This is definitely a viable idea – I started the exact same business three years ago, and within about a year I had as much work as I could handle (then we moved across the country, so I’m mostly starting from scratch again – but at least this time I know it will work!) Here’s my two cents:
- Obviously, you should check on the laws wherever you are, but in most places you can work as a freelancer, under your own name, without having to officially create a business entity at all. If you decide you want to call your business something unrelated to your name, you’ll probably need to file a “Fictitious Business Name” with either your city or county. I wouldn’t worry about creating an LLC, though – for what you’re planning to do, you can function just fine (and with a lot less bureaucracy) as a sole proprietorship.
- Definitely set up a separate bank account, and use that for all of your income and expenses – it’ll make doing your taxes much easier, since you’ll have everything in one place. If you’re just working under your name it can be a personal account, but if you’ve got an official business name, you’ll have to get a business account (or have people write out checks to you and not the business).
- After you’ve worked for a few months and have some idea of what your income is like, definitely read through the Estimated Tax forms to see if you owe anything – I didn’t know that I was supposed to pay quarterly taxes when I started my business, and I got hit with some pretty nasty fines the first year.
- And the best advice I can give you: Tell everyone you know about your business. The more excited you are about it, the more excited your friends will be, and they’ll end up passing your name along to their friends. With the exception of one job, every client I’ve had for the last three years found me through word of mouth. It’s the best marketing there is for this kind of work!
I’ve got tons more I could tell you, but this answer is already really long. If you want more info, send me a PM – I’m happy to help!