Also a freelancer from Germany here. I agree with most what devdude1337 says. Specialization is really really important; however, that usually doesn't mean so

Also a freelancer from Germany here. I agree with most what devdude1337 says. Specialization is really really important; however, that usually doesn't mean so much to specialize in a specific tech stack but more in a specific class of problems, sometimes only occurring in one industry. There are recruitment agencies that help you acquire projects but you can also do marketing and acquisition yourself. That depends on your target customers. If you want to work with big companies recruitment agencies are likely your only chance. For smaller to medium sized companies a direct approach can also work. Although the technical side of being a freelancer is important your communication and business skills are at least as important. IMPORTANT: You are a business and you need to consider yourself a business to be successful in the long run! That means you need to think about a strategy, goals, and ideally build a system that works for you. Try not to have only one client. I for example want to have one bigger client that takes up most of my hours and 2-3 smaller clients that provide an unsteady amount of work that I can use to load manage or generate at least some income with when I do not have a big client. I began my journey when someone on linkedin reached out to me with a small project. It was really small but didn't matter. It showed me that I can make money this way with my skills. However, inbound leads is rather rare in my experience. Regarding duration, I am currently in a 13month long project and have a couple of smaller gigs on the side.