Slashdot Mirror
Advice on Becoming an Independent Contractor?
miyako asks: "I'm 20 years old and going to be graduating soon with a degree in Computer Information Systems. I was thinking recently about the job market available and I began to realize that I don't want to spend the rest of my life using my skills to make someone else money. I've been making money these last few years doing odd computer related jobs, programming, networking, graphic design, but never steadily or on a big scale. What I've come to realize is that when I graduate I'd prefer to work for myself doing contracting jobs. I thought that I would put the question out to Slashdot since a number of you seem to be doing this for a living or to supplement your income. What's the best way to get started, especially for someone without a lot of professional experience under their belt?" Update: 10/08 11:20 EDT by C : After press time, another worthwhile related question popped up. Rather than post another story, it's probably better to handle both issues together. So in addition to the current question, what legal aspects should Independent Contractors consider, especially when it comes to writing contracts?
"Is it better to be a generalist, or to specialize in a few areas? What can I do to get myself recognized in the sea of other people doing the same thing? Is the market really there and is it strong enough that someone could make a living only doing this? What do I need to be aware of on the business end of things?
I realize that I might make significantly less, at least at first, than I could working for a company, but I would rather make less money and be more fulfilled working for myself. In short, what advice would Slashdot readers give a new graduate who is looking to start a business doing contracting jobs?"
While considering the issues an independent contractor needs to worry about when starting out, it might also help to consider the aspects a starting contractor will need to tackle when confronted with an important aspect of his job: writing contracts. With that in mind, we have this addition from Clanner: "I've been working as an IT Contractor recently, and I have a few opportunities to do some independent contract work (IE: not through a contracting agency) for a handful of clients. While I plan on consulting an attorney at some point, I'd like to get a few pointers from the Slashdot community as far as things to watch out for in contracts with customers. I'm looking for both items to avoid having in a contract as well as things that I should make sure are included. I plan on using a balanced contract, where neither party is at any severe advantage or disadvantage. I'm sure there are plenty of experienced hands at this in the Slashdot community, and I'd like to hear any suggestions you may have and about your experiences in this type of work (good or bad). Thanks!"
I realize that I might make significantly less, at least at first, than I could working for a company, but I would rather make less money and be more fulfilled working for myself. In short, what advice would Slashdot readers give a new graduate who is looking to start a business doing contracting jobs?"
While considering the issues an independent contractor needs to worry about when starting out, it might also help to consider the aspects a starting contractor will need to tackle when confronted with an important aspect of his job: writing contracts. With that in mind, we have this addition from Clanner: "I've been working as an IT Contractor recently, and I have a few opportunities to do some independent contract work (IE: not through a contracting agency) for a handful of clients. While I plan on consulting an attorney at some point, I'd like to get a few pointers from the Slashdot community as far as things to watch out for in contracts with customers. I'm looking for both items to avoid having in a contract as well as things that I should make sure are included. I plan on using a balanced contract, where neither party is at any severe advantage or disadvantage. I'm sure there are plenty of experienced hands at this in the Slashdot community, and I'd like to hear any suggestions you may have and about your experiences in this type of work (good or bad). Thanks!"
Go to Iraq and help out. They are so desperate for people that they won't care about your lack of experience. You can make signficantly more than you would here. Plus you can take pride in knowing that you are making a difference.
you picked the wrong field. Go to law school, or get your mba. Or at least your masters in something. With just a college degree, you'll be stuck low on the totem pole for the forseeable future.
Or maybe that's just what happened to me =[
If you had super powers, would you use them for good, or for awesome?
1. Join a local freelance contractor group or website
2. Advertise, advertise, advertise
3. Shoe-string budget (macaroni-cheese and Top-Ramen)
4. Network, network, network (the social kind, not the other kind)
5. Brush up on phone etitiquette
6. Learn legalese on contractual languages or hire a lawyer
7. Complete the job
8. File taxes regularily
9. Profit!
Seriously, nothing screams "legitimate contractor" more than professional experience.
