Switching from employee to freelancing had the biggest impact in my professional life. It's not for everyone but definitely for me.
Things I am uncertain about: * Organization/Admin set-up required to get going with me being the only person * Finding programming projects, clients * A good hourly rate to be charged
A little about me: I have been working as a Software Engineer for a few years now with a very good understanding of python, java, C/C++, javascript (learning React these days), databases, bash scripts. Have some experience with elasticsearch, big data (hadooop/hive), scala.
1. Save enough money for 3 months before I quit
2. Start looking for freelancing projects locally by asking companies that are looking for employees in my area to hire me as a freelancer instead of an employee
3. When you have 3 "yes, we can work with you on a freelance basis", I quit the company and approach the three of them until my first working day in that company.
I'm pretty sure these depend on your location ( I'm living in Berlin ), so you can ask around in some freelancing meet-up how can you start.