Terry,

More people should have your energy. Again, what you say has a great deal of merit, but we're staring to get off the theme of the thread.

OK. There is a lot of work out there for independents. Some of it is interesting. Much of it is profitable. It is possible and even likely that a good VFP developer will prosper doing it.

I've done it, made a good deal of money doing it, and am not at this moment interested in doing more of it.

Here is my take for what it's worth:

1) Pick an industry, read the trades, find out what they want.
2) Pick a potential client. The ideal customer is an up and comer -- not yet the biggest or best, but the one who wants to be the biggest and best and has the resources to get there. Find out all you can about the client. Write a brief proposal. Write a classy presentation level with a stripped down data base. Put is lots of "gee whiz" features -- this is a proposal for users, not the IT department. Let the users see lots of neat features.
3) The pitch is "everyone in this business uses xxx software. You will never get a real competitive edge using xxx software because it is not tailored to your particular needs, growth plans or vision. If you want to stand out, you need a system that gives you a boost, not one that keeps you at the same level as the rest of the players."
4) Find out who in the company to make the pitch too -- never the IT department. Often marketing is the most receptive to change and the marketers often drive the company.

I never mention VFP per se. I am a problem solver, not a VFP developer (also I code in VB, C++ etc, so saying I'm a VFP guy is not strictly true -- I just prefer VFP)

For an example of a successful entrepreneur who rought followed this process, take a look at Linda Bryan. She founded Tamlin Software (http://www.tamlinsoftware.com/) in 1991 on the premise that she could develop applications to assist business more flexibly that SAP, PeopleSoft, etc, and less expensively. She was right, and is taking hugh slices off the big ERP providers. Kudos, Linda!

Regards,