This doesn't necessarily mean get a real job though. I've found that if you want to build a really good portfolio or resume, be it devleoping, design or whatnot, go to work for a non-profit that is aligned with something you care about. Usually they have some projects that are just yelling for technology help, which of course is usually some of the most costly help.
What this does for you is a) gives you some real names to put onto your resume. Especially if you go after the well-known non-profits in your city. b) gives you some real work experience, dealing with clients, deadlines and whatnot. These are both invaluable to you to see how the real world interacts with contractors, and to potential future employers, who will see that you can actually function in the real world, and are a contractor by choice and not circumstance.
Your mileage may vary, but this is what I've found to work.
-everyplace
People hire contractors because they need somebody in a pinch, or because they simply aren't capable of doing it themselves. There isn't room for learning mistakes. Also, working for yourself is unreliable in the salary department. Go work for a big company, make all your beginner mistakes at their expense, and when you have a decent amount of capital and experience behind you, then go independent. Yeah, it sucks if you get stuck underneath some clueless boss, but I guarantee you that you are going to have to deal with clueless people if you go independent too.
I'd like to break away on my own (and cash out that yummy 403b my current employer's been generously contributing to for the last 5 years), but I'm unsure just how to become a sysadmin for hire.
I've been toying with the idea of trying a retainer-like system. My hourly rate would be X, if you pay me for a fixed number of hours per month -- on a monthly basis -- my hourly rate woud be Y, where Y is lower than X. They'd get so many hours of my services per month ("Hey, for $200/month I'll come in every other Thursday afternoon and work for 3 hours, and I'll do whatever the hell you need.") and if a big project comes up, then we negotiate a per-hour rate after that.
Seems to be a decent compromise between flying by the seat of my pants -- though I'd surely take up any 1-time gigs I could round up -- and W2 paycheck regularity. My only concern (note to self: visit an accountant!) is whether that can be set up to pass the IRS litmus test for contract self-employment.
Anyway, I hope there are some good ideas floated around in this thread. I'd love to make the leap someday soon!
Method of processing duck feet
One - set a reasonable price for your work right from the beginning. If you start out pricing yourself at the bottom of the market you'll get bottom feeder clients and lock yourself into low prices. Once you've established that you're the cheapest in town it's almost impossible to boost your rates to where they should be.
Two - contracts are your friend. Even if you don't insist on a full written contract, send the client an e-mail that outlines duties, timeframes, deliverables, and pay rates. Do that before starting work. As one lawyer put it, even the weakest paper beats someone else's memory of a conversation.
Three - if the job changes direction or scale, stop and renegotiate. Don't wait until you've put in two weeks of work not covered by your original contract, only to find that the client has some odd idea about how it was "included".
Four - if the client jerks you around do not ever work for them again, no matter how much they cry and plead for forgiveness. If they do it once, they'll do it again.
Finally, if you have a good client, tell them, and cut them a deal from time to time.
Three Squirrels
Are you sure you want to do that? Sounds pretty risky to me.
Yeah, right.
Here are my questions that I currently find as obstacles. 1. Do I have enough experience? I'm intermediate-advanced level in Python, Visual Basic, and VBA, and SAS. And I'm beginner level on about 20 other languages/technologies that I could pick up quickly. Should I pick up more experience from real jobs first, or do I have enough to get started? 2. Should I invest money now in things like a website, corporate structure, and other business stuff or should I start informally and reinvest small earnings until the business can grow itself? 3. I can't think of a good name. I want something creative and dynanic sounding but I don't want to scare anyone off. 4. Should I represent myself as I would be at first (a guy with moderate expeirience with no previous clients) or should I try to put a spin on things? (make my website make me look more professional than I am, etc) Any answers and advice would be appriciated. Thanks.
