I worked as a dev for a couple of years and in IM for a good while now so I'd say I have a take on this.
And it's entirely situational. If you're writing code for yourself you also have to be able to market whatever your product or service is. This is not a small difference.
I know a couple of devs working for an employer and they'll make more than a lot of BHW members without the stress of being responsible for the business side of things.
I've told 7 figure marketers to stop wasting their time learning to code and just outsource it and I tell devs to partner with a marketer to sell their shit. They've very different skill sets and I don't know many who can do both.
Somewhere in the middle of that is freelancing. As long as you're good enough to find the clients, you get more control over the projects you work on and the prices you charge. If you want to code and you don't want an employer, that's what I'd do.
Damnit. I would like to work on some complex (or simple) business solutions. But at the same time I would need some workforce.
I've seen in real life that sometimes it's not only about finding the client.
It's equally difficult to find a good developer.
It's not like I have came up with this idea of being self-employeed and that I am just complaining.
It's the only thing that makes sense in my case.
I have too much experience in marketing to just let it go and pretend I am a developer.
In the future I would call myself product owner, product developer, solution architect or just simply CEO.
I haven't found a single client in my life. But the same goes for developer search.
I found that the easiest way to find a client is by networking.
So I will have to do a lot of networking.
I'm a little bit over 20 years old. So I feel a little bit hyped, but I surely need a way to not live like an average Joe Smith on his couch with a TV pilot in his hand.
Which I tried and it just didn't fit me! At all! I would be complaining about being an average Joe more than about my jobs haha.
I know a couple of devs working for an employer and they'll make more than a lot of BHW members without the stress of being responsible for the business side of things.
So mid level jobs in my country were priced at $1500. That's some real low commission. But hey. I can use this cheaper workforce and get some US projects.
"Get some US projects" is of course my daydream, but trying doesn't hurt. Wasting countless hours does, but I believe I can be clever enough to not do it.