I am working a job I like a lot and hacking on my own ideas in my free time. I kinda fell in love with one of them and now I'm wondering what would be my best course of action:
a) continue hacking nights and weekends - slow going with building site, app and infrastructure
b) outsource some of the work so work gets done while I'm at work, faster but will get expensive
c) try to raise some funds based on current prototypes, leave job to give it a go full-time
Any advice from you guys about these options would be great, as well as possibilities I have not considered. Thanks!
If you have to, then a) could work- but I'd worry that your idea might be taken by the time it takes to build it while juggling a full-time job.
b) is good, but it also costs a lot more time than you might think. I outsourced for one of my projects and ended up more of a pain in the ass than having it done myself. The problem is that I have to dig through all the coding to fix a bug or completely rewrite a section that's coded wrong (your developers might not understand the exact function or idea you're trying to achieve) and you have to deal with having to take time out to explain everything in detail as the project progresses and often times lots of delays when a developer is no-show for a week.
C) I'd go for this option if you really believe in and love your idea. The prototype should be able to give you a good idea of whether or not it'll work and minimize your risk. If it doesn't work out and you can't get funding, it's still a soft landing and you can continue your work. If it's a big hit, then you could potentially be pursuing a life goal.
d) You could also sign up a co-founder or someone who's interested to work on the project with you. This would allow you to not outsource (Saves some money), have better control on the project and both of you are aiming towards a similar goal.