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Ask HN: From dreaming to doing

4 pointsby kyledalmost 9 years ago
For people who started their own business, what was the final thought that triggered you to go for it? Did you dip your toes in by starting a project as a hobby, or did you take the plunge and leave your job behind to work full time? Did you get funded or was it self funded? Have any regrets or words of advice?<p>Due to health reasons, I can&#x27;t put in extra hours on the side , so I&#x27;m heavily considering cutting back my normal work hours to invest in a few ideas I have.<p>I miss freelancing and the feeling of owning a project.

2 comments

pedalpetealmost 9 years ago
I got started because I couldn&#x27;t get another job, taught myself to code and one of my ideas that I was working on learning to code turned into a biz.<p>From there, I&#x27;ve had multiple projects, I don&#x27;t like calling them businesses until they are. It&#x27;s just a project I work on on the side.<p>You say due to health reasons you can&#x27;t put in extra hours on the side, I&#x27;d say focus on your health as #1.<p>Would your employer give you 20% time to work on a side project? Would that work for you?
brudgersalmost 9 years ago
Building projects of one&#x27;s own design is significantly different from freelancing. A freelancer finds people who will [hopefully] pay money for services. Building a product means finding a product that people will pay for. It&#x27;s a lot easier to build something people won&#x27;t pay for than a product they will pay for.<p>One way to look at it is that a freelancer sells the work before performing it. A product still has to be sold after all the work is done.<p>Anyway, I went out on my own when the economy tanked and my employer was sinking. I was just another rat fleeing the ship.<p>Good luck.