[Alexx]

Having read through all the answers here, I really think that HN is possibly not the best place to ask such a question.

   Solve a problem

Seems to be the largest response. Solving problems is hard. If you want to earn $100k this year, don't solve a problem, don't do a startup[1].

Startups deal with problems, are capital intensive, risky, and high reward. If you want to potentially make a lot more than $100k in the next few years then, sure, go find a problem.

If you simply want to make $100k this year, then my choice would be to start a simple service business. No need to build anything new or solve a complex problem. The majority of SME businesses fit this mould really, everything from software agencies to recruitment companies.

Pick an area you have some knowledge in, start on your own, and execute to the best of your abilities. The main challenges are usually managing cash flow and the day to day realities of running a small business. But if you end up with 4-5 employees and stable cash flow, you now have your own earning power plus around 20% of the people below you typically.

That or review your CV, and plan the most aggressive route towards a position in a financial / high yield company, adding $100k to your salary as an employee could be feasible depending on your background.

Either way, the people who just stumble upon money are outliers. So the really short answer is just work harder and accept more risk in you decisions.

[1]http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html

[pdevr]

If he is already working as a PHP/mySQL developer, it will be hard to build a service based business on the side. YMMV.

Edit: Those who downvoted, please provide the reason also. Happy to have a discussion. I wrote the above based on my personal experiences.

[Alexx]

I didn't down vote you - but the way I always see it is a sliding scale:

[Lowest payout] Totally guaranteed money - [Highest payout] Risky very unlikely money

On the left you have a salaried job. On the right a shoot for the moon VC startup. In between you have the entire range from trying to build products for 'passive income' on the side, to going alone starting a small cash-positive business, or freelancing. Your level of risk is entirely up to you, and the reward will usually be fairly linear, within your own earning capacity and skill set (money is fairly efficient in that sense!).

Working more hours or quitting your job fits into that scale along with all the other factors. If your appetite for risk is on the lower end such you won't quit, then you will have a harder time competing with people who've positioned themselves with more risk.

There will always be the outliers who just break the model though.

[pdevr]

Thank you for the response. I agree, more or less. In this case, of course, I made the assumption that OP didn't want to quit his job. His skill sets are fairly common, based on what he posted. Considering that, I thought he will have a better chance of building something on the side, since getting high enough consulting rates for PHP work is hard, especially when you are trying to do it part-time. (As you said, there are outliers for this also. I assumed OP falls close to the mean/median when I wrote that.)

[ChuckMcM]

You make an assumption that the PHP/mySQL role consumes all of his time. That isn't necessarily true, he may be in a position where he's just tweaking scripts occasionally.

[ye]

Because side projects never ever ever become successful?

[pdevr]

(Upvoted for discussion)

I agree that it is very difficult to find the required momentum. Some things which may help, based on my experience:

1. Divide the whole problem into subsets. Identify others who are having the same problem subsets, and partner with them to resolve them. This way, nobody has to divulge their whole business model/idea and yet can collaborate.

At the smallest level, this can be as simple as posting a technical problem on StackOverflow and participating in the discussion that follows. At a higher level, this can be something like identifying a common person to write content for multiple businesses.

2. Keeping intermediate easily reachable goals. This helps to ensure you have momentum, however small it may be. Reaching those goals also peps up your spirits, especially when you are working alone.

[geldedus]

Nope. Solve a problem worth solving