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Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

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Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#51

Post by tinco »

malux85 wrote: post #45
vi1rus wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this the article you are referencing? http://www.feld.com/archives/2011/10/be-on-fire.html Cause that picture is now my new wallpaper... Also it sounds like you have a similar path to mine. Launch stuff, fail, launch again stop mid way when no traction, launch, fail. Mind if I ask what you are doing that having 5 clients is all you need to be self-sufficient?

Yes that's the article! I love that picture too. I am doing media monitoring, I collect vast amounts of data on social networks, p2p, rss, webscraping ... then built reporting tools on top of it - high level trend reporting, customer segmentation for acquisition and brand targeting, planogram computing based on collaborative filtering, an entire media and brand intelligence platform. I also do Forex trading with Tens…

I feel like calling out the humblebrag, but that's just impressive man.

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#52

Post by codegeek »

kazinator wrote: post #29
codegeek wrote: post #2

My story. I worked my ass off for 10+ years, saved a little bit of extra cash after paying off most loans and then bought an online business that I was interested in. I tried doing both for 2 months in parallel. One day I woke up and said "F*k this. I am done. Gotta quit". I then went to my boss and gave him the notice. I did calculate my risks as the business was just bringing in enough to keep me floating (with 2 k…

> It is tough, income is still less than I what I made in my cushy job But you have more ways to avoid taxes (both legal and not so much). If you get paid cash for anything, you may be able to conceal the income. You can creatively shuffle losses into the limited liability corporation, to avoid being personally affected, and basically just sock it to whomever the corporation owes. Self-employed people typically have…

I think you are being downvoted because of the "you may be able to conceal the income" part. You don't want to do that specially when running an online business (which is never cash based). Everything has a trail and you need to try and manage all records correctly.

But yes, you have some ways to get some deductions for your business and write off a few things like meal expenses for client visit etc. But you cannot directly conceal income. That is almost a sure way of inviting the Tax Police/IRS.

At the end of the day, it is not so much about deductions for me. I still make less cash than my job (so far at least) even after deductions. It is more about the freedom of doing what I want to do.

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#53

Post by NikolaNovak »

swagv1 wrote: post #11

Who works 9-5 anymore? The factory jobs are all gone.

A tremendous number of large corporations in North America have a traditional "butts in chairs" mentality/approach.

I'm a consultant but many clients, and especially government ones, in large enterprise IT, insist on seeing you in the office 9-to-5 (well... 8am-to-6pm really, but I digress).

While in the news and especially Hacker News, we hear more about the startup-type businesses, majority of people are employeed in big traditional corporations.

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#54

Post by rloc »

tobz wrote: post #46
rloc wrote: post #44

I was employed by a big US tech company in France (8+ years). I left a few months ago to grow my own startup. I've been working on the side project for 3 years before that. It's a SaaS web + mobile app. I worked on this project in my spare time (nights and sometimes during weekends). It was solving a problem that I was dealing with personally and I bet I was not the only one. The great thing with a side project is th…

Whoa whoa whoa, tell me more about the thing with France and collecting a percentage of your previous salary. How does all of that work? Who pays for it?

It's paid by the state while you look for another job (national employment agency). If your plan is to create a new company instead of looking for a new job you can get the aid as well. They'll usually leave you (almost) alone as long as you prove that you created a company and that you're not getting any salary of course.

It's great and something that doesn't make the news so much. It could be viewed as a state funding program. The state will get back much more in taxes and employment when and if the startup takes off.

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#55

Post by estefan »

jaredandrews wrote: post #49
estefan wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same boat as you. I think this could be the key: https://www.coursera.org/learn/startup-entrepreneurship-disc... I can't recommend it highly enough.

Thanks! Definitely gonna check this out! Out of curiosity did you do the 'paid' or 'audit' version of this? I can't really tell if the 'paid' version is worth it. I can't imagine the certification being useful.

I always just audit the courses. I'm doing them for my benefit, not for a certificate. I might buy the lecturers' book though as a thank you.

Pro tip: Use the mobile app, download the videos and watch them at 2x speed to save time :-)

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#56

Post by codegeek »

csallen wrote: post #48

I did remote contract front-end development for about 3 years. Working contracts gave me a TON of flexibility to work on my own projects on the side. I also tried to take high-paying contracts and save as much money as I could. When my last contract ended, I had enough money in the bank to survive for ~18 months without another paycheck, even while paying rent in SF. Currently, I'm about 9 months into that. I've work…

I have been watching indiehackers since you shared on HN. It looks really good and high quality stuff. Another bookmark for me as I obsess with the various products being shared and their stories. The revenue transparency is an icing on the cake :)

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#57

Post by jeffwilder »

vi1rus wrote: post #14
jeffwilder wrote: post #9

I left my cushy job two months ago. For years I tried to build various products (SaaS) on the side to facilitate the move. I was never able to get enough traction mostly because I wasn't able to devote enough time. I realized that I'd be never really be free unless I took a leap. I'm launching my first official product in Sept. and have been consulting to pay the bills. The consulting has been good...perhaps a little…

What kind of consulting do you do?

Web development consulting. Basically what I did at my previous job but now I have to get my own clients. I never really liked the pitching part of my old job but find it easier now that I'm basically selling myself and believe in that "product" more than what I had to sell before. Making this part more of a company is my fallback if the product side of things doesn't work.

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#58

Post by marpstar »

I'm in the process of getting ready to make the plunge.

Right now doing 9-5 on top of part-time software consulting, mostly WordPress sites with trendy front-end stuff, but with occasional custom-backend and mobile app projects. I've partnered with a local design firm that outsources development and they provide me a steady stream of projects generate a majority of my side income). So far no marketing except for word-of-mouth advertising from happy clients.

I'm on track to do over $50k this year, but I don't think I can scale this any further without quitting my day job. My plan is to score another $XX,XXX project in the near future, stock up on cash and health insurance for my family, and finally take the leap.

My biggest concern is that we're dreaming of building a house in the next 3-5 years and how that'll affect my ability to secure a loan. We're planning on having the land paid off before we begin construction, but I still need to learn more.

Anyone have experience here?

Re: Ask HN: How Did You Escape 9 to 5?

#59

Post by sliverstorm »

codegeek wrote: post #2

My story. I worked my ass off for 10+ years, saved a little bit of extra cash after paying off most loans and then bought an online business that I was interested in. I tried doing both for 2 months in parallel. One day I woke up and said "F*k this. I am done. Gotta quit". I then went to my boss and gave him the notice. I did calculate my risks as the business was just bringing in enough to keep me floating (with 2 k…

How does wife like it now? Is she happier despite the income disparity, or has it been a permanent sacrifice she has made for your happiness?
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