In December of last year, I decided to leave my job of 11 years to concentrate full time on freelance work, and to try and build up a software company of my own – Nighthawk Software.
8 months in, and it’s been a lot more challenging than I thought, but at the same time a lot more rewarding than anticipated.
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced has been trying to define exactly what it is I do.
I’ve always concentrated on backend web development work – creating the software behind the scenes that powers web applications such as CRMs, email systems, project management suites etc. Personally, I’d call this “Web Development”.
But when people here this, they automatically want you to design them a new website for their small business. While I often work as a full stack developer, and I’m proficient with CSS, HTML and Javascript, I suck at design.
While I’d call this type of work “Web Design”, in order to distinguish the two, the terms seem to be used interchangeably within the industry, particularly amongst clients.
That’s been my biggest challenge so far – explaining what I do to clients, and specifically, what I don’t do.