running a company while at university

8/3/2019 Running a Company while at University

1/23

Running a Company atUniversityNick [email protected] / [email protected]


2/23

I was a freelancer

During the first and second years

Web Development

PHP/MySQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScriptCMS Systems and eCommerce

Small number of American clients

Didnt earn all that much


3/23

I am Meanbee

Web Development

Specialising in eCommerce, specifically Magento

Business Model

Services

90% revenue: Direct Software Development

Products

10% revenue: Magento modules and affiliate commission

Aiming to make 100k next year, with 15k profit

Teamed up with Tom Robertshaw


4/23

What is Web Development?


5/23

What we care about

Development

Server Side Client Side

JavaScript HTML CSS

Performance

ServerOptimisation

User Testing


6/23

Server-side

Server-side

Development

Language Framework

Database APIs


7/23

Client-side: HTML

HTML

Semantic Markup

Basic TagsA is not

the answer

Cross-browser Bugs

Hate /IE [\.\d]+/

*@#?!


8/23

Client-side: JavaScript

JavaScript

Basics

Java !=JavaScript

AJAX

Libraries

jQuery Prototype etc

OOP


9/23

Client-side: CSS

CSS

The BoxModel CSS3 VendorPrefixes


10/23

Balancing University and Work


11/23

What you shouldnt do

Dont make promises you cant keep

Dont put your business ahead of your education

Dont take on projects that are too big

Dont do any work around exams

Dont forget to tell HMRC youre self employed

Dont undercharge

Dont expect to be the next Zuckerberg Lol.


12/23

What you should do

Take on projects that you enjoy

Dont work only for the money

Make a web app

Find people like you

Experiment with everything


13/23

How much are you worth?

Average Salary: 21k (90/day, 12/hour)

Source: Payscale.com, Web Developer, Bristol

Butyoure self employed

Factor in expenses

Web hosting

Accounting Software

Youre not like everyone else

Experience

Youre a consultant

Weve spentover agrand in the past 12

months


14/23

Make your life easier

Keep accurate accounts

FreeAgent Central

Xero

Keep all your code backed up

Github

CodebaseHQ

Project Management Software

Basecamp

CodebaseHQ


15/23

What are you?


16/23

Describe yourself in a sentence

An eCommerce developer, currently specialising inMagento

Im a Web Designer with an interest in Mobile

Im a Frontend Developer with Wordpressexperience

Prove that you actually know what you are

You cant be everything in a sentence


17/23

What now?


18/23

Getting Better

Write some tutorials

Answer StackOverflow questions

Educated an interested housemate

Give a presentation


19/23

Getting Better

No idea

Learn from others

ConferencesTwitter

StackOverflow

Placement

..but I specialised


20/23

Dont take an easy route

Youll probably be a noob

Make the most of your Placement

STEP OUT OF

YOUR COMFORT ZONE


21/23

Make the most of your Placement

Started on xxk

Increased to xxk after six months

Invest time and money in your business

Intelligent people

What I learnt

UNIX makes the world go round Id better get good at it

Realised what I didnt want my company to be


22/23

Things to take away

Network at every opportunity

Stay on top of your game

Take it seriously

Remember that University comes first


23/23

Im done.Thanks for listening.

running a company while at university

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