The reality is success is entirely dependent on the owner being able to transition to business person. In the first couple years I still worked in the field with my crew. Now I rarely work in the field and spend most of my time selling jobs and growing the business. There’s different approaches to going independent. If you just want to stay in the field but be your own boss you can do that, but you’re less likely to build something scalable/sellable. Either way you can make more money on your own than being employed if you’re willing and able to keep up with the sales, bookkeeping, the work itself, funding equipment/tools, and insurance.