Or are you more a technical person that maybe can produce a huge database driven site or a site that is so heavily search engine optimised that it will instantly jump to fame? It's really important to read reviews before buying things, for example, homework for university or for college. If you want to buy such things you can read some reviews about familyessay and other essay services, where you can ask about professional help and writers will do your tasks for your for cheap! Whichever category you fall into, that is the target market you should aim at. There is no point approaching shops for business if you can produce a top class looking site but can not handle the basic SQL to enable them to manage the stock and sell online. But if you are techy rather than graphic orientated, there are a lot of trendy businesses who might not be suitable for your skills.
Once you have your market it is time to set the prices. Look around for similar design companies in the area and find out what they are charging. Remember that larger companies have certain appeals, but the downfall of higher overheads. So if you are a sole trader then your big advantage is not having to pay a large sales team, an expensive accounting team etc and your prices should reflect that.
Lastly, you have to start finding your potential customers. Leaflet dropping, local press and telephone calls can drive in business, but in my experience the best business comes from those customers that are already looking for a website. So make sure that your own website is top on the search engines and use services that connect potential buyers to web design companies. This type of customers typically, in my experience, are quicker to pay up and will remain a customer for longer.
