I live off of consulting with small businesses. The sweet spot is any company large enough to have regular, ongoing IT/Data needs, but not large enough to have

I live off of consulting with small businesses. The sweet spot is any company large enough to have regular, ongoing IT/Data needs, but not large enough to have a full-time staff dedicated to the role. This conveniently means that I also work directly with the owners and decision makers, which cuts out a tremendous amount of friction. I don't make as much as someone at a FAANG by a long shot. But I am not starving, either, and I have much more control over my day to day, which is a valuable tradeoff for me. The tl;dr is you need to focus on smaller businesses first. There is plenty of opportunity there.