And you absolutely must reserve time to market. Spend at least one-quarter of each week finding new business. Think like a student. In the corporate world, the bosses may fly you to a conference now and then, and you may or may not learn something useful in your job. You do not have that luxury as an independent contractor.
Every encounter is an opportunity for learning.
And that list is but the tip of the contracting iceberg. What's more, in some ways, you have to think just like you did when you were an employee. Just as in the corporate world, networking is essential. But other experts generally agree that networking is even more valuable to the self-employed than the employee. You have to bend over backward to open the door to communication.