Getting Started With Part-Time Development Work? 262
fortapocalypse writes "I'm getting paid a good salary as a Java developer and the hours are great. It is also very stable, which means something in today's economy, especially with a family to feed. However, I'm very unmotivated both because of the work that I do, which is boring, and because the organization I work for is highly political, disorganized, and lacks accountability. I've done what I could to try to change things at work and have pretty much given up on that. I want to go out on my own, either starting my own company or just working as a contractor doing Java development, but I'm not sure of the best way to get started, and my family needs the stability of my current job. I'd really like to start out part-time at 5-15 hours a week to use it as supplemental income (which my family could really use at the moment), but I really don't know where to start. I doubt many contracting agencies would be interested in a part-time worker. What would you suggest for someone in my position?"
Mix Fun and Fair (Score:5, Informative)
First: keep your day job: it provides the cash your family needs. Second: forget about traditional part-time work, it usually either pays really low hourly rates, or the work consumes much more than the 5-15 hours you say you have.
Instead, look at fairsoftware.net [fairsoftware.net] (hey, if I invented it, I can brag about it). You won't earn immediate cash, instead you'll be getting equity into whatever fun software project you find. Or start your own and get more geeks to join you, also for revenue share, not upfront cash.
Financially, it's the right thing to do: have most of your base covered with salary, and an upside based on equity so that the sky's the limit. Plus it's fun.
Craigslist (Score:3, Informative)
Have you checked out Craigslist? Look at both the jobs and the "gigs" sections. I see ads for single-project development all the time as well as some ongoing stuff. I know a few people who do this sort of thing freelance full time and make a pretty penny too.
I live in one of the more tech-active areas in the country (Boulder, CO) so this may or may not apply...
I need java developers. (Score:3, Informative)
My company needs Java developers. We're looking to build a list of available contractors to do work over the next year as demand for our services grows. If you want to work in S. Florida, e-mail me.
I'm sure there are similar opportunities elsewhere. You just have to find them. A recruiter might be a good place to start.
Re:Mix Fun and Fair (Score:0, Informative)
Your question is applicable to many other professions including graphic design. I'll make a long story short for you: Keep your day job. Part time work doesn't pay the bills unless you're getting more than about $35 an hour. The only area in which I've seen someone earn a living on part time work is as a field technician doing laptop repairs. And at that, only barely (and he is making $36/hr).
I'll say it again: Don't give up your day job. However, if you want a more realistic moonlighting job, consider medical transcription. It's also a work-at-home job and involves arcane technical crap, but there's always work there.
Re:Mix Fun and Fair (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Don't. (Score:4, Informative)
What you're saying pretty much translates into 'I want to work more and get paid less.'
You forgot one important part: "while not being driven fucking insane". Being able to actually get things done without a lot of bullshit is worth a lot of money to me, and plenty of others.
Sweeping up crap after one managerial elephant parade after another can pay quite well, because jobs like that suck and really good people rarely want to waste their time like that. Taking less money for more satisfaction and less stress is, for a lot of people, a great trade.
And if the original poster is one of those people who doesn't mind being a human pooper scooper, then he should certainly become a contractor or consultant. I know one contractor who for the last 5 years has been cleaning up other people's spaghetti code at a large internet company, and grossing over $300k/year for it. And he can do that as long as he wants, because the permanent employees can always tie things in knots faster than he can untangle them.
First thing... (Score:5, Informative)
This will help you out in many ways...after all, this is a business. With incorporation, you can protect your private assets legally. And if you are wanting to 1099 contract, well most places for tax purposes, are very nervous about doing that to an individual, but are more protected by corp-2-corp contracting. This came about largely from an old MS case, where contractors came back and successfully sued for employment benefits..etc.
Another reason...TAXES...with a corporation, you get to write off many, many, many things. For example...I have an "S" corp. With this set up, I pay myself a "reasonable" salary according to IRS guidelines. I only have to pay employment taxes (SS and medicare) on this portion of the money I bring in, the rest falls through at EOY to my personal income. This can save you a great deal of money. For example...say I bill out and collect $100K a year. I pay myself a reasonable salary of say, $40K (some go lower than this). Now, I only have to pay SS and medicare on that $40K....the rest of the $60K is only subject to state/federal taxes.
You also get to write off mileage driving to/from jobsites...and many many other things lowering your 'profit' and lowering your tax rate overall.
You can also do some neat things like for health insurance...get a private policy...if you get one with a high deductible ($1200 this year?)...you can set up a Health Savings Account...and this year, you can sock away $2900 PRE-tax...pay your normal every day medical needs with this money...and what you don't use...can be invested to grow, and it is not use or lose...this money keeps going for you, and can be accessed even for non-health related expenses at retirement.
And get a CPA you trust....they can show you how to do the paperwork...it is a PITA the first couple times, but, once you get it down...no big deal. Just use something like Quickbooks pro....and do your own entries...at EOY...just send a copy of your QB stuff to your CPA...and let them deal with it (you get to write off their fees too).
