Yeah I agree with the buffer, we can never time what happens in the market or in our life, just pay due diligence.

At times I was so hungry to make a killing on an investment that I would put near my last dollar into it and not be able to take it out and pay for something I suddenly needed in time, which ended up with me in a worse position than not making an investment at all.

About hourly rates, I feel like starting off small with your first repeat customers is ok and then scale with any of their referrals until you feel like you're at the rate you wanted.