I'm late to the conversation here, but I think the real elephant in the room is the short shelf life of the average independent contractor/freelancer/consultant

I'm late to the conversation here, but I think the real elephant in the room is the short shelf life of the average independent contractor/freelancer/consultant. Unfortunately, and all too often on this site, the meme of the happy-go-lucky, working-on-a-beach independent contractor is paraded out and extolled as some wondrous opportunity that will net your average "web developer" enough riches and leisure time to live the dream lifestyle. In reality, this couldn't be further from the truth. Being an independent contractor means you are a business, full stop. You are the CEO, the marketer, the HR department and the worker. Like any other business, a few will make it, but most will fizzle out, go bankrupt or be replaced by ruthless competitors. Unless you are able to find and acquire those in-demand, niche skill sets or product offerings (of which "web design" and/or "web development" are no longer in this set), your business will suffer a significantly short shelf life, just as any other business.