For the past few years, up until last year, if you asked me “What do you do?”, my answer was straight af
“I do web development.”
And yeah, that’s what I did.
But looking back, I think being too focused on one thing didn’t necessarily help me.
For example, someone could bring a mobile app development job and because I wasn’t a mobile developer, I’d simply outsource it.
And don’t get me wrong, outsourcing is great, especially when the project is serious and outside your major area. If a client is building a large platform and you don’t have the expertise to do a particular part, bringing in someone who does is actually the smart thing to do.
But if it’s a small or medium-sized project?
Sometimes, instead of immediately outsourcing it, you should probably adapt and learn enough to handle it yourself.
And that’s where diversification comes in.
So what exactly is diversification?
Diversification, in this context, is basically expanding beyond your main niche and learning other skills or technologies that aren’t necessarily your specialty.
Then there’s specialization.
Specialization is when you stay within a particular area for a long time, become really good at it, and build most of your career around that niche.
For example, someone might specialize in backend engineering and spend years becoming extremely good with PHP, Laravel, databases and distributed systems.
Another person might diversify and know a bit of backend, frontend, mobile development, UI/UX, Webflow, Figma, and maybe even desktop applications.
Neither approach is automatically better.
They just come with different advantages.
The advantage of specialization
When you specialize, you can dedicate more time and energy to becoming really good at one thing.
You’re not constantly jumping between different technologies.
You also build deeper knowledge, and in some cases, being highly specialized can make it easier for people to understand exactly what you do.
Instead of:
“What exactly do you do?”
People can say:
“Oh, that’s the guy who specializes in X.”
And that clarity can be valuable.
But diversification has its own advantages.
For me, one of the biggest is exposure.
You get to taste different things.
Today you’re building a website.
Tomorrow you’re touching a mobile app.
Next week you’re inside Figma.
Then somehow you’re building something in Webflow. 😭
And that exposure can help you discover things you wouldn’t have known you enjoyed if you had stayed in one lane.
It can also open you up to more types of opportunities, because you’re not limited to one particular type of work.
And honestly, sometimes you don’t even know what you want to specialize in until you’ve tried enough things.
And that’s basically what happened to me this year.
I think I picked up nothing less than 8 different niches/areas, and most of them were completely new to me.
I took on jobs and learned on the job.
Webflow.
Figma.
Desktop applications.
Different parts of software development that I previously wouldn’t have touched because they weren’t “my thing.”
And looking back, I actually think that’s one of the things that has helped me grow this year.
I didn’t abandon web development.
I just stopped treating it like the only thing I was allowed to know.
Maybe that’s the real balance:
Have something you’re really good at, but don’t be afraid to explore outside it.
Because sometimes, the thing you keep calling “outside my niche” might eventually become your next niche.
By the tears of an exdeveloper ( not past but extra)