I did the same thing a couple years ago. The company I worked for went "Cisco" and left guys like me hung out to dry. Rather than work for someone else for peanuts, I gave this a try. I picked a fine time to do it, on the cusp of a recession. Having said that, it's not impossible. If you've never done sales before, learn. It may be the hardest and most frustrating part of the job. Like MooreTel said, "word of mouth" is the best form of advertising. Get in touch with old customers and let them know you're out there. Get in touch with I.T. guys. They can funnel cabling and small system work your way. Have a flier made up and start handing them out door to door. A lot of them will get tossed, but a fair share will get hung on to. I've had calls off them a full year after handing them out. It's boring and tedious, but you have to get the word out. Get a web site built. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but it should be informational. Make use of free online advertising (google, yahoo, etc) and direct them to your site. This takes time to develop also, but I find myself getting more work off the web as I go along.
