When you get a good client, don’t let them go. And pray they don’t get fired, having a friend on the inside is everything.

Always bill by the hour (an impossible task if you deal with small clients, but keep it in mind anyway).

When making time estimates, double them. If you want to have some flex time built in, triple them.

Save money for dry spells (I’ve never quite mastered them). The reason freelances get paid so much more then salaried workers is because they spend half their time looking for work, and the other half trying to get paid for work they already did.

When you find a good client don’t let them go.

Beware of seasons. Probably different Australia, but in the US, but there is almost no work in the summer and absolutely no work during the last 3 weeks of December.

Beware of the “day creep”, where you wake up later and later every day, and subsequently work later and later every evening.

And good luck, its all worth it, I pretty much highlighted the downside. There will be weekday afternoons in cafes, beautiful clients who pay all your bills without ever giving you stress, absurdly large checks, extended vacations powered by those checks…