Unrealistic expectations

Soon after I left my headship and was helping to write a science education project, I met a young head of a secondary science department. He envied my move into freelance work and proposed to do the same, offering to advise primary schools on the science curriculum - for a fee, of course. But he had done no research, had no idea whether he had something that cash-strapped schools would pay for, nor whether he stood a chance of paying his mortgage.

What is the right thing to do?

Many teachers think of going freelance. Unless they are very lucky, it will only work for those who assiduously build up their market and connections over a long period of time on a part-time basis while they are working.