Re: I am trying to set up my own company. I need some good advice
Paul,
let me rearrange and change your order a bit:
contacts/luck/website/talent
I know people that beat me in any of my skills, but are extremely unlucky in getting ANY contracts.
If you found your own company, you're not a designer or programmer anymore. Your primary job is -- salesman -- from that time on.
You have to make companies trust you and your skills. Your talents in what you do ONLY get necessary when you have a signed contract. Means for the first (and vital) part its only necessary to sell well. At this stage you have to make a show. You have to present somebody that is acceptable as a person, a business partner, a designer/programmer.
It is essential that you get contacts quickly. No contacts, no contracts. Try to meet the people. Not virtually using E-mail, but face to face. Its easier to say "No" to somebody you don't look at.
Look where people in your business meet, look for business groups in your area that meet frequently. If you get the first contract because somebody else got no time to do it, take it.
Luck - in my last 10 years I found luck being invaluable. Being at the right time at the right place with the right people is mostly a question of luck, unless you have a way to enforce it. A lot of my contracts I got that way.
Oh, and do not take your website easy. Today its the first thing most people use to find out about yourself. I get asked a lot of times when I will create a good looking one for myself =) even by customers I work with for a long time now.
Next point to consider is basic business knowledge.
You know how much you need to make your living. You probably know how much you like to earn.
Find out what you have to hand to your tax authorities and perhaps guilds or whatever that get a part of your income.
Take these info to get the prices you HAVE to take to make your living.
Thats the bottom prices.
Well, there is of course a lot more to consider, but thats the basic stuff in my opinion. If you want to go that way, take your time to prepare. Get help from perhaps your bank (mine does starter info days and provide lots of info for people starting their own business) or tax specialist or just friends who went that way already.
Juergen
BTW. Most people I saw failing during the first years wasted their money. Their spent all their income, not anticipating taxes, health insurance or whatever they had to pay. When tax authorities asked for money, they lost.
Oh, I notice I did not mention talent yet. I personally do not have talent as designer I am sure, but a lot of websites use graphics I did for them. The only thing I can do is work with Xara and DeepPaint to create images for business websites that are accepted by customers. My main job is it to create Content Management Systems ...
. I have to visit my mother today so I'll pick one up on the way and let you know tonight. 
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