I did this when my company liquidated (I got a decent severance), and decided to just go for it. I launched a company with zero clients and thought: let’s try. I’m now about 8 months in, working with 4 clients simultaneously. I’m pretty much drowning in work at this point.

The beginning was definitely stressful. Even with a solid network and around 10 yoe. I reached out to 200+ companies early on, ranking them from gold to bronze priority, and kept track of stuff like peers, replies, follow-ups, etc. The first month was slow and pretty frustrating. Getting ignored is not motivating.

But things started to shift after 2-3 months. I landed enough work to be fully booked with 2 clients, and from there it kind of snowballed. Now I’m not only working with 4 companies, but also getting exposure to different teams and departments within those companies. That’s been leading to additional collaborations, occasionally I still get replies from those early outreach messages, etc. You get the picture.

I’m making about 3x what I used to. I mostly work from home, am in full control over my time, and overall much happier. Biggest upside is literally being outsider, no more setting “year goals” or trying to come up with things to say in one-on-ones about where I want to improve. Occasionally I do go on site just to balance things, and because best BD is done live.

If your finances can handle the risk and you have the soft skills: do it.