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I Just Launched Vue.js/JavaScript Productized Service

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

jeandearme

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Today I launched Vue.js Agency as a productized service and wanted to share it with you.

I will divide this post in two parts. First part is the sales pitch I used on IndieHackers post today (to keep it short and sweet) and the second part is the backstory of it and how I got it all together.



PART 1
What problem does it solve:
There are plenty of companies that utilize Vue.js framework today. Most of them require just some work every month. A bit of work here and there to keep their website up to date, but nothing that would justify full-time hire. And also - those long recruitment processes that take up company resources...

Typical Vue.js/Javascript developer is between $60.000 and $120.000 (and more) in the US which is roughly around $5.000 and $10.000 per month.

It just doesn't make sense to hire someone.

Typical agency? Slow and as expensive. You'd probably have to remind them about your task weeks later just to wait another couple of weeks to get it done.

No bueno.

What if there is a better way? Let me show you the solution:

Vue.js/Javascript On-Demand Development for a Flat Fee

Devjoyment solves all of those problems and more:
  • you get a proven top-level Vue.js developer for a fraction of the cost (and skip the long recruitment process)
  • it takes 2 minutes to hire and get to work the same day
  • as easy to pause or cancel
  • no binding contracts
  • fast turnaround
Haven't seen anyone else doing it so I'm also wondering about the market feedback.

You can check my website here:


PART 2
Now a little backstory:

It all started many months ago when I stumbled upon a post about building a productized service. It was when I was still working on a project so I saved it for later as a plan B in case project will end. Surprise, surprise: it did.

Not so long after project finished, I got back to his original post and was starting to read not only all I could get my hands on about his business but also about his original inspiration as well - Designjoy. Both heavily inspired my final result and I hope they won't mind it because I not only analyzed their current sites, but took the effort to take a look how they both started back in the day using web archives.

It became apparent to me that with so many websites that are using Vue.js framework most of them probably don't need a full-time developer nor might have budget to hire one just to make couple of minor updates a month.

Hiring, though, is just one of the problems - first you need to find one. Best, if he already proven himself and got some recommendations from solid sources.

All that combined with my ability to code fast made me think that it might be a good option - I never really felt good about working on hourly basis. People want results - the faster the better. That's why this model feels much better than the usual one and also works for the customer - it's in my best interest to finish it as fast as possible.

Creating the whole thing (from idea to finished product) took me around three weeks.

Some might ask: what took so long to make a simple website? Well, first of all: you don't start with one until you know what you are offering. For the last couple of months I was studying Alex Hormozi's materials, but it was Hormozi's book ("$100 million offers") about making Grand Slam Offer that made the most impact. Crafting the offer took me the most time. I first red the whole book from start to finish (to understand it) and then started reading it again but this time with notepad to write down how can I apply this to my business. Very important - offer is the king.

This is what I crafted that I based off later when creating copy for my site (excerpt from my notes - read the book to understand it better):
Problems:
  • Recruitment takes time => How to reduce recruitment time to almost zero?
  • I need a dev, but I don’t have enough work to hire him full-time => How to find a dev without hiring him full time?
  • Dev costs a lot => How to find a dev that doesn’t cost a lot?
  • I might lose money here => How not to lose money on a developer?
  • Communication problems => How to find a dev that understands business and knows how to communicate?
  • I don’t want to hire a dev full-time => How to find a dev without hiring him full time?
  • What if task is beyond deadline? => How to make sure every task is done on time?

Dream Outcome (increase):
Getting work done fast
Perceived Likelihood of Achievement (increase):
I’m Senior Developer and have proof of experience
Time Delay (decrease):
Start working with me in 2 min, get results within next 48h (fast win)
Effort & Sacrifice (decrease):
Pay -> Send a request right away
In short:
  • the Dream Outcome is to pay and get results in an instant. We strive to get as close to that point.
  • PLoA: what makes you the best choice for me? We strive to be the closest to the top player in this field.
  • Time Delay: how long it will take to see the first results? We strive to decrease the time-to-result as close to zero as possible.
  • Effort & Sacrifice: how much it will cost me (money, effort)? The less the better. The less hassle the better.
And I think I nailed all four here.

