The most important thing, in any business, is to have a core of repeat customers who can be relied upon to provide a steady stream of work- enough to cover your minimum expenses. I see too many stumble while chasing the "big jobs."
In my case, I'm not all that thrilled to do residential work, but- I do have two "property management" companies that are loyal to me and provide this steady work. Because of this, they mean more to me than any one-time "prevailing wage" job. I also do some lighting maintenance work.
It is also critical that you don't have the majority of your work come from one or two sources. I was offered the chance to service all the stores of one chain, but that would have made me totally dependent on them, with no time for other jobs. I call that "employment," not "independent contracting."
