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Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#221

Post by MrFoof »

aiisjustanif wrote: post #210
abakker wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are certainly allowed to buy a car, fix it, and sell it.

Not at a profit, iirc correctly. Taxes and dealer license comes into play.

So here's the crazy thing -- if you pay taxes on the profit you earn, like everything else, your state tends to not care and treats it like any other business.

Though in my state, in excess of 5 vehicles per year they start to care, and prefer you hold a surety bond -- which as of a few months ago, I do for an amount well in excess of the transaction price of the vehicles I typically sell. I also now have a dealer plate, which never goes on anything because some buyers would get weird if they saw one.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#222

Post by tyingq »

gulleyd wrote: post #209
grecy wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. A friend buys and restores old Porsche 911s. He will pay anything for custom made parts that are rare as hens teeth. As an example there is a housing around the main cooling fan that seems to be titanium or aluminum or something very exotic. [1] A company does sell a replacement, which he paid a fortune for, which had garbage tolerances and we spent weeks modifying it until it fit more or less well enough. I su…

I would actually like to hear a little more about why the tolerances were poor. Were the major diameters the issue here? I could see a lot of adjustment happening on a car-to-car basis to get concentricity between the alternator fan and the shroud just right. I have very little experience with Porsches, but am a coordinate metrologist for a major aerospace parts manufacturer. I don't see something like this being a h…

Probably some entrepreneur ordering them in small quantities from China from a place that makes frying pans one day, car parts the next.

I used to order a lot of custom things from China. Took a lot of trial and error to find good suppliers. They only accept bank wire as payment, so they risk little other than repeat business if they choose to be sloppy.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#223

Post by rossenberg79 »

cgriswald wrote: post #34
rossenberg79 wrote: post #3

I woodwork at a local makershop, I started out making random things for my home and when I no longer had ideas for other stuff I wanted I’d make things and give them away for free to friends. Eventually other people wanted to know if I can make them custom pieces so I began doing it for money, mostly to cover cost of materials and a bit of time for labor. Not making big money from it but it’s fulfilling work and good…

How did you get started? I've been wanting to get into this for awhile, but find myself procrastinating mostly out of uncertainty and fear of failure; but somewhat out of just having no idea where I should start, what tools I need to start, and what is achievable for a beginner.

I started by watching Youtube videos. My first project was a modern bench built out of 2x4s, I picked a project that didn't require too many tools or advanced cuts of wood, and could be put together with wood glue. I also learned how to sand and finish wood to a professional finish. I then built this same bench again but better, learning from mistakes I had made. Then I went on to learn how other tools worked like jointers, planers, routers, bandsaws and learned about joinery. I then kept doing more advanced projects and seeking out more exotic woods to work with, such as walnut.

There's not much failure in woodworking as a hobby, if what you build isn't great just toss it out and try again. It doesn't matter much if you're just building cheap pinewood prototypes. Perhaps the only failure would be like losing a finger on a table saw or ruining very expensive wood.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#224

Post by scarface74 »

About 10 years ago and ten years into my career, I had been working and stayed at the same job way too long and both my salary and career stagnated.

I had two part time money making side projects. I was a part time fitness instructor and had some rental real estate.

Teaching fitness classes was fun, I made a lot of friends, and it gave me a release valve from working at a computer all day. Real estate was a headache.

Around 2008 -2011, a few things happened. The real estate market crashed and I did a few “strategic defaults”, I realized I could make a lot more by getting better at software engineering and job hopping, and I got married and gained a wife and two (step) children.

I gave up all of my side projects, concentrated on my career, started building a network of recruiters, former coworkers, and former managers and doubled my income over the next 8 years (not bragging, I still make about the average of principal engineer/architect/team lead in my area).

Even looking over the next two to five years, I should be able to increase my income by 50% (working for local companies) to well over 100% (if I can get into Amazon) as some type of cloud consultant, “digital transformation consultant”, or “Architect”. The only thing stopping me now is the travel requirements. I want to wait until my youngest completes high school.

But, that means I can’t juggle my job, family commitments, working out, filling in some technical gaps and a side job/business.

So no side business.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#225

Post by [deleted] »

travbrack wrote: post #199
pmorici wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, there is no law anywhere in the US prohibiting you from selling a used car in a private transaction.

It's illegal in my state to sell a car for the purpose of making a profit as an individual without a dealer license, and there's a limit of 4 per year. https://dor.wa.gov/get-form-or-publication/publications-subj...

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#226

Post by MarceColl »

singingwolfboy wrote: post #218

I’m a hypnotist. Most of my clients are through word-of-mouth referrals, although I do have a website, as well. It’s an unusual skill that I developed over many years, and I enjoy being able to help people. It’s a fun conversation topic at parties, as well. :)

What kind of things do you help people with?

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#228

Post by youshy »

Used to teach music part-time (guitar, theory, composition, recording, production, everything), ended up working +20hr every week teaching only + full-time job. Dialled it down but I do sometimes teach in small groups via Skype.

Now I do a bit of consulting, helping bands with production, composition and chops in general. The plan is to get back to teaching but only through apps.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#229

Post by DamnInteresting »

I established DamnInteresting.com in 2005, a place where myself and handful of others produce original long-form non-fiction in article and podcast form. Despite plenty of traffic, it didn't reach the break-even point for several years, because I despise advertisements and I refused to add them to my site. I funded the project in other ways, such as donations, publishing a book, licensing content, etc.

Nowadays it still only earns a little every month, but that's mostly owing to a rise in expenses (e.g., I pay the contributors more). But profit is secondary for me, my primary motive is to have an excuse to research and write this stuff, and for intelligent people to consume it.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#230

Post by holoduke »

grecy wrote: post #105
tyingq wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd look into little parts for classic cars. Almost no price sensitivity, and if you find some unmet need for a popular one... Could even be something silly, like a plastic fuse extractor tool that people will pay $50 for if it looks OEM.

This. A friend buys and restores old Porsche 911s. He will pay anything for custom made parts that are rare as hens teeth. As an example there is a housing around the main cooling fan that seems to be titanium or aluminum or something very exotic. [1] A company does sell a replacement, which he paid a fortune for, which had garbage tolerances and we spent weeks modifying it until it fit more or less well enough. I su…

I am into older Maserati's. Own a couple of them. I do a lot of manufacturing myself. 3d printing, cncing. The problem is that whenever I design a replacement panel, wishbones or various other stuff and try to sell them commercialy I will get sued by the original Maserati company. On a low scale it's fine, but you will never get a living out of it. The only parts which are in a gray area are rims, exhausts, filters, springs and couple of other parts.
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