I quit my stable UX job 3 months ago to build products in public and freelance. Here’s the unfiltered truth & money earned.
I quit my stable UX job 3 months ago to dive into the wild world of freelancing and building products in public.
Here’s the unfiltered truth about what I've learned, the money I've made, and why I'd do it all over again—or not.
My journey into UX was driven by a deep curiosity about how products are designed to solve user problems. While I enjoyed the challenges of my day job, my nights were dedicated to exploring no-code tools and building prototypes and websites.
This dual life of working for founders by day and turning my own problems into solutions by night was both challenging and exhilarating.
UX Designer by Day, Maker by Night.
As my side projects began to gain recognition within the Webflow community, I felt an increasing need to take a greater leap. With over four years of experience in UX design and traction from my personal projects, I sought advice, weighed my options, and ultimately took a calculated risk.
On March 1st, I QUIT.
I launched Flowdrive, but initially, there were no sales, no users—just crickets.
The subsequent weeks were tough. My savings dwindled and doubts mounted. Yet, sales from another product, Flowscriipt, provided some relief.
As I struggled to market my products effectively, some founders who admired my work reached out to me to help build their web apps. This was my saving grace: Freelancing.
Leveraging the trust I had built through my product development, I began freelancing, which not only bridged the income gap but also exceeded my expectations, earning me over 9x my yearly UX salary in just three months.
While my products felt like a drop, I know that building meaningful products takes time, and I am committed to continuing this journey.
This experience has been a rollercoaster of high hopes, tough lessons, and heartening successes. Here’s why I would do it all over again:
- The joy of seeing products I've built solve real problems.
- The thrill of constantly learning new skills.
- The fulfillment of connecting with clients globally.
Would I recommend this path to everyone? Not necessarily. It requires curiosity, discipline, passion, calculated risk, tears, and yes, a bit of madness.
If you’re considering a similar path, here’s some advice:
- Start now. Build your dreams at night and let them bloom into the day.
- Ensure you have sufficient savings to sustain you through the early stages.
- Never stop learning and adapting; mastery isn’t required to begin. (I'm still not a great coder 😅)
As Q3 starts, I'm dedicating more time to marketing, improving existing products, and developing new ones, while also offering my services to founders building web apps with no-code.
Hi, I'm Manuel, UX Designer by Day, Maker by Night. Quit my full-time UX job to build products in public and help founders do the same. Happy to connect. - https://manuelogomigo.com
