ctn40

I face the opposite dilemma, I enjoy coding, but I’m never fully happy with the result.

I think there is an element of extrinsic motivation vs intrinsic motivation here.

Extrinsic motivation is where there is something external that is driving you to develop software (money, prestige or perhaps a finished product in this example)

Intrinsic motivation is where you motivated to develop software (or whatever) because you want to develop software (no external reasons)

Obviously there is always an element of both present, and there is nothing wrong with either type of motivation.

The thing to consider is that with extrinsic motivation, it changes. You might have to constantly remind yourself about the reasons, or the motivation may disappear entirely at stages.

With intrinsic motivation, your motivation doesn’t change much over time, and people who are motivated intrinsically to do their kind of work usually do well in their field with far less effort than others.

But even for those that are intrinsically motivated to code, there are always parts of it that are just pure toil.

A few things: Make sure you hire developers that fit the business culture you are trying to establish and understand the "why" of your company. This is worth a read: https://blog.samaltman.com/how-to-hire

You don't have to have overly strict rule about hours, leave, documentation, etc. but make sure it is very clear to your developers what they are expected to do, and have them evaluate their own performance (obviously with your input) every few months.

Criticise in private, complement in public.

Choose your customers wisely. You make a lot more profit when you start saying no to the wrong customers. (An easy way to say no is just to charge a lot, like 10 times more, than you would normally charge for a certain job)

Don't be afraid to make mistakes, well rather: try not to make mistakes, but expect them to happen occasionally and when they do, don't beat yourself up about it - recognise the mistake, try learn from it, and move on. It might also be an opportunity to impress your customers, by turning a bad outcome into something positive.

Make sure you set things up in such a way that can get some downtime without your company falling apart.

Good luck!