Anyone successfully transitioned to freelancing?

I have 8 years of software development experience and earning a decent salary, but contemplating to slowly transition towards self employment.

My skills are mostly in backend engineering- building web APIs and distributed cloud services. Are there opportunities available for such a skillset? I have observed it’s easier for frontend engineers and UI/UX designers to get freelancing opportunities as compared to backend engineers.

Anyone on this forum with similar skillset has been successful in getting good quality freelance work and make good money? Can you share your journey?