Anyway....that should be the first thing you look into. Do it now if you are just considering going indie...set it up now, you don't have to use it right away...my company sat essentially dormant for 3-4 years before I started seriously using it...and all the time, I took tax breaks (quite legally) for losses in those years without income from it.
The other thing...well, get contacts....networking is your best friend. Start NOW getting in good with people. You need to have people skills.
You might also look into being a contract employee first. This will give you the taste of both worlds...and with this if you are a US citzen, you might can get into govt/DoD contracting, which is gravy. You can get LONG term contracts this way...starting out with an established place as a contract employee (make sure you get paid hourly, not salary)..they often will pick up the price of getting you a clearance. THAT can help you later on for jobs, and pay.
Anyway, good luck. ONe thing...before you make the total leap to inde...save, save, save money! You need to have some serious "Fuck You" money put back...and keep it back while contracting, not only for dry periods....but, for times when you just wanna take off 2-4 months, to do fun things or be with your kids if you like.
Re:Don't quit (Score:3, Informative)
We're at the beginning of the Second Great Depression.
And you know this ... how? Yeah, things aren't rosy. However, things were worse in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And Japan may not have recovered from its housing bubble, but it's hardly in the midst of a depression either.
Re:Mix Fun and Fair (Score:3, Informative)
replying to myself because I'm an idiot, wrong site.
RentACoder [rentacoder.com] is the site I was thinking of.
Re:First thing... (Score:1, Informative)
Another huge benefit to self-incorporating (I am another Java guy who has done this) is the fact that your corp can have its own Solo 401K plan (assuming that the corp employs just you and your wife).
S401Ks allow you to stash away FAR more money than normal company 401K plans; its > $40,000/year if you are young, a bit more if you are in your 50s.
Plus, you can choose which provider to use for your plan (I recommend investing all your money in Vanguard index funds, using Sterling Trust as the S401K administrator).
This contrasts with most company's 401K plans which use expensive non-Vanguard funds which were selected because your firm's HR people were given booze and hookers by the fund family's salesman.
Re:First thing... (Score:3, Informative)
No way. (Score:4, Informative)
While I like the idea of RentACoder or Guru, the people posting jobs on those sites are mindbogglingly cheap rubes. For example:
You have been invited by the buyer to participate in a project on http://www.rentacoder.com/ [rentacoder.com] for the following bid request:
Title:Java web application, jdbc, jsp, payment integration.
Description:Type: Web app.; Using: Java, J2EE, JDBC, JSP, MySql, Javascripts, all browsers.
Requires completing a non-disclosure agreement, NDA, to obtain full project details and percentage of deposit held in escrow to hedge against and minimize project risk.
Some of the project deliverables are:
* Integration of live/real-time payment processing
* Multi-Account registration
* Various user groups with varying access levels
* Site navigation hyperlinks
* Region specific clock and news updates
* Content management interface
* Administrator console/panel
* Dynamically generated pages and panels with scrolling content
* Password reset utility/Account lockout security feature
* Directories
* Newsletter feature
* Triggers, Auto-notification, Stored procedures
* Built in Node-aware sniffer and product licensing
* Software update-deploy utility
* Packaged executable interfacing with web application
* Search, sorts, queries and data manipulation utilities
* Consistent page design and theme
* Database design normalized for optimal performance
* Language conversion utility
* Thorough documentation
Categories:Web, Microsoft Windows, Database, Language Specific, Java, Requirements, Operating Systems / Platforms, UNIX, Internet Browser, Security, Web Services, Linux, MySQL, Java Server Pages (JSP), Search Engine Optimization, Javascript, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Software Related (Includes Websites)
Max Bid:$250
Like hell. That's a representative sample. Don't even get me started on the requests for clone sites.
Re:First thing... (Score:3, Informative)
I've been a consultant for a long time. I'm currently writing a book on the subject. My advice to the OP is to wait until april, then take a job as a W2 consultant to start. Once the increased income from consulting is coming in, use that money to incorporate and set things up the right way.
My advice, if you are seriously considering going free lance and contracting....INCORPORATE YOURSELF!!
This will help you out in many ways...after all, this is a business. With incorporation, you can protect your private assets legally.
eh, not so much. If someone really wanted to sue you, your corporate veil will provide almost no protection. That only works for large corporations with large boards of directors who are making decisions as a group. If it's just you, they can easily pierce your corporation because it's obvious that you're making all the decisions. Instead, carry the proper liability insurance, and incorporate for the tax benefits.
And if you are wanting to 1099 contract, well most places for tax purposes, are very nervous about doing that to an individual, but are more protected by corp-2-corp contracting.
Body shops don't care about this. They're happy to work with you on 1099. It's a bad idea though. You'll get roasted on taxes.
This came about largely from an old MS case, where contractors came back and successfully sued for employment benefits..etc.
This is why most companies won't hire consultants directly, instead going through body shops.
You can also do some neat things like for health insurance...get a private policy...if you get one with a high deductible ($1200 this year?)...you can set up a Health Savings Account...and this year, you can sock away $2900 PRE-tax...pay your normal every day medical needs with this money...and what you don't use...can be invested to grow, and it is not use or lose...this money keeps going for you, and can be accessed even for non-health related expenses at retirement.
