PCB Design as a side job

[lutkeveld]

I was wondering: is PCB Design a profitable side job?
I'm still learning, but for in the future.... When I've banged out multiple designs and being able to design one without help.
I see some sites with jobs and multiple 100's of dollars per job, but maybe translated in effort or dollar per hour it's nothing.
As a student, it seems like a cool alternative to kitchen work or filling shelves.

[tautech]

I was wondering: is PCB Design a profitable side job?
I'm still learning, but for in the future.... When I've banged out multiple designs and being able to design one without help.
I see some sites with jobs and multiple 100's of dollars per job, but maybe translated in effort or dollar per hour it's nothing.
As a student, it seems like a cool alternative to kitchen work or filling shelves.

All depends on how:
Complex
Good you are
Quality of your tools
Demanding you client is

It's never a 5 minute job so fee will be reflect this.
Have you ever done a PCB that you are totally happy with?
Then thrown it out for critique by others?

[EEVblog]

Sure, many people make their living as just PCB designers, and I have even done that myself.
The trick is having a few key clients who trust you and can give you regular work.
If you are out of clients and have to scout around for just layout work, it may not be easy.
But it's a different world now with the likes of freelance etc.
Often you can value-add, like doing BOM's, sorting manufacture, designing test jigs etc.

[EEVblog]

I see some sites with jobs and multiple 100's of dollars per job, but maybe translated in effort or dollar per hour it's nothing.

If you are charging a few hundred bucks for a good layout job then you are doing it wrong.

[lutkeveld]

If you are charging a few hundred bucks for a good layout job then you are doing it wrong.

Too low? I really have no idea what would be a normal price for a reasonable complex board.
Ofcourse, me being a beginner, I would pick up the easier projects to gain experience and a fair bit of money.
Then working up to more complex, and thus better paying boards.

[Howardlong]

I see some sites with jobs and multiple 100's of dollars per job, but maybe translated in effort or dollar per hour it's nothing.

If you are charging a few hundred bucks for a good layout job then you are doing it wrong.

Probably depends on the complexity, but for anything less than trivial I'd agree, however there are people out there doing exactly that... and even at even less. A buddy of mine had a very simple board laid out for him by what would appear to be a student found on an online site, I think the student was in India. That cost him US$70, I counted 13 parts on it plus a breakout area, all through hole.

Certainly not something I'd want to do full time, it would drive me potty, but I quite understand people who do enjoy a living out of it.