[toast76]

I'd add a bit more to "charge more", although it is a good place to start. The other half, which may be seemingly obvious, is "...for less time".

A higher hourly rate isn't always the best answer. Some clients require more managing than others, have poorly organized projects, or terrible schedule requirements. Any of these will destroy your ability to run a startup just as much as going broke. Pick clients that result in a low overhead for you.

I've cut my client list down from a dozen or so to just 2 big clients. One pays me a high dollar rate and is the sort of client who just shoots me an email saying, "hey can you spend 6 hours on this thing". The other is a long term project which is basically guaranteed work for the next 12 months or more. This is lower paying, but provides 20-40 hours a month of consistent work. Both clients are low maintenance, easy to deal with and flexible.

For me, it doesn't matter how big the hourly rate is if I'm getting hassled every day of the week. It's as much about your time as it about your income.