Author here, happy to take any questions, feedback, criticism etc! I'm on a journey to build the Netflix of UX research and this is one of my first steps.
I've just made the leap myself, leaving my agency job on Feb 10th to start my own consulting and contracting company. I'm a UX designer specialising in product design and interaction design for web apps and mobile. I've worked in UX for 12 years, consulting, agency, startups and enterprise - always wanted to run my own shop, and I'm finally making it happen. Woohoo!
I found a startup client who I have a small monthly retainer with, and who I'm doing some short (1 week-ish) contracts for on an ad-hoc basis. The money is good for the work involved, and the business gets to pay probably about half the usual cash for a senior UX brain that retains context around their business. It's win-win at the moment. I'm working hard to make sure I provide value for them because I know that I'm new to this game.
Finding clients so far has been all about activating my network. I haven't been able to do outwardly facing marketing stuff while still technically working at the agency, so once Feb 10 rolls around, I'm kicking that off.
Also, I saw in the comments that you're in Ivanhoe - I'm in Heidelberg Heights! We'll have to catch up for a beer some time to shoot the shit. ^_^