Ask HN: Growing a consultancy

Dear HN'ers,

I run a one-man software consultancy and value posts like this (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=848370) to help with the early stages of setting up.

My goal is to grow it from a lifestyle business but not sure how to proceed.

I'm looking for advice on two areas regarding consultancies:

1) Growth plans. The variables seem to be team size, services offered, and markets targeted.

2) Exit routes. Anything other than being consumed by larger consultancies looking to expand?

Thanks in advance for your input, I hope this post will be of help to others in a similar position.