Hey there. I appreciate your comments. It may very well be that I will end up doing contracting work like that. I had some good contracting work earlier this year that unfortunately went bad, and for whatever reason I wasn't able to find more before the money I had saved ran out. What the blog posts cover (did you read both?) is that I took this path because it was the only one left to me.

I'd love to know where these $1-2k per day iOS contract jobs are that you speak of, though :)

Yeah. I just don't get this desire to become an independent app developer building your own apps. I know it's a dream to be your own boss and work from home and so on, but as a consultant (or contractor or freelancer, or whatever term we currently decide sounds most important and impressive), you will accrue the kind of finances that mean you can take very long holidays if you want, during which you can work on your own apps, or do nothing at all. Yes, you have to work for clients the rest of the time, and clients are often mercurial, but - especially if you're pitching yourself as a mini-agency who can take care of development, design, and even some strategy (subcontracting the bits you don't want to do, as appropriate) - really you often have a lot of freedom; and remote working is definitely becoming more common.

I just can't comprehend why someone would take such huge risks with potentially such limited returns (eg. months where this guy was making $100), having to learn the bizarre vagaries of "App Store Optimisation" (which I'm not really convinced isn't much more than a lottery anyway, and is hardly a core competency for many developers), when the same strong technical skills you already possess can guarantee you a fantastic income.

Hi bshimmin,

I've been an independent consultant for many years, and it was never lucrative for me. Maybe I just had the wrong network of contacts. I don't know. I only relatively moved into the iOS space and I've had some decent work, but again, it has been sporadic. Hence my desire to be completely independent and not have to rely on finding contracts all the time.

I have some very specific mid-long term goals for my life, and having to constantly find new contracts will not get me there.

There were never months I only made $100. I've only been committed to this path full-time since July 1 this year. The rest of SongSheet's history I did have other work that kept me somewhat busy.

You have to realise that where I live (Sunshine Coast, Qld, Australia) there isn't a lot people wanting apps built, and there aren't a lot of companies around here to work for, either. I chose to live here, though (biggest reason - my parents and my wife's parents are here, so my kids get to know their grandparents), so I have to live with the limited work opportunities.

I appreciate your thoughts, though :)

Thank you for your thoughtful and considered response to my slightly hasty one (I was half-way out of the door as I was typing it!).

You're absolutely right that contacts and location are important; I live out in the countryside and mostly work from my home office, but I think I can only do that right now because I spent most of the previous ten years in London building up the right sorts of connections to allow me to do that - and I still go to London regularly (usually weekly) and am willing to concede I may end up back there again.

With the right approach and attitude, building up connections isn't hard, but it takes a certain pushiness, persistence, and resilience (and an occasional willingness to work at less than a reasonable rate in order to secure future work - the so-called "loss leader" projects) - and in certain locations it may be much harder than others.

I guess I'm guilty of taking it for granted that everyone lives in London, SF, or NYC, where contract roles on eye-watering day-rates - the sort whereby you can work for some fraction of the year and do what you like for the rest, and still maintain an excellent lifestyle - are pretty easy to come by once you have a bit of experience under your belt.

(Wow, I'm late to this thread)

You seem to have a good handle on the London freelancing situation. Do you mind if I shoot you a few questions via email (mine is in my profile)?

Worth nothing I think that $1-$2k are only market rates for the very top tier of developers working in prime markets like S.F., NYC etc. Elsewhere you're lucky to get $50/hr.

Where did you find this market rates information?