Next: developing a website (which all I knew I wanted was to have colors reminding of those use by Vue.js which is green - cobranding little trick), setting up the domain with inbox, integrating payments, Trello and Calendly took around week in total (mostly because I'm not a designer so sitting and starting at the screen was what I was doing for the most time - should've called a designer I guess). Integrations and devops stuff took me the least time. It's basically bread and butter for a dev like me.

I still look forward to improve my site, but now I just wanted to get it to the market to get some feedback and see what's what.

How the process of becoming a customer works:

It's easier than buying a t-shirt.
  1. Book a call with me and we see if we are fit for each other. Non obligatory, but probably recommended.
  2. Click 'Get Started' on the site and provide email address and payment details.
  3. Click 'Pay' and we can start immediately.
That's it!

Now, after you're successfully subscribed - magic happens. A fresh new private Trello board is getting created including introductory card and you immediately get an invite so you can start adding tasks right away. No waiting time here. It's all blitz fast. Ready for service.

What's next?
Short-term:
  • post on IndieHackers (more for promotion, less for feedback)
  • post in here (more for feedback, less for promotion)
  • post on ProductHunt (promotion) - after I get some feedback from the market
Long-term:
  • generate more traffic via Twitter (and possibly LinkedIn) via content creation
  • ???
Wondering how can I push it further. Can't afford ads right now (not sure also if I want to go that route). From what I read about two other similar services that I linked here they didn't do any advertisement and basically relied on content generation and providing value to people.

Also have some other ideas that I think about:
  • Twitch live streaming while coding (audience generation)
  • YouTube: productized service - how it looks like from the backend? (audience generation)
  • Give a to-do list of things to start productized service (it actually takes a bit of preparation to release such)
  • Create a self-serve website where you can start your own productized service with couple clicks (Shopify for productized services?)
  • Add separate 30 min consultation for $250 to Calendly? (extra source of income)
Thanks for reading! I hope it provided some value to you regarding how to build such service - if you have any questions I will be more than happy to answer all of them (technical, offer creation, branding etc.).

Last, but not least: if you have any feedback please don't hesitate to share it. I know there is a lot of room for improvement and I'm looking forward to make it better!

Also big thanks to @fastlane_dad and @NeoDialectic for words of encouragement not so long ago!
 
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voyageur.zen

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Hello, I stumbled on this thread and have a few questions:

Do you work alone (is it your freelance website) or is the website used to find Vue's developers ?
How is it different from, let's say, Upwork ?

Thanks.
 

jeandearme

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Hey Voyageur, thanks for asking!

Do you work alone (is it your freelance website) or is the website used to find Vue's developers ?
Yes, I work by myself at this moment and it's me that is doing all the coding work. In the future I will gauge if I want to continue doing it by myself or actually hire extra people.

How is it different from, let's say, Upwork ?

It's a bit different from UpWork:
  • you don't pay by the hour or per task -> no surprise when it comes to the final cost at the end of the month
  • you can basically start in 2 minutes -> after subscribing you immediately get access to your Trello board and can start listing tasks, no limits here
  • you get a proven skilled professional with LinkedIn recommendations (which I personally find more valuable than UpWork's, but that's probably a matter of taste) for a fraction of the actual price
 

voyageur.zen

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Hey Voyageur, thanks for asking!


Yes, I work by myself at this moment and it's me that is doing all the coding work. In the future I will gauge if I want to continue doing it by myself or actually hire extra people.



It's a bit different from UpWork:
  • you don't pay by the hour or per task -> no surprise when it comes to the final cost at the end of the month
  • you can basically start in 2 minutes -> after subscribing you immediately get access to your Trello board and can start listing tasks, no limits here
  • you get a proven skilled professional with LinkedIn recommendations (which I personally find more valuable than UpWork's, but that's probably a matter of taste) for a fraction of the actual price
Interesting ! Yes, I see what you're going for. It's clever. So how did you determine a flat fee ? Just based on experience, you know that the work on a website will not be longer than a few hours for instance ?
 
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jeandearme

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Interesting ! Yes, I see what you're going for. It's clever. So how did you determine a flat fee ? Just based on experience, you know that the work on a website will not be longer than a few hours for instance ?
I basically cut the salary of a Senior Vue.js/JavaScript developer in half (more or less) and another thing is that I code really fast so it makes more sense for me to go that way instead of hours (which also limit upside potential).
 

jeandearme

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Short update:
- I started cold emailing Webflow agencies since I got to know they often deal with custom JavaScript code. I sent manually over 300 of them, got handful of responses and no customer (nor a single booked call).

