I started my own company as a freelancer. You earn twice as much, so you can either work less, if you want family time or if you want to spend time on your own research. My primary motivation was putting money aside for maternity leave and spending more time on learning projects to keep up with industry changes. (I'm a front end dev btw) You need to be good enough to get work, and have enough contacts in the industry. I find this is much easier now that I'm more senior.