you repeat their way, learning along it, working a lot, dropping your current s***ty jobs and receiving what you want. That’s hard but doable. Good luck!