Not really sure what to do next. I'm looking at https://www.getcyberleads.com/#pricing after getting first customer so they can provide quality leads.

I know my service is needed in many places, yet I don't seem to be able to tap into the proper pond.
 

smarty

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Short update:
- I started cold emailing Webflow agencies since I got to know they often deal with custom JavaScript code. I sent manually over 300 of them, got handful of responses and no customer (nor a single booked call).

Not really sure what to do next. I'm looking at https://www.getcyberleads.com/#pricing after getting first customer so they can provide quality leads.

I know my service is needed in many places, yet I don't seem to be able to tap into the proper pond.
Hey @jeandearme I remember I came across your site a month or two ago (I can't remember where I saw it first) and I thought it is a very interesting concept and the site was cool. I even talked to one of my office colleagues about how cool that concept is. Now I'm back on this forum after a few years of pause, and I see your post. How nice! I'm a full-stack (but mostly backend) dev myself.
I am kinda surprised that there are no more updates on the thread since February, I thought it had potential. Were you able to take it off? Are you still continuing that project? Just curious.
 
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jeandearme

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Hey @jeandearme I remember I came across your site a month or two ago (I can't remember where I saw it first) and I thought it is a very interesting concept and the site was cool. I even talked to one of my office colleagues about how cool that concept is. Now I'm back on this forum after a few years of pause, and I see your post. How nice! I'm a full-stack (but mostly backend) dev myself.
I am kinda surprised that there are no more updates on the thread since February, I thought it had potential. Were you able to take it off? Are you still continuing that project? Just curious.
Hi Smarty,

I didn't put any updates because I frankly didn't had not even much - ANY success.

To start with cold emailing 1200 web dev companies around the world to have maybe three replies and not have even one booked call. After 3 months I realized that productizing such service is much MUCH harder that design ones for example. People probably were not really sure what they are getting and probably offer wasn't clear enough. I tried different ways, including affiliate marketing but nothing really worked - so I changed it to value-based and left it alone as for if someone will find my agency, they can email me.

It was interesting experiment, met some new people, but was a real success. Maybe for the better so I can focus on better opportunities now.
 

buscus.stan

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hi jeandearme, this is an interesting idea, I'm sorry it doesn't yet prove successful

I'm a coder as well, and I've been freelancing for over 15 years (both alone and in a small teams)

A few things I noticed in these years:
* I don't think we've ever got a good client through cold calling/emailing or other traditional marketing approaches. It was always through Upwork like platforms, through recommendations or people seeing our open-source work, profiles and so on

* the "I code really fast" assumption could be subjective and come back and bite you. If you could set the fee after you glance at the codebase, see some specs, requirements and so on you'd be able to get a better estimate of your effort. You can never image what crappy code I've seen and inherited over the years. The kind of code that makes a grown man cry and want to find the previous devs and beat them with the keyboard

* my biggest problem with working on multiple small projects at one time is context switching. Unless you are tremendously disciplined, switching through a few projects a day can be mentally exhausting. Each project/client comes with their own set of problems, solutions, biases and whatever and every time you switch you have to unload and load a new context. I found out that I lost a lot of time with context switching even though I'm pretty good at it. When you charge by the hour it's ok, when you charge a flat fee or per task/project you're loosing precious energy. Add in the mix managing a few more freelancers to "help" you and that's not going to be easy

I hope my words don't discourage you in any way, this is just what I've seen over the years in similar situations
good luck!
 

jeandearme

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hi jeandearme, this is an interesting idea, I'm sorry it doesn't yet prove successful

Hi Cristi, yes, idea was a spin-off on Designjoy, but design seems to be much easier to perform consistently in the same time. Was an interesting experiment, maybe the execution wasn't there.
I'm a coder as well, and I've been freelancing for over 15 years (both alone and in a small teams)

A few things I noticed in these years:
* I don't think we've ever got a good client through cold calling/emailing or other traditional marketing approaches. It was always through Upwork like platforms, through recommendations or people seeing our open-source work, profiles and so on

Surprisingly, I get to hear that Upwork actually works - would you mind to dive deeper on that one? Most offers are so low ball that it's even discouraging to make my offer that will be much higher (but still a normal price outside Upwork). I made a profile lately on Fiverr because they changed and improved significantly and are no longer $5/pop marketplace.