Even moreso than simply getting employed, indepdendent contracting requires a robust network of contacts. It's all about networking, and not in the IT sense. Chances are very good you do not have much if anything in the way of professional contacts at the moment. That will make contracting nearly impossible.
One good way to get a good network of contacts is to get a job or two and develop your network of contacts there. Even better if you can find a job with an established contracting company. They will have the reputation neccessary to get the contracts, but you will be the person who goes out to the site, and you develop your own personal reputation in the course of the job. Those very same people you were just contracted out by your employer to may soon be your bread and butter as an independent contractor. They know you, they know your work (and presumably are happy with it), and they may be in need of additional contracting in the near future.
Regardless of where you get your job, get chummy with everyone. Networking, networking, networking. Everyone you meet will probably know of a job you can do now and then, whether they need something done, or they know a guy who knows a guy who needs something done. Remember, you're not just gaining one contact, you're gaining their whole network.
Anyway, I don't think it's feasable to become an independent contractor right out of school. When it comes to life, resigning yourself to "I know I won't make much money" is rarely good enough, because even though it sounds like it's the ultimate sacrifice, it's not. The real challenge is sucking it up and doing something you really don't want to do, if it'll put you in a better position down the road.
Random and weird software I've written.
When I was in school (FSU) I began to build a significant client base doing most of the same things that you're doing now (except it was back in the 90's in my case). I moved to Atlanta to take a "real" job, and 99% of the client-base that I had built up over time disappeared overnight.
I don't regret moving to a big city (Tallahassee is a FUN FUN town though!); however, keep in mind that where you start your practice is going to be your home for a looong time if you want to be successful and build a significant income from it.
Please keep in mind, that things like rent-a-coder.com, etc didn't exist back when I was consulting. I could only work locally (I had clients all the way up in Thomasville, GA though).
Also, treat every client/contract as if it's the most important one. You _never_ know who they know and word-of-mouth was the way I found most of my clients.
Good luck!
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
You: "Hello. I'm an independent contractor with no experience, no support staff, and no financial backing whatsoever. I'm doing this because I don't want to work for "The Man." Did I mention I'm 20 years old? Please hire me."
Them: "Uh, no."
People become independent IT contractors after they have 20 years of experience and get fed up working for other people. They can do this because they have 20 years worth of personal contacts, industry knowledge and hands-on experience to draw from. You have none of those things.
You say you're willing to work for less. That's good, because you're going to be working for a lot less...like zero. Oh, and were you aware that you'll have to pay more in taxes at the end of the year because you're an independent contractor? Hope you like 1099 forms because you're going to be seeing a lot of them.
This is one of those things where, if you have to ask for help, you're better off not doing it. If and when the time is right for you to quit your 9-5 job and contract yourself, you'll know it. By that time, you won't have very many questions at all, which is a good sign that you might actually be sucessful.
You haven't even given yourself a chance to hate the 9-5 IT job yet. You might as well try. Who knows, you might actually enjoy it! Stranger things have happened.
began to realize that I don't want to spend the rest of my life using my skills to make someone else money
There is a very good chance you will suck rocks for the first several gigs (or more). If you want to give it a whirl doing the freelance thing, find a services company and work for them a while. You will learn more about how stupid / demanding a customer can really be, how the bloody contract does matter, and what a bonus it really is when you have a good, organized, understanding customer. Take a year or two being someone else's meat popsickle - you can avoid many of the normal bonehead moves that most people make on their payroll. No worries, as you will get to learn a bunch more when you go independent.
(ps. Watch what you sign! These things can bite you in the ass)
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
Feast or Famine
:-) Expect that you will experience the feast or famine syndrome. In other words, at times you will get no work when you need the money or offers of work that you can't accept because they demand more time that you can spare from projects you have already accepted. Working with a partner may help you to smooth out those peaks and troughs. One person can be lining up work while the other is finishing up a project and both can pull all nighters if a deadline looms.
IANