If you have any friends that freelance, reach out to them. If they're successful, they'll know about more projects than they can take on, and may be willing to

If you have any friends that freelance, reach out to them. If they're successful, they'll know about more projects than they can take on, and may be willing to refer some over to you. They may have also been approached by consulting companies that have more work to do than they can handle, and are looking for independent consultants to help with the load. The rates on those projects are usually a little less than your normal rate, but quite good for getting into the groove of things early on. You can also reach out to local consulting companies yourself and make yourself available to them. If you have the choice between a short-term client that wants you 40 hours a week and a long-term client that wants you 10 hours a week, take the long-term client. They'll reduce the risk of being in business for yourself, and you can take on other part-time contracts in addition. When you've got the benefit of a long term engagement, you can experiment with your pricing more with the remaining time. I end up giving a pretty significant discount to the companies I'm engaged with over the long term, as my rates on new projects are constantly going up.