* the "I code really fast" assumption could be subjective and come back and bite you. If you could set the fee after you glance at the codebase, see some specs, requirements and so on you'd be able to get a better estimate of your effort. You can never image what crappy code I've seen and inherited over the years. The kind of code that makes a grown man cry and want to find the previous devs and beat them with the keyboard

Yes, also one of the reasons to actually get off the retainer idea - productizing such custom work should be reconsidered from the get go. Instead, it took me 4 months to realize that.

* my biggest problem with working on multiple small projects at one time is context switching. Unless you are tremendously disciplined, switching through a few projects a day can be mentally exhausting. Each project/client comes with their own set of problems, solutions, biases and whatever and every time you switch you have to unload and load a new context. I found out that I lost a lot of time with context switching even though I'm pretty good at it. When you charge by the hour it's ok, when you charge a flat fee or per task/project you're loosing precious energy. Add in the mix managing a few more freelancers to "help" you and that's not going to be easy

This. That's why my agency is now only custom quoting. Basically, it means I let it hang out there and if someone wants me to do their project they have to email me and review the project to be done. Then I will price it value-based or custom quote, but for sure it won't be cheap. I'd rather have one-two clients that are long term than many small ones (as you said).

I hope my words don't discourage you in any way, this is just what I've seen over the years in similar situations
good luck!
It's okay, part of the path. Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it
 
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buscus.stan

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Surprisingly, I get to hear that Upwork actually works - would you mind to dive deeper on that one? Most offers are so low ball that it's even discouraging to make my offer that will be much higher (but still a normal price outside Upwork). I made a profile lately on Fiverr because they changed and improved significantly and are no longer $5/pop marketplace.
It does work. And Fiverr also. And freelancer.com It's not easy to start and establish a profile and a reputation, but once you have some jobs done it gets easier. I was on both sides on upwork for a while, both looking for jobs and hiring people. There are a lot of tutorials on how to start on Upwork, they explain much better than I could what to do, but here are my main takeaways:
yes, most offers are so low that you feel like you can't compete. But, as clients are screening you, you are screening them also. You most probably don't want to work for those that are looking for a bargain anyway. There are some clients that understand that value comes at a price. Usually most learn the hard way, after they pay next to nothing to a developer or agency from a less developed country, they realize that the deliverables were exactly what they paid for and start looking for serious developers that know what they are doing. Most of my clients were like that and most of the projects I inherited were handed over from teams in East Asia or South America.

I see you live in Poland, so your cost of living is a little lower than Western Europe and the US. So you can start at a lower rate and still be worth it. Your main competitors are devs from the Balkans, (Ukrainians and Russians used to be fierce competition, but probably aren't that much these days). So when you look through the offers, look for devs in that area and how they price themselves. You cannot compete with devs in Bangladesh that can charge $10/h and still make a killing. And also be true to yourself. If you know this is your worth, this is your value, ask for it and then prove it.

to have it easier, you need a couple of good reviews from completed jobs. You could mention in the bid you make, something like "i'm trying to build my profile here on upwork, so you will get top talent at a lower rate, I hope you can appreciate this"

it's been a few years since I activated on upwork, I know things have changed a bit. They introduced a way to limit the number of jobs you can apply to, because people were abusing and applying to hundreds of jobs and basically spamming everything.

Now, from the other side, I posted about a dozen jobs, I read about 1000 bids, messaged about 150 and interviewed about 50 people. I ended up hiring 6 people and out of those 2 were great, 2 were decent and 2 were shit (and managed to trick me). I'm saying this so you know that most clients know how much crap they have to dig through to get a diamond.

A few tapas:
* don't be offended if someone asks for a tech exercise. Even if it's for free. Be proud that you can showcase your expertise. But also don't go above and beyond to solve the exercise, apply the 80/20 rule
* when you write your bid, have a template, but personalize it, don't just copy/paste it and throw it there. Read the job description and try to understand it. As a client it's very easy to spot the bids that didn't even read the job posting
* never start your bid with Dear Sir or Madam :))

If you feel lucky, why not try marketplaces like toptal or turing. They work similar to a huge agency. When you're in, they help you find jobs suitable to your skills and usually at high rates. The interview to get in is hardcore, you really need to know your shit, but once in, you'll be at the top.

