Consulting on the side
aagha: When I started consulting I was able to find small "gigs" here and there by tapping my personal network to find out if people I knew (or people they knew) had any projects aligned with my skill-set that needed working on.I was aslo willing to do a couple of projects in the beginning either for dirt cheap or free just to have a couple of reference customers--I found that trying to get a customer to pay for my service when I had no track record was difficult.One thing I think I did (I was doing software development) as a consultant was to form an company (C-corp, since I planned--and did--to grow and hire on staff) was get insurance.  In 2001, $1M insurance cost about $4K if I recall correctly.  That was an added piece of mind to customers.In terms of time management, you have to be careful.  Back then, I didn't have a family, so coding during dinner time or late into the night wasn't an issue.  a wife and kid later, that changes.  Any consulting I do now is after the little one goes to bed and or on weekends.Best of luck!