What steps you can take to save and make it a successful project assuming the nonsense contracts does not allow it etc.
Most people don't have side projects. Most companies have zero interest in taking ownership of your unrelated hobby project.
The exception is if your side project overlaps with your employer's core business. Example: If your employer makes database software and your side project is an iPhone game for kids, they have zero interest in your IP. It would be a waste of their time and money to seize it, and they aren't going to allocate resources to running it.
On the other hand, if you're employed develop database software and you also create a database side project while employed there, then yes, your employer will have valid claim to that IP.
The closer your side project is to your day job, the more interested they'll be in taking it. You can't collect a paycheck from a company, have access to their IP, while simultaneously working on a competing project in secret.
Do you have any citation to back this up?
My anecdata indicates otherwise. Most people I meet in IT do have side projects. They may not be popular or successful but they exist.
It's a bit more balanced than the standard IP Agreements most tech companies are using.
1a. When/If joining a new company, list your side projects in the "Pre-existing IP" paperwork, to be excluded from their ownership. Read carefully and make sure it's not mistakenly placed in the list of things that they get a free license to.
2. Make sure your side project is not in the same line of business as your employer's.
3. Make sure you use your own time and equipment for your side project.
I asked a software company this about 2 years ago in the bay area and they gave me a form to sign stating it doesnt compete with the company's products and i explained what i was doing.
If they say otherwise you can take it from there!
but oh wait. IT salaries are so high that it's impossible to match them nowadays