Having said the above, I will also say, that this is not fastlane. You are selling your knowledge and expertise, but in reality you are selling time. As a freelancer, you are the product. And you cannot be scaled. You cannot work more than 40-50h per week for sustained period of time and you will never increase your rate to €1000 per hour. I did an intro post a couple of years ago, parts of it might apply to you (skip over the "I will do", I was just lying to myself and after two years I still haven't merged the fastlane, I'm still action faking)

This. That's why my agency is now only custom quoting. Basically, it means I let it hang out there and if someone wants me to do their project they have to email me and review the project to be done. Then I will price it value-based or custom quote, but for sure it won't be cheap. I'd rather have one-two clients that are long term than many small ones (as you said).

I'm glad you see it this way :) And there is more! Usually small clients will only have you as the dev team. That means that everything is on you and you have to pretty much offer 24/7 availability. Even if you don't actually have to do anything, just offering that availability comes at a cost, but it's cost most devs and clients don't understand it. It's the cost of never being able to leave on vacation without your laptop, never really having a day off. Like I said, you don't have to work weekends, but you have to be there. This can happen with larger clients too if you're the only tech person, but usually there would be a small dev team that can share the load and the availability.

My ideal situation now is to have two part-time projects, 80h/month each. You're basically diversifying your risks. You have safety, if one falls through you still have the other to pay the bills while looking for work. If you still have one project, you don't have to jump on the first opportunity, you can look until you find something you like. But 80h/m projects are not easy to find, most companies need either 20-40h or full time.

ok, I think I wrote enough :) hope this helps you
 
Last edited:

jeandearme

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It does work. And Fiverr also. And freelancer.com It's not easy to start and establish a profile and a reputation, but once you have some jobs done it gets easier. I was on both sides on upwork for a while, both looking for jobs and hiring people. There are a lot of tutorials on how to start on Upwork, they explain much better than I could what to do, but here are my main takeaways:
yes, most offers are so low that you feel like you can't compete. But, as clients are screening you, you are screening them also. You most probably don't want to work for those that are looking for a bargain anyway. There are some clients that understand that value comes at a price. Usually most learn the hard way, after they pay next to nothing to a developer or agency from a less developed country, they realize that the deliverables were exactly what they paid for and start looking for serious developers that know what they are doing. Most of my clients were like that and most of the projects I inherited were handed over from teams in East Asia or South America.

I see you live in Poland, so your cost of living is a little lower than Western Europe and the US. So you can start at a lower rate and still be worth it. Your main competitors are devs from the Balkans, (Ukrainians and Russians used to be fierce competition, but probably aren't that much these days). So when you look through the offers, look for devs in that area and how they price themselves. You cannot compete with devs in Bangladesh that can charge $10/h and still make a killing. And also be true to yourself. If you know this is your worth, this is your value, ask for it and then prove it.

to have it easier, you need a couple of good reviews from completed jobs. You could mention in the bid you make, something like "i'm trying to build my profile here on upwork, so you will get top talent at a lower rate, I hope you can appreciate this"

it's been a few years since I activated on upwork, I know things have changed a bit. They introduced a way to limit the number of jobs you can apply to, because people were abusing and applying to hundreds of jobs and basically spamming everything.

Now, from the other side, I post about a dozen jobs, I read about 1000 bids, message about 150 and interviewed about 50 people. I ended up hiring 6 people and out of those 2 were great, 2 were decent and 2 were shit (and managed to trick me). I'm saying this so you know that most clients know how much crap they have to dig through to get a diamond.

A few tapas:
* don't be offended if someone asks for a tech exercise. Even if it's for free. Be proud that you can showcase your expertise. But also don't go above and beyond to solve the exercise, apply the 80/20 rule
* when you write your bid, have a template, but personalize it, don't just copy/paste it and throw it there. Read the job description and try to understand it. As a client it's very easy to spot the bids that didn't even read the job posting
* never start your bid with Dear Sir or Madam :))

Man, this whole post you wrote deserves a separate thread. A lot of gold in there!

