The BEST Business Model for Developers in 2026

Let me ask you a question: If I gave you 30 days and told you to make your first $10,000 outside your 9-5, would you know what business model you'd choose tomorrow morning to make that happen?

Because most software engineers won't - they are stuck.

You see, most software engineers tend to default to a SaaS, and they overbuild, and they make $0 after months of development work.

So in this video, I am going to save you months, maybe years.

And I am going to show you which business model you can pick as a software engineer that best fits you, as well as a 7-day plan to execute it to make your first $100,000 without relying on a 9-5.

Let's get straight into it.

But first, who am I, why should you listen to me?

My name is Vigen, I went from a software engineering manager making quarter million dollars a year to founding my own AI consulting firm, which made $229,000 in revenue in the last 20 days.

More to come for the end of the month.

So when it comes to business models, I understand what works and what doesn't.

Specifically tailored for your software engineer.

And further proof of that, I have helped countless other software engineers.

Actually find the specific business model that grants them freedom.

Now, to get started, I'm going to make this simple.

And that is with understanding that software engineers do not struggle with the building aspect of a business.

They struggle with picking what's actually worth building.

And the hidden cost of picking wrong is actually detrimental.

You lose months, if not years of your time.

But the worst thing that happens is you lose your confidence.

And when you lose your confidence, it's extremely difficult to get back into the groove.

Now, the reason that most people fall for this SaaS first mistake is because it's everywhere.

Most software engineers believe fundamentally that if they do not start a SaaS, then they are a failure as a software engineer.

That they wasted their degree.

But you need to understand that SaaS is not the quote-unquote best business model.

In fact, it's far from it.

It's the model that actually lets you avoid selling.

So this is what most software engineers do.

They build a product.

They hope people will show up.

And then they get surprised when nobody actually cares because nobody purchases their software.

But this is what actually works, and I have seen this time and time again.

You get paid first.

You learn the workflow.

Then you earn the right to actually build software.

So, when you build first, you ship an MVP, you hope for somebody to pay for it, you discover the pricing later on, and you validate after months, having already spent a few months prior to that, wasting your time.

But if you sell first, you find the pain point, you pre-sell, you price early, and you build only and strictly what is necessary.

But before we get into comparing models...

We first have to define what a business model even is.

It's.

So a business model is simply just how you get paid, how you deliver value, and how you get customers.

If you can't explain that in 10 seconds, you don't have a current business model.

And there are two timelines when it comes to business models.

Either immediate cash models or delayed cash models.

And two risks.

Market risk, so when nobody buys your stuff.

And build risk.

So when you can't ship stuff.

Now, as software engineers, we do not need to worry about build risk.

Because that's literally the last of our concerns.

We can pretty much ship anything.

We do have to worry about actual marketing risk.

Because since delivery is the easiest part for us, getting buyers becomes the hardest part for us.

But at the same time, it's also literally the most important.

Being able to get money.

So what actually makes a good business model for software engineers specifically?

Well, it's dependent on the outcome that we want.

And the outcome that we want, at least starting off, is very simple.

We want our first client.

We want one clear service/productized offer.

And we want one lane that we can commit to for the long term.

And you simply do not need the quote-unquote best business model for that.

All you really need is the best business model for your current situation, which can change five years from now.

So, even though SaaS is the goal, that's what you might have heard, that is a lie that you have been sold.

It is not true.

Freedom is the actual goal of any business.

And it can take many shapes.

You can think of SaaS as a multiplier, but also understand that it multiplies distribution.

So zero times anything is still going to be zero.

So what do you do first?

Well, you actually have to build distribution.

Now, more specifically, distribution is just a way to reach decision makers.

Because one paying customer is infinitely better than a thousand side projects that don't get you anywhere.

And distribution can either be borrowed.

Or it can be built.

So borrowed from other people's trust, these can be, you know, ex-colleagues, online communities, anything of that sort.

And built, it can be your own platform, being on LinkedIn, being on YouTube, having a newsletter, anything of that sort.

Initially, we're going to borrow it because borrowed is way faster.

But down the line, we are going to build it as well because building is all about compounding.

So we start with borrowed.

And then we build our own.

So now let's actually pick the right business model that is right for us as a software engineer.

And to do that, we're going to need to ask three specific questions.

The number one question: How fast do you need your first dollar?

How many hours/weeks can we commit?

And what is our unique advantage?

Now, when it comes to unique advantage, it's simply the culmination of our physical location, our immediate network, and our experiences, both from a technical standpoint as well as life in general.

When you have these three things, you have your unique advantage, and when you ask the other two questions, we are ready to move on to the business models.

When it comes to the business models, you really have only four ways to go.

Service-based, product-based, content/community-based, and employment and equity-based.

Now, right off the bat, I can tell you that most of you are here for business.

You might see this full-time employee and think, okay, this is not for me.

However, this is the entire point of this video.

There is no best business model.

It's all about what's best for you at specific time points in your life.

In this current situation.

The best business model for you, let's say if it's consulting, could well very well down the line in a five-year timeframe be a SaaS.

It's all completely dependent on you, your current situation, and the three questions.

How fast do you need cash, how much time do you have to spend to get that money?

And what is your unique advantage?

Now, let's take a look and actually break down exactly what each of these business models even are from a software engineer's perspective.

So first, we have freelancing.