You're doing it wrong. (at least if you have a family) Private health insurance sucks. It's ridiculously expensive and doesn't cover anything. They won't even insure three of my children. Instead, switch to article C, then use an employer of record service and become their employee. Have the service bill your corporation for the time that you work. The money you pay to the employer of record is an expense and isn't taxed on the corporate side. The paycheck you get from the employer of record has normal withholding. You can adjust how much you send to the employer of record, but the lower limit with mine is $60k a year. They charge me 3% for the service which is made up for through tax savings from medical expenses, so it's free. I also get access to a 401k (over and above the SEP IRA limits) and their GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE.
You might also look into being a contract employee first. This will give you the taste of both worlds...and with this if you are a US citzen, you might can get into govt/DoD contracting, which is gravy. You can get LONG term contracts this way...starting out with an established place as a contract employee (make sure you get paid hourly, not salary)..they often will pick up the price of getting you a clearance. THAT can help you later on for jobs, and pay.
I agree, avoid salaried employment with a consulting firm. It truly is the worst of both worlds. But W2 hourly is a good way to start.
Anyway, good luck. ONe thing...before you make the total leap to inde...save, save, save money! You need to have some serious "Fuck You" money put back...and keep it back while contracting, not only for dry periods....but, for times when you just wanna take off 2-4 months, to do fun things or be with your kids if you like.
One thing that's not obvious when you first switch to consulting is where you're working in the cash flow strea
Re:First thing... (Score:5, Informative)
It's important to note that you can't spend any of that $60k on personal expenses unless you "pay" it from your corporation to yourself. In which case you DO have to pay all applicable taxes and whatnot."
Wrong. You are thinking about a normal "C" corporation. With a "S" corporation, ALL monies fall through to your personal tax form...so, yes, you very well can spend it like any other income. The S corp was set up so that you don't get the double taxation like you get with a regular corp. It is for small business (ideal for single perosn business). I pay these funds to myself from the corporation as my 'dividends' as being the sole shareholder. As stated before...I ONLY pay fed and state taxes on that portion of money (dividends) and no SS or medicare on them. SS and medicare are only paid on the portion I pay myself as salary...this is a separate paycheck.
Re:Craigslist (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not the best time (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mix Fun and Fair (Score:4, Informative)
I agree to the keep your day job part. But if it's about money, I've done quite well taking small projects from the local Craigslist (about 15k last year in "fun" work) which will be a better option than trying to create a product on your own.
The day job pays the bills and establishes a "base" pay. The small projects have the flexibility to take things that are interesting or short or well paid or whatever. And be "creative" in what jobs you respond to. My best client right now is actually a company that was looking for some temps to do some data entry work (my wife was looking for work to fill her down-time during the summer -- she's a teacher). I looked at what they were doing and wrote some small apps to automate a lot of the data entry work. They liked my work and keep coming back to me for other projects.
As long as you are up front with them that you are working on the side and communicate well on expectations, most small companies would love to have the resources you can provide. They can't afford a full-time developer (and usually don't know what to look for if they did) and yet you can bring insight into how to help them.
Layne
Re:From the glass-is-half-full perspective... (Score:1, Informative)
It's basically impossible to time the market. Some will cry victory after the fact, but the losers (ie most folks) don't wish to think or talk about the large sums of money they lost from bad timing.
Do you think the market will go down some more? How do you know? Maybe it'll just stay flat for half a decade, possibly with some high inflation mixed in. Are you going to wait for the S&P to drop to 650 before plonking down all your cash in a lump sum? Well maybe you'll miss the boat then and the party will be over before you realize it happened. There's no way to tell, and if it were easy, then equities wouldn't carry the risk premium they do.
This is my first year ever investing into the market. Before this I was in debt, or simply didn't make enough to worry about, or just blew the money (in my early years, yeah). Then I started saving up as much as I could (over 60% of my net income) by living frugally and kept it in bank CDs... not the ideal investment but it saved me from the great crash of 2008. Of course I had to start investing at some point... first into bonds because they're fairly safe and every asset allocation needs some. But then I fucked up a bit on the equities because I invested about $10K at the end of September '08, right before *another* 25% drop in the market. I still have quite a bit left sitting in a money market fund (maybe $60K now, more as time goes on) but I'm all too aware that I'll never get the timing right, and I'm glad that my first experience was a bad one, because those are the ones you learn from.
There are strategies you can use to invest, like DCA, DVA, checking P/E ratios, etc. They won't tell you exactly when to invest a big lump sum, but they'll help minimize the risk.
BTW, the stock market tends to recover before the economy does, historically. And re: the Japan scenario... there's nothing stopping you from investing into the global stock market as a whole instead of overweighing your own country. VTWSX is a good place to start, especially if you have to have a taxable account in addition to whatever you can cram into an IRA (as most 401k's are apparently chock-full of high fees and low in good funds).