Just this first quarter of 2023 I did like 3 tech exercises just to fill up my GitHub more, but now I reject those for two reasons:
- I have enough code on my GH to not need it
- if someone wants tech exercise, they are looking for a hire, not a freelancer. I'm very cautious of that so no one micromanages me and tells me what times should I work at.

Loved the Dear Sir or Madam tip

If you feel lucky, why not try marketplaces like toptal or turing. They work similar to a huge agency. When you're in, they help you find jobs suitable to your skills and usually at high rates. The interview to get in is hardcore, you really need to know your shit, but once in, you'll be at the top.

Having said the above, I will also say, that this is not fastlane. You are selling your knowledge and expertise, but in reality you are selling time. As a freelancer, you are the product. And you cannot be scaled. You cannot work more than 40-50h per week for sustained period of time and you will never increase your rate to €1000 per hour. I did an intro post a couple of years ago, parts of it might apply to you (skip over the "I will do", I was just lying to myself and after two years I still haven't merged the fastlane, I'm still action faking)

That's why I'm not even try to do that. Just working my a$$ off to land in the (well paid) slowlane. Thankfully, I got a freelancing project (30h/week) which is 5x of my living expenses so I can focus with the rest of my time on scalable business. After 3 months I will be covered for the next year in the worst case scenario. Keeping those expenses down as long as I can, too.

I'm glad you see it this way :) And there is more! Usually small clients will only have you as the dev team. That means that everything is on you and you have to pretty much offer 24/7 availability. Even if you don't actually have to do anything, just offering that availability comes at a cost, but it's cost most devs and clients don't understand it. It's the cost of never being able to leave on vacation without your laptop, never really having a day off. Like I said, you don't have to work weekends, but you have to be there. This can happen with larger clients too if you're the only tech person, but usually there would be a small dev team that can share the load and the availability.

I just hope this is my last client! I'm working on other stuff so I can earn same or less, but without doing any coding anymore (yup, trying to get out of it) for anyone - eventually I'd only code my stuff or nothing.

My ideal situation now is to have two part-time projects, 80h/month each. You're basically diversifying your risks. You have safety, if one falls through you still have the other to pay the bills while looking for work. If you still have one project, you don't have to jump on the first opportunity, you can look until you find something you like. But 80h/m projects are not easy to find, most companies need either 20-40h or full time.
Yes, that definitely sounds like a nice and safe setup.

ok, I think I wrote enough :) hope this helps you
It was very informative. Thank you, Dear Sir :D
 

buscus.stan

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Dear Sir or Madam, :)

if someone wants tech exercise, they are looking for a hire, not a freelancer. I'm very cautious of that so no one micromanages me and tells me what times should I work at.
that is true, someone that asks for a tech exercise is likely looking for a long(er) commitment. But longer commitments are not necessarily bad. As you get used to the client, requirements, codebase you become more efficient, and lower the mental load thus saving some of the energy for your pursuits. Similar to intra-day context switching, switching between clients/projects every couple of weeks can be taxing on your mental energy. Another advantage is that you usually get to work on more involved features, you learn more dev stuff but slowly you learn product, a bit of business, a bit of management and you get to be involved at different levels in the business. I know I'm leaning a bit more towards contracting than freelancing, both have their merits and different people respond better doing one of the other. They are not mutually exclusive anyway, you can do both at the same time.

That's why I'm not even try to do that. Just working my a$$ off to land in the (well paid) slowlane. Thankfully, I got a freelancing project (30h/week) which is 5x of my living expenses so I can focus with the rest of my time on scalable business. After 3 months I will be covered for the next year in the worst case scenario. Keeping those expenses down as long as I can, too.
I think you're spot on. This has been my struggle for the past few years. Since I have a lot of experience in coding, managing teams and products and stuff, I am well paid. But it's a trap! And I want more! And when I say more, I don't mean more money, I mean more autonomy, more freedom, something else. But it's hard to motivate myself to work on my own projects for free when I can work for good money. It's a trap, you spotted it. I know it too and I'm trying to avoid it.
If you have a 30h/w, I think you could hold on to it after the 3 months you mention and stack more savings. As you start earning some money from your entrepreneurial endeavors, lower the 30h/w to put more effort towards your business. And don't bother with upwork or the rest, your initial investment is quite high if you plan to stop freelancing in the near future. Good luck!
 
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