Consultant Steve Friedl offers some fantastic advice on being a consultant. I found this comment interesting:
I purposely put the technical part of this Tech Tip last, to reinforce the notion that “customer service”, not “computer science” skills are the biggest factors in a successful consulting practice. But it’s foolish to think that technical skills don’t matter: you don’t have a business unless you can offer a service that a customer is willing to buy.
What counts here is truly learning the subject matter.