I started out working through upwork charging $10 an hour. It was mostly building WordPress themes and plugins for bloggers and small businesses. Over time I had clients refer other people to me and things grew from there.
Three biggest mistakes I made:
* It took me a couple of years to be confident enough to put my prices up to a reasonable level. I could have been self-sufficient much sooner with a bit of courage.
* After a few years I got complacent and did most of my work for the same client. They decided to switch to another company and overnight my income was down to almost nothing. There's no severance pay when you're freelance.
* Some clients just aren't a good fit for me, and it's a good skill to recognize them. These days I'm a bit more selective.