Freedom means responsibility. Independence means self-sufficiency, autonomy. 

As for me, I fell into it by accident, by circumstance. Almost by necessity. Almost a year into this adventure, I'm proud of how far I've come. A road marked by successes and lessons learned. But I was able to hold on. I've developed a taste for it. And now I'm planning to go even further. First of all, I want to improve the formula, and also prepare myself better.

I plead guilty. There's no point in burying your head in the sand. I admit I'm not a good marketer. What can I say? I'm nowhere near your average marketer (and here again it's to be lenient with Abdoulaye 🙂).

After months of not signing a single customer on my own, it's fair to say that I'm not much of a salesperson. I'm one of those people who stutters and loses it on the phone, yet I'm so persuasive in writing. It's weird. I confess. 
The reason? Although you might think it's a lack of self-confidence, in my case, prospecting wasn't my day-to-day job at the agency. You're more confident when you know what you're doing.
Added to this lack of habit is the fact that we find it hard to tame certain feelings, even if in most cases we're fundamentally mistaken in holding these kinds of beliefs. It's uncomfortable to "ask". Thinking in this way gives rise to fear or stress, which can be paralyzing. This can be paralyzing and annihilate all our abilities. We find ourselves pitifully dyslexic at the wrong time (I don't know if there's ever a right time to be dyslexic). The pain is all the more intense because we had started so high. A little secret: I've been there. And more than once. Please, keep it between us ;)
In these situations, the risks are considerable: either the prospect doubts our skills and disappears after the call, or he pays us much less. In both cases, he'll have doubted us. Nevertheless, we have an opportunity to redeem ourselves in the second case: by delivering a product or service that lives up to our value. Surprising the customer completely.
The reality is that we don't ask, we offer our services, our skills, our value. Instead, we help others to succeed or earn more.
My luck was that they, the customers, came to me on their own. At that time, as luck would have it, in addition to a ready-made, well-stocked portfolio, I had a good listing on LinkedIn. I was certainly ranking high in the search results. So after making contact and a few written exchanges (plus a WhatsApp call in some cases), that was enough for most. And so we begin a collaboration. 
Collaborations? Yes, I have. I've had some very good ones, in fact: one long-term, one-shots that come back, satisfied customers who make recommendations too. 
So, what was I missing in the end? To grow. To have more projects at certain times of the year. To make more sales. If need be, delegate the surplus I couldn't manage.

For years in an agency, surrounded by all the human resources and skills needed to acquire, transcribe needs and manage a project or customer, all I had to do was excel in my comfort zone and my chosen field: development. Of course, I wasn't going to develop sufficient sales skills to hook prospects easily by concentrating solely on my core missions as a developer.

When you're on your own, you're free. However, with this freedom comes responsibility: you're accountable for your choices, your successes and your failures. You manage everything yourself: you have to be autonomous. You learn a lot. Directly or indirectly (by doing). You're bound to. As a freelancer, you're your own manager (very cool), your own sales person (a pain for someone I know: myself), your own graphic designer (a challenge I like and have good taste), your own project manager (interesting, at a certain level), among others, not to mention the accounting sometimes. All this?! Yes, so you might as well say it's a business in its entirety. I agree with that. So, to those: please, stop wanting low prices.

Still, I sometimes delegated certain tasks (at a cost), such as UI design. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do this with my puzzle (prospecting). I subsequently sought out partnerships, which were ultimately inconclusive. 
This is undoubtedly a sign that I need to demystify it once and for all! Become that efficient and effective marketer. I think we all need this skill. Knowing how to sell. 

Becoming a freelancer requires meticulous preparation before taking the plunge. If I'd thought ahead, I'd have put in place a set of tools better adapted not only to optimize performance, but also to facilitate working remotely, while avoiding excesses.

It's also a good idea to have emergency savings on hand to avoid difficult situations, as payments can often be late. Without this foresight, doubts quickly creep in, and you can find yourself absorbed by problems peripheral to the work itself.

It's essential to regularly step back from projects, the computer and the work environment. This has physical and mental benefits, as well as positive spin-offs on the professional front.
The same is true of good time management. It's a precious resource.

The importance of setting short- and long-term goals should not be underestimated. This guides your choices in terms of missions, technologies and career, thus preventing any future regrets.

I particularly stress the need to develop sales skills, while putting customer satisfaction first.

I'm not setting myself up as a sage or supra-senior in this field to offer advice. I'm not exempt: this advice is for Abdoulaye too.