It seems to me that to be a successful contractor, you usually have to have a certain personality type. In addition to doing the actual work, you have to be abl

It seems to me that to be a successful contractor, you usually have to have a certain personality type. In addition to doing the actual work, you have to be able to drum up business on a regular basis. This requires someone who can build a good network of friends, colleagues, and clients and interact with them regularly. Many programmers are introverted by nature. They went into programming because the idea of sitting alone in front of a computer all day did not cause a panic attack. They enjoy those long hours of 'solving a problem' using an IDE and testing the code over and over until it is right. They can sometimes go a whole week without engaging in a conversation longer than 10 minutes. This personality type does not match up well with a contracting business that has to 'wine and dine' potential clients; come up with proposals and present them to others; and regularly interact with existing clients to work out details.