Now, this is what you've probably seen on Upwork and Fiverr, this is when you just literally do custom development work for individuals.

And you advertise your services and you are paid by the hour.

Consulting is when you give specialized advice to either a business or a person, so this can be B2B or B2C.

This is what I do for my specific firm, right?

You can do contracting, which is more long-term projects.

So a lot of people compare, at least in the United States, a W2 employee, which is a 9-5 employee, with a 1099 contractor employee.

Which is once again, sort of like what's called a contractor.

You're working long-term.

But it's not as long-term as a W2.

You then have an agency owner.

So this is, as you might have heard, a software agency, right, you own the actual software agency.

You have a bunch of people working under you, and that will still be considered a service-based business model.

Now, moving on to product-based, obviously we have our SaaS, which is what you're most used to.

You have mobile apps.

You have specific desktop software, such as licenses.

You have digital assets that you can also sell.

And you have micro-SaaS, which can be quite niche and small in scope.

But essentially, the direct thing is, you build it once and you sell repeatedly to many users.

As opposed to a service where you directly exchange skills for specific client compensation.

We then have content and community.

So this comes down to technical blogs, specifically writing as well, so ads, sponsorships, online courses and tutorials, right, so selling education, paid communities and newsletters, so more of the subscription access basis.

Or open source sponsorships, which is more dependent on donations.

Essentially, you leverage expertise to build a following and generate revenue from that following.

Some of you guys have seen software engineers that already do all these three, right?

Most people actually have all three at the same time.

One of the most common ones, some of the indie hacker software engineers that you guys know, Mark Lou and a few of the other guys.

They do content and community, they do product-based, they also do service-based.

Last but not least, you have employment and equity.

So all of you guys are familiar with the traditional 9-5.

But then you also have the startup co-founder where you get equity and low or no salary.

And of course, the early employee where you have salary and actual equity options as well.

Once again, I want to point out.

There is no quote-unquote objective best business model in what you're looking at.

Somebody might say, well, SaaS is the most scalable.

Historically, SaaS has the biggest payouts, right, the biggest exits.

You can be a billionaire off SaaS.

Well, yes, you could, but that does not mean for you specifically, the software engineer watching this video, this is what you should do.

That is all completely dependent on once again, how fast you need the money, how much time do you have to spend to get that money.

And what your unique advantage actually allows you to do.

Do you have people in your network that can get you any of these in a faster manner?

Maybe the location you're in, if you're located in the Bay Area, right, you are, you have more of an advantage for product-based businesses.

Because all the startups are there.

If you have specific experience, maybe you're in a hyper-specific niche that you worked on, then maybe you can get into consulting because you have very specialized advice that you can give.

Once again, everything is completely dependent on you.

The general consensus that I recommend is taking a look at your unique advantage, right?

And if I were to kind of create a 7-day plan on this and a way to make your first 100k, this is how I would go about it.

List down your unique advantages.

Who's in your network?

Anybody that you know?

Anybody that can benefit you?

What's your location like, your physical location?

What advantages do you have in your physical location?

And your experiences, both your technical and life experiences.

From those, determine how fast you need cash.

That's specifically how much cash you're going to need.

As well as how much time you have to spend to acquire that cash.

If you're thinking more long-term oriented and you have a very specific figure in mind, depending on where that figure is.

You're going to have to choose very specific business models.

Now, for most individuals.

I highly recommend almost always starting from a service-based business model and then transitioning into a product-based business model.

For 99% of software engineers that have personally worked with hundreds of founders already to this day that have gotten success.

We started from a service-based business model, either consulting or more of an agency owner type of perspective.

And when later we transitioned into a SaaS, particularly because when you're providing an actual service.

You get to see the ins and outs of that problem that you're providing a solution for.

When you see the ins and outs, you see what you can automate, you see what you can actually do with all the different features.

And you can then build out a SaaS, but this time you already know the problems inside out.

You already have a few customers, and you can later scale it.

So once again, the main takeaway of this video.

There is no best business model.

It's all dependent on you and your current situation.

Now, you need to do the math yourself.

If you are low on time, let's say, you need fast cash, and you have an overwhelming advantage with your network and/or your location, stick with service-based.

If you have a lot of time, you don't need cash immediately, and you have a lot of advantages in your network, you want to build for the long term, get into a product-based business.

The entire takeaway is this: Do not get into a business model just because certain people say that is the best.

There is no singular best business model.

It is too general of an advice for you to listen to.

You have to take a look at your situation and see which business model actually fits your situation specifically.

There is no quote-unquote best.

Objectively speaking, some business models could be better than others, but for you specifically, it's completely going to be dependent on your unique situation.

Once again.

The whole point of the video is there is no best business model.

There is only best for me or this is not the best for me at this current moment.

Once again.

The whole point of the video is there is no best business model.

Objectively speaking, some business models could be better than others, but for you specifically, it's completely going to be dependent on your unique situation.

So, thank you for watching.

And if you want help on actually identifying which business model would fit specifically your situation.

I invite you to book a 45-minute call, a link in the description below.

With me directly on figuring out what the specific business model that you should actually start with is for you.

Once again, if you want my personal help to guide you for the next 45 minutes.

Or how you can identify which business model you should go with to make your first 100k, book a call in the description below.

As always, thank you so much for watching and have a good one.