Ask HN: How can I start a web development side-business? - humaninstrument
======
patatino
What I did a couple years ago was this:

\- Go to yellow pages or something similar in your country

\- Search for companies nearby where you live in a specific sector (for
example hairdressing, car repair shops etc.)

\- look for a template on themeforest or another site in this sector

\- download theme, make for every company a version with their logo

\- Cold email them with the demo page and tell them you would like to
implement their site for xy amount. Well add a little more text :)

I only did this twice but both times I sent like 5-6 mails and got one company
accepting my offer.

~~~
cronjobma
How much did you sell those for?

~~~
patatino
~2000USD (living in switzerland). Simple websites with a couple info sites
about the company.

------
ruairidhwm
There are hundreds of thousands of other web development businesses out there,
so you need something to differentiate yourself.

Whether that's a great social media presence, better branding, or working in a
niche then you need to focus on that.

Most of your business will initially be through your network so start talking
to friends/family/contacts about the fact that you're looking to do some
freelance development work. Chances are that you'll be able to get a job or
two out of that.

As you get bigger and more experienced, you'll likely find that clients come
back to you and refer you to others. That's your network providing organic
growth.

I'm now working on freelance web dev amongst some other side projects so feel
free to ping me an email to discuss if you want. My portfolio is
[https://codefox.io](https://codefox.io) and email contact is there :)

------
polote
Just think to something which will improve your life.

Code it for yourself.

And if you still think it solves the problem, make it available for anyone
with a subscription fee.

