Some tips I had to learn the hard way: 1. Understand your client: If you have clients that are non-techy, you need to understand that they have other prioritie

Some tips I had to learn the hard way: 1. Understand your client: If you have clients that are non-techy, you need to understand that they have other priorities than technical people. The most important things are: a) You care about them and b) They trust you. If they feel like this is not given (e.g. you didn't send a mail to / call them for 3 weeks), they don't want to work with you. Regardless of your talent. Communication is key. 2. You need two types of work: a) the ambient noise and b) the big stuff. What does that mean? You need to have a stable amount of monthly work that is reoccurring - e.g. hosting, existing clients that need changes etc. Why do you need this? Because you have to avoid at all costs to be desperate for work: You can't sell your work properly and you will overpromise desperately, you don't say no to bad clients. This can break the neck - especially for young consultancies. Have savings before you found your consultancy (e.g. for 6-12 months). Only hire people if you have the savings to pay them minimum 4-6 months (if they weren't making any money). Then target the big stuff™. 3. Learn to work. This may sound obvious, but I've seen many people who weren't able to deliver. We also had this problem in our agency. Developers didn't do what they should, people came late, etc. - You need to learn how to work without outside pressure (because you're your own boss). This is about behaviour and personality development. I'm making sure that the work was done and I'm doing quality assurance for the projects of my own web agency: trust is good, but negligence is stronger sometimes. Learn to control yourself and the work of others. Avoid micromanagement - try to use the scope that is the least invasive for your employees but still gives you a good overview. 4. Never promise something that you can't deliver. Just because the client doesn't want to hear it (e.g. "I'll need 3 weeks for this") doesn't mean that you can change reality. This gave me so much stress in the past because my co-founder overpromised regularly. Lower your expectations and learn to assess projects realistically. If you then are able to add a nice little surprise, clients will love you. Classic underpromise, overdeliver (slightly, you don't need to do too much - otherwise, you risk exploiting yourself). 5. I charge 1/3 of the project price before working on it. Other comments already wrote about it. Never lose your cashflow out of sight. 6. Last thing: Give people massive value. Don't focus on your daily rate while working, don't focus on unnecessary details. If you're at a customer, be fully in the moment. The negotiation phase is over - now join their mission and give them maximum value and the tools they need so they succeed. - If you're doing your job right, the client will think that you are a good deal (regardless of your high price). It's all about value.