The Many Ways Software Engineers Can Go Independent
There are more ways than you think.
When I talk about software engineers becoming solopreneurs, it’s typically interpreted in one of these ways:
You bootstrap a small SaaS or development tool product.
You start freelancing.
You become a consultant, helping companies in something you deeply specialize in.
But the reality is more diverse (and also messy). There are many more opportunities. Most importantly, you don’t need to limit yourself to one thing: you can bet on multiple options at the same time.
I’m going to try to cover all of the different ways you can go independent. In some cases, the definitions are not fully established yet, but I’ll do my best to describe them.
Services
This is where you sell your time. Your income directly depends on the amount of time you’re willing to spend.
I know freelancing immediately comes to mind for many people. Freelancing can mean slightly different things, but I define it as project-based work that doesn’t necessarily require extensive experience or a particular skillset. Historically (and it’s probably still the case today), freelancing was a way for companies to save money: instead of hiring someone full-time, just hire a freelancer to deliver a project. It’s typically a low-engagement activity (it’s possible you don’t even talk to a freelancer). I recommend avoiding it if possible.
Instead, position yourself as a consultant. An expert in a certain domain. Unfortunately, it’s hard to become a consultant at the beginning of your career; first, you need to put in the hours. But as a result, you’ll be able to sell your services at a rate that’s higher than that of a full-time employee.
There are different types of consulting engagements:
Retainers. Typically, you make a commitment for a client to dedicate 10-30 hours a week. You can be pretty embedded in a team (see fractional below) or work on solo projects.
Project deliverables. You’re hired to deliver a certain project. The hours can really fluctuate, but they’re not as important as shipping the final result.
Productized services. Similar to project deliverables, but based on what you offer. For example, you may offer a security audit, a performance investigation, or a cloud cost audit. These can be relevant for many different companies.
You may have also heard about roles that start with “Fractional”: Fractional CTO, Fractional CFO, Fractional Data Architect, Fractional ML Engineer, etc. To me, that generally sounds like a Consultant with a retainer who’s tightly integrated with the team.
Matthias Endler (Corrode) is a great example of a software engineer turning consultant.
Products
This is where you sell your products. Your income DOES NOT directly depend on the amount of time you’re willing to spend.
Historically, during the SaaS boom, many engineers began building small SaaS products. It sounds simple: find a niche, build something useful and start monetizing it. The reality can be much more challenging, especially when you’re bootstrapping it solo.
In the past few years, I noticed the explosion of development tooling, either with subscription pricing or licensing. Developers can be a tough crowd to sell to, but if you nail the developer experience and build something useful, you can definitely conquer a market segment.
Another popular way to sell products is through marketplaces: custom themes, plugins, etc. I heard about successful businesses specializing in Shopify plugins, for example.
Michael Drogalis (ShadowTraffic) is a great example of a software engineer building a development tool product.
Education
I decided to make this a separate section, but practically, you end up either selling your time (services) or building an educational resource (products). My reason to keep it separate: in the case of services or products above, your goal is still software engineering. But here the goal shifts to teaching others about software engineering.
I believe that a straightforward way to start is using the knowledge you gained from building a product or a service. If the product is successful, or your consulting practice has a lot of happy customers, there is a high chance that some things you learned along the way can be useful to others.
There are a few different types of offerings here:
Training (a service). Can be online or offline. Typically, you work with a team or company. Some amount of customization is possible.
Bootcamp (a service). Generally, a public program. Can be a few intense days or 6-8-10 weeks of ~hourly sessions + homework.
Online course (a product). On-demand resource.
An important realization: the same content can be used for any of these!
Mentoring or coaching is another option. It’s typically done in a 1:1 format, although I’ve had experience with team mentoring as well. Websites like MentorCruise can be a good way to start.
I’m going to use myself as an example here: I launched Data Streaming Academy a few months ago.
Crowdfunding
I’m still not sure if crowdfunding is the right word, but it’s the best I could come up with. GitHub sponsorships. Patreon subscriptions. Paid newsletters. Paid communities. All of these are also applicable to software engineers.
GitHub sponsorship is a big one. If you work on a popular project, there is a high chance that many companies (and users) are willing to support you. Starting from scratch can be really challenging, though.
Paid newsletters really exploded in the last few years (thanks to Substack). I acknowledge that regular writing is not something that every software engineer enjoys doing, but it’s an important skill to master anyway. Finding the right niche can be tricky: keep your topics very generic and you get a lot of competition, keep your topics hyper-specialized, and you get a very small audience.
Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer) is a great example of a software engineer turning newsletter author.
Products > Services?
Some entrepreneurs position services as a level below products. I’ve seen this take: first, you build your skills, network and a strong services business; then you build another level on top of that, and productionize your skills as a product. It can be an educational product, like an online course or a SaaS / development tool product.
The reasoning here is simple: there are only so many hours in a day, and your income as a solopreneur is limited if you only offer services. And product income doesn’t directly depend on the number of hours you invest in it.
But I find products much harder to build. Finding product market fit is hard. Marketing and sales matter much more. In the end, you need to balance income and happiness, and many people prefer to stick to consulting (and other services) because it’s a somewhat simpler path.
Growing a Business
It’s possible to turn almost all the paths I identified in this post into bigger businesses.
If you have a successful consulting business and strong client demand, you can start hiring employees and dividing the work. Eventually you can focus on the business side of things 100%, if you want.
Having a strong, profitable product with an established market fit can be a great target for many VC firms. However, not all businesses can be VC-funded: some, by design, don’t assume rapid growth.
Instead of a Summary
If you started a consulting business, it doesn’t mean you can’t also launch a product. Or vice versa. Building a consulting business with a big network makes it possible to turn some knowledge into an online course or a training.
There are really no rules here. Everyone is trying to figure out what they’re good at and what’s interesting for others.
But what I like most about this journey is that you don’t need to ask for permission. Every day, you just try to figure out the next most important thing to address. Small steps compound over time.