I am also thinking about starting some sort of software consultancy, formerly for extra pay and then to become more job-indepentent. What I'm noticing is that,

I am also thinking about starting some sort of software consultancy, formerly for extra pay and then to become more job-indepentent. What I'm noticing is that, just by chatting with people, it's relatively easy to find some companies that need a simple, quick, and cheap SW product, the kind of things a solo developer can do quite easily. So my suggestion would be: just talk with people about your interest, someone may get back to you with interesting projects to start with. The only thing that is blocking me right now is that having a client is like having another boss, and it's probably gonna be angrier if anything doesn't fit well. I would prefer like "you pay me for X hours and I bring your SW from here to there" kind of stuff, it would probably be much easier to start with while maintaining my main job.