Okay maybe I was a little harsh with my original post, but I really do not think you have thought this through, allow me to give you some practical advice from someone who has started and owns a small business.
To start up you will need a minimum of $10K and this is for a very basic set up working from home, think set up costs, accountants, solicitors, fax, printers, plotters, software, hardware, insurance, etc the list goes on and on. Depending on the type of contracts you can win have at least enough money put by to run for six months with no income and even then a very modest income for the next six months. During the first three to four years it is unlikely that your company will have any real assets so any money or loans you need will have to be secured against you personally or your assets, usually your house. So the assumption that you have nothing to lose but your pride is far from the truth, you can very easily end up homeless and bankrupt.
Sales are the key to any business without them you are sunk. Most companies start up with a good working knowledge of an industry and the players in it, or with a commitment from one company to provide a certain amount of work. Most work comes from networks you have built up or word of mouth and anyone that has not seen your work or dealt with you in a previous job will want to see proof of similar work you have done and or references from other clients. I simply fail to see how you stand a chance of winning any work, let alone enough to make a business successful. I can assure you attending trade shows and solidworks conferences and waving around a business card will not be enough, they are full of people doing that already who do not have enough work. You will need to solve this major problem, how?
You mention stress, nothing is more stressful than running a small business, especially in the early days, you will have no idea where next months pay check is coming from, you will have cash flow problems and be chasing debt, you will be trying to meet impossible deadlines often with changes at the eleventh hour whilst at the same time trying to find your next job. Add to this doing all the bookkeeping, I,T and day to day work of running a business. Add to this the buck stops with you on everything, there is no one to turn to with a problem, unless you pay them, do not underestimate this or the potential costs.
So my advice, if you are serious about starting a business, get a job and put yourself forward to do everything, learn as much as you can not only about being a designer but about how the business is run and the systems in place, get to know as many of the clients as possible and in the mean time do attend conferences and trade shows and make a network of potential customers and suppliers. As well as doing this take evening classes in bookkeeping, sales, how to run a business anything that may help and look at it as a three year project, good luck.
