9 to 5 status – starting to build momentum

My last 9 to 5 status report is from June 2015. Not a lot has happened since then.

But in the last few weeks I started programming again. My project Escape 9 to 5 is a SaaS app (software as a Service) which I will develop and later sell to customers (for a monthly fee). Last year I completed a preview version to test technical feasibility. There were some users with problems, but overall I think this is the right way to go.

Now I’m slowly building the proper version. I start with a subset of features and will later turn it into the full product. I hope to have some paying users already by the end of 2016. I set a yearly goal of 100 Euros in monthly income. If I can achieve this it will be a fantastic start to escape my day job.

Each evening I have around 2 – 3 hours (when the kids are in bed). Unfortunately I spend this seldom wisely. In January and also till mid February my portfolio was in trouble and it was hard for me to concentrate on other things. Also, my day job is frustrating me and in the evening I do not feel like working. But I have to! This is my fast lane to escape.

In maybe 5 till 10 years our net worth is big enough so that I can quit my job. Or I should better say: big enough so that my wife let me quit my job. But if this side business takes off, I may concentrate on it full time (and thus quit my job earlier).

I would like to semi-retire in 2018 – around 2.5 years from now. I really like GenYFinanceGuy’s goal tracking with all these boxes that he ticks off. For me one box could mean “worked at least 1 hour on my side project per day”. Five of these each week would mean a tremendous progress. Or I could go back to tracking hours, with each box representing an hour.