Hi Michelle,

This may be duplicate information, this thread has gotten too long to retrieve in one step so I don't know if anybody's mentioned this yet. If you're considering going independent, you owe it to yourself to read "The Computer Consultant's Guide" (second edition) by Janet Ruhl. I only recently found out about this little gem. I went independent five years ago and wish I had seen it as I was getting started, but even after some years in the business there was still a lot to be learned from this book. Good luck!