Is it worth being a freelance developer (Apps,Sites)

[burritoNinja]

I've been flirting with the idea of working for myself within freelance development. I have a computer science from uni background and have worked in web development in the past. Sort of drifted away from it but now mostly focused on Java, C# development. I see that there are tons of freelance developers around and it seems most still have full time jobs. I work in the civil service now so pretty busy but it is not IT. I want to be in a software development career. One major downside to getting into that is that I have zero background in software development and despite my education I can't even really get interviews at local companies. I'm trying to research it all and I know PH has some developers here who may be able to share their experience and advices.

So bottom line, is it worth it?

[burritoNinja]

Flooble said:

From my experience, no it's not.

You may sail along happily for a while, but the paperwork overhead is significant and you will spend a lot of time working for free on proposals and also dealing with customers who are not quite sure what they want.

It may suit if you have a very particular mindset but in general it's an easier life to work for a company where there are other people to deal with a lot of the hassles (accounts department, business analysts, sales and marketing, project managers, it department etc.)

Working as a freelancer generally means everything is up to you. Which is nice from a self-reliance perspective and a PITA when you really have nowhere to turn when you could do with a hand.

If you do go for it, join IPSE or FSB for a bit of protection.

I use to work for a smaller development company and the sheer amount of time wasting "clients" we would come across was truly shocking. Most expected a free demo of nearly the entire site and expected for free, non stop consultations. I spent more time dealing with time wasters than making actual money. That was what stopped me actually working within web development. I simply got fed up with it. Though I'm not sure which direction I would take now days. Maybe just create niche apps and work on little bits of software? probably the best idea. I just want to get out there and create stuff. Will be sticking to the day job for now but will keep on researching and hopefully find a suitable avenue for me to hopefully earn money and do what I love.

[burritoNinja]

Evolved said:

If you're happy working a 9-5 for a set wage then no.

If you want variety and uncapped earning potential then go for it, you only live once and you should test yourself in life. It can be a PITA but depends entirely on your clients tbh, I've been self employed now for years and I've ditched Rubbish clients along the way and retained the ones that respect the work and my team, it pays dividends to nurture the good ones.

What platforms can you dev in? Any experience in Magento and Wordpress?

I use to develop in Wordpress but not in the past 3 years.