Ask HN: 3.5 months to make 2,000 USD/month - what should I do?

[throwbackme]

Hello HN community

Throw-away account here, for privacy reasons. I got expelled from the university due to irreversible actions and I now have about 3.5 months to make 2000 USD/month to live more or less independently. I have no clue how I should make money.

I'm a business guy, but eager to program (few programming classes at university). So what's my best bet here? Learning just as much so that I can launch a SaaS app or try to freelance with my limited knowledge? Should I get into affiliate marketing, just to make money?

I can't see my other skills that worthwhile because sites like Elance have super cheap workers (with whom I can't compete with financially) with similar skills.

Working a "normal" job (waiter etc.) will be an option after 3.5 months, but I want to see whether I can make something work myself.

I appreciate any input!

[viscanti]

Is there anything stopping you from doing both? Can you work a "normal" job during the day, and code at night? What's your business background (that makes you a "business guy")?

I found that when I was just learning to code, I wasn't able to absorb more than 2 or 3 hours of material every day. It would have been a waste of time for me to "just" do that. Working a "normal" job during the day could help you extend your runway a bit. It really depends on where you are right now skill wise. There can be a lot to learn about launching a SaaS, much more if you still need to develop a viable idea. Affiliate marketing is fairly well arbitraged. People make money there, but there can be a costly learning curve up front (you'll be spending a lot more than you make until you figure some things out).

Lots of places around the country are hiring developers. Depending on your skill level, that could be a viable path. You could spend the next month or two learning/networking and put yourself in a good position there. A lot of things depend on what you can already do, and not knowing that, it's hard to say exactly what you should do.

[throwbackme]

1.5 year business degree, with some side-"businesses" on my own (i.e. needed a bike, asked the shop owner whether I could re-design his homepage, he agreed, I outsourced the job and got the bike at 95% reduced price).

I do have (simple) ideas for possible Saas Apps (who doesn't? :) ) - but I'm not sure whether I can make them work financially, so I'm kinda trying to estimate my chances before diving in too deep.

[diolpah]

Sounds like you have a very solid skillset at such things as getting kicked out of school for excessive partying, and being a middle-man who produces no actual value yourself.

You may want to look into the burgeoning field of management consulting, or possibly sales.

[throwbackme]

I didn't get kicked out for excessive partying.

[TimSchumann]

Investing your time wisely is working at whatever you can to make however much or little money as you can right now. You can't 'go back' and wait tables for the 3.5 months you have covered right now.

Take those 3.5 months, wait tables, AND code. Trust me as someone who's done both coding and waiting tables - in all likelihood even a mediocre service industry job collecting tips will eclipse your coding income for 2/3 years - Especially in your situation.

Don't make the mistake of thinking you're 'wasting' time waiting tables, what you're doing is turning that 3.5 month cushion into a 1 year cushion by maximizing your earning potential NOW.

Probably not what you want to hear, but my 2 cents.

[RussRomStanBety]

In your situation you must first build up a small financial cushion before you attempt to spend the time learning code 16 hours a day. I’m not sure what you mean by "I'm a business guy" ...and "I have no clue how I should make money"? That's a strong contradiction I think is best to stay away from.

[throwbackme]

Valid point! What I meant by those two statements: I don't know what technical skills give me the best ROI.

[bartonfink]

Get a job. 2000 a month is peanuts, and assuming a standard 40 hour work week, breaks down to $12/hr. You don't need exceptional skills to hit that wage. Get a job and keep studying on your own if you really want to make something by yourself down the road, but your basic needs (rent, food, utilities) have to take precedence over your wants.

It's admirable that you want to make something work yourself, but the fact of the matter is that starting your own business isn't like turning on a light switch. There's problems of customer acquisition (who's going to give you money?), product development (why are they going to give you money?) and cash flow (when are they going to give you money and will they keep giving you money?) to solve, and solving those problems will take significant amounts of time.

Don't put the cart before the horse. Get a job first and then worry about how to pick up the pieces and move onto something you want to do.

[throwbackme]

basic needs are covered for 3.5 months (at a emergency case [i.e. no job] maybe a little longer) that's why I want to invest this time wisely.

[JamesPeterson]

3.5 months is not that long. Say you developed some crazy-cool product in 2 months (!!), you would still need to have completed customer acquisition to the point of $2k profit - not revenue - in just 1.5 months!

What about fixed (ie non-variable) expenses? Will they lower the 3.5 month timeframe?

[apsurd]

what about taxes?

[bartonfink]

Taxes at that level are almost a non-factor, if they exist at all. There will be minimal mandatory deductions for Social Security and Medicare, if you're in the US, but that doesn't substantially change the math.

[HelenUK]

Just a thought but for your first project, why not outsource it? You've done it before! Especially as you see yourself as a product manager type role.

It would certainly be more enjoyable than tearing your hair out learning to improve your code with one eye on the calendar.

Get a job asap, maybe two. Earn whatever you can and invest it in getting your idea built by someone who can code efficiently and quickly. Now THAT would be good time management.

Your $'s will push the project forward more than fraught hours spent perfecting your coding skills.

Also by investing your money like this it will make you look at your potential ideas in a far more critical way. It makes you put money where your mouth is.

At the end of the 3.5 months you could have your first app launched (very short timeline for you to do the same yourself) You could even have your $2000 saved ready for rent,bills as backup etc.

If your app/software takes off and you have some income from it and more ideas, that's the time you can move away from your normal jobs and learn to code.

If the app doesn't take off in the short timescale, you already have a job to carry you through.

It makes more sense to move away from employment if it is a success instead of scrabbling to find work once you run out of time.

Aim for the best case scenario, prepare for the worst. :)

[alexpogosyan]

I don't think ~3 months is enough to build a profitable business. I know a person who learnt programming and built a working program in 8 months or so. It was either an audio converter or id3 tag converter or something like that.

What I would do is get programming experience by building real, bigger programs and simultaneously try to get a job as a junior programmer at (preferably) small company with good programmers.

[salman89]

Don't give up on sites like Elance. Don't be afraid to ask what you are worth for. If you take the time, find the right clients, and make the right pitch, you will get paid. Pick a niche and go with it.

[jannes]

First, you have to ask yourself what you like doing (or learning about) the most, regardless of how much money you can make with it. Then you should work on that. If it's really what you want to do, you will make it work! Even if it takes longer than 3.5 months. Maybe get a "normal" job, as you say, until you have figured it out.

What I'm trying to say here is that you should look at the long-term and not the short-term.

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

- Confucius

[throwbackme]

I'm definitely looking for a long-term investment (I think coding fits the bill), but I do need short-term money and if I can combine both that'd be a win.

Coding is fun (atleast the stuff I did at home, aside from the university problem sets), but I'm no whiz so that's why I think I could become a product manager in the future.

[kellyreid]

take the most low-effort job possible to keep cashflow up while you develop a product, service or whatever. the odds that you're profitable in 3 months are zero, no matter what. the odds that you're profitable in 3 years however, are considerably higher.

the "sacrifice" now will be worth the effort, so just get the best-paying lazy boy job you can find.

[parasitius]

Just curious why 2000 is the magic number? Just scratching the surface of that now with 5 years experience in IT post-college... middle America salaries are rough