I would agree that starting a business and keeping it going is a process, but also has to be a labour of love to justify the extra time and effort needed to be successful.
One thing I would add to what Roger said, is also to consider the types of customers you are targeting. At 6 years in I would say I am still somewhat early days haha but in my earlier days I built a relationship with another business that deals in lots of the small jobs (in my case as a plumber/gas fitter that meant replacing peoples faucets and toilets) simple in and out like Roger is saying, quick money. This one relationship was enough for me to make my transition to my own business. Even though the pay for it hasn't always been top end, it has been good in that it has been a consistent source of work and I have also spun off a bunch of other jobs from it. Getting in front of those people for something small and demonstrating your knowledge and personality positions you well to make jumps to something bigger with that customer. Quick example that comes to mind, I turned a $150 job into more then $10k in work with 1 customer. Bottom line would be to explore options to work with businesses that may need your service on an ongoing basis, and that can help make something that feels risky, not risky.
