[smorgusofborg]

There are two main hurdles in consulting:

1. Sales time is free. Even with established clients they are likely to work project by project and expect detailed quotes/estimates and initial discussions that take a lot of time, then there's billing and general business handling..

2. There is a forever war between large generalist consultants and niche consultants. Working ~alone you will probably have to be an expert in a niche and there is always business pressure to use a large consultant for everything even if their work is sub-par. (Accounts payable, etc, don't care about quality of consultants but about number of tasks.)

Planning for these factors is important, and combined with having no one to bill for more general maintenance hours and attempts of various orgs to get their "standard discount" for volume, being a startup, or being an NGO it is important to make sure you ask for a high enough rate. With contracting, seeking 1.5-2x is a minimum in most tax systems, with consulting at least 3x your intended income from an equivalent full time job.