My advice is to find a company that more or less specializes in IT consulting/outsourcing and spend a couple of years learning the ropes. Get an understanding f

My advice is to find a company that more or less specializes in IT consulting/outsourcing and spend a couple of years learning the ropes. Get an understanding for how it operates, how they generate leads, the contract side, negotiation, etc. Doing this will give you not only a good sense of the business side, but also whether it’s something you really want to do on your own. Also, find a niche and specialize. Part of the reason there is so much noise is your skill set is presumably generic. Saying “I’m a senior web developer” puts you in competition with millions of others. The competition is global as well, when it comes to the freelance market (e.g., India, Pakistan, etc.). Whereas, I’m a “Senior developer in X technology” when there are only 5-10 others who can do the same thing puts you in a league of your own.