Some random things I learnt from the transition :
- The most interesting projects rarely (mostly never) relies on a one person "team". Big projects are important for the customer and they need to know they will have someone to contact even if it's holiday time. You want the true customer to buy from you interesting projects : don't be alone.
- Once you have a team, you will look for interesting projects. They are more complicated to get. They often come from medium / large organization. Those orgs. have important inertia. Projects can take weeks of month to start. Chase multiple projects at the same time.
- Once you have bigger project you must learn to make precise time evaluation. It is really complicated. It must be done before the project is sold but you must not spend too much time on it. It is key since you want to earn money (no brainer) but mostly to have a smooth production calendar.
In my case, we are just a team of two. I spend half time in sales activities and the other developing websites. My coworker is full time dev.
If you want to discuss in details, reply here or email me : paul@agence-donatello.fr
Good luck ! There are freakingly high mountains of demands and needs outside. You can take your piece.