Re: How to become a "Contractor" not a "Sub-Contractor"
Well, let's remember Bruce that you and I (and some others on the board)
already have established businesses and clients. My work weeks are getting
shorter as well, but that's merely because I now can hire other people to
do things like process payroll, market our services, and setup servers.
When you first start out, it can be a bit rougher. I experienced a lot of
"feast or famine". One week I was bored out of my skull with no work,
then a week later I was working 15 hours a day.
True enough. My first six months or so were very haphazard.
What I was trying to convey was that the advice that you and a couple of other people gave was perhaps more elaborate than everybody needs. People are so conventional these days that they won't do anything without doing it the right way: they have to have the right shoes, outfits, and (for women) make-up to go jogging; they have to have a detailed process before they can beging to write a manual, and so on. I even know of one case of a company that went down the tubes because the president was continually rewriting the business plan while the day-to-day operations floundered. I suggest that what people who are interested in contracting need isn't a full description of how to set up for the long term (which is what you have given them - and very well, too, I might add), but simply to take the plunge and try it out. If they decide that they like the life, then's the time to make some long range plans. Otherwise, they might get discouraged by the preliminaries before they even have a chance to see if they like the life.
Bottom line: you don't need an office suite, employees, or a regular relation with a lawyer and an accountant to be a contractor. Many contractors I know work on a much less formal basis than that. Of course, there's a certain amount of legal risk involved, but they seem to manage well enough. These contractors want to write and earn a living, and they want to minimize operations in their businesses.
(For the record: I think I'm somewhere midway between the extremes mentioned in the above paragraph and someone like Andrew, who sounds - if I interpret his comments correctly - as interested in building a company as in writing by itself. Nothing's wrong with either way, so far as I'm concerned, so long as you're comfortable with your arrangements.)
Basically, my point is simply: be sure what you want. Don't go for the high end unless that's what you want. Don't invest in the corporate equivalent of a $300 pair of running shoes unless you're certain you're going to use them.
My warning to all considering contracting is: don't do it for the money. If money is the critical factor, stick with full-time employment. Do it
because you want freedom and the satisfaction of pleasing clients. If you
stick with it, eventually you will make more money. But you'll also give
up a lot in the process.
Maybe it would be more exact to say: you can earn more money contracting, but to do so requires a greater risk and greater time or effort, especially at the start. By contrast, working full time is less risky, but in exchange for a stabler income, you forfeit the chances of greater rewards.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"Art is a moral passion married to entertainment. Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television."
-Rita Mae Brown
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