Page 2 - Take a pay cut for the thing you love

At least you'll have the entire Dev community to do your testing for you, probably for free too!

I'm in with the "I want to work with Jimmy" crowd too!

but i wouldn't expect much help when it starts to get really complex. You'll want to work with someone really smart and not rely on the general public if it's your livelihook you're talking about.

That is good advice for anyone. As a matter of fact I do currently have a business of my own under which I do side projects. Just myself and 3 other guys really, but it turns a profit and it's great for taxes.

accounting is indeed very important, and if you do it right, you benefit so much. For instance, when purchasing technology, which other than food is my biggest these days, I get to write that off against company profits. In truth, my goal by the end of the year is just to make my share of company profits and my share of company expenditures match up.

On the side of not getting help when it gets more complex though I would slightly disagree. I am a believer that every problem has it's smaller parts. I think working with the dev shed network over the years I have become adept at explaining my problem in a smaller case. Do that, and you'll be surprised at the problem solvers out there. Then take your solution and apply it to the big picture. However, I do agree ith you when this comes to a livelyhood. That's just a but risky.

I realize that's a generalization, and it's certainly not that easy, but basically what I'm saying is that I don't plan on doing anything groundbreaking here. (though that seems to be what the game industry is all about). At least once a week friends and I, some currently working for midway here in Chicago, will get together and just work out our latest game.
I've seen many come and go in our little group and I think that's shown me one thing about this industry. You may think you love it. You may have been watching and really excited about the whole thing. But when you find that you can't make time for it, when you find that your burnt out and want a brake from a once a week meeting and instead want to go to the movies, well perhaps you didn't want it enough.

EXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY. If you're in the US it might be good to show a very small profit $100 or so for the first few years and you'll pay a couple bucks in taxes but overall, you spend what you make on the improvement of the business.

I'm sorry to disagree a bit, but if you follow this philosophy you'll get these results, which is an unprofitable and short-term experiment, not a viable business.

If you run a sideline business it's a fun toy, but you won't have the necessary motivation to make a successful business because you're not living off the results of your business. Nothing like tiptoeing down the edge of the cliff with one foot waving over to keep you focused!

As a side note, I have seen many, many moonlighters forget their ethics, and take side jobs away from their main employer. Conflicts of interest are things to avoid.

If you can make it independently, you'll probably feel as I do. I'd rather eat dog biscuits and live in a tent than go back to being an employee of someone else.

Your right, and I don't see it as really disagreeing. We are talking about side business here, getting your feet wet and seeing how you really enjoy this thing you believe you love. As mine goes, I see it as a little extra for the side. I have been lucky enough that I have never had to advertise or ask for business, it pretty much just comes to me. I turn a good amount of it away taking on either several small projects or one major project a year.
I do have the feeling that if I wanted to I could step fully into this business, start advertising and searching for clients and make it a full time gig. I have chosen not to do that for the time being. The reasoning is this. Down the road I could be making some very serious money from it, but right now I would be paying myself about the same as I earn now from the consulting company I work for (nearly six figures, everyone: don't berate me with how much your making, because I'm sure it's like sixty bazillion dollars more than me). and I would also need to take care of my own medical dental and 401K. There's also added tension in finding work when one job ends. Yes I still feel I'm young, yes, I want to enjoy life and not have that on my mind (though it occurs to me that if not now, when?)

Your also right, moral obligation seems t be lost by some consultants like this. I am not one of those people. There is a decidedly different job being done at my own company, and the one I work for. At work I do JSP web applications for major companies. In my business I do odd jobs (usually PHP) for mom and pops. The kind of business my employer would find laughable really.

So I'm pretty much saying this, not for argument, but for younger forum members who are looking at what the world has to offer for them. I'm saying it's possible, and as I said before, calculayed risk. Not everything has to be a head long jump. I hate taking tumbles down the sides of large mountains.