Ask HN: Are you a self employed Software Engineer? If so, what is that like?

Retired now, but was a self-employed programmer for 35 years. Fortunate to get away from consulting and contract work (not recommended) and into developing and selling my own software product (highly recommended). Marketing was much tougher in the old days. Finding a need and filling it was very lucrative. Be ready to turn on a dime. Don't get distracted trying to solve technical challenges you think are cool but for which the market is too small. Focus on what your customers really need (as opposed to what they think they want). If you truly enjoy programming, being your own boss is challenging, but done right can be a hell of a lot of fun.

I sell software products I develop. Like another commenter wrote, you end up building what the market needs and not necessarily what you find interesting.

It's also tough mentally, you could wake up and your revenue is cut in half, a new competitor appears, your software can become obsolete, etc.

Having all this in mind, it's very fun and I love it.

I stumbled into it by accident as a junior software engineer. They offered me a 3-month contract-to-hire job, but instead it became a 2-year independent contractor job for the company. Most jobs that followed have been cold applying to startup contract jobs from Craigslist or obtaining them from local word-of-mouth. It's very feast or famine, and not everyone can keep the momentum of new clients going. As for myself, I am planning to leave self-employed work for the first time in over a decade, for the relative safety of a full-time job (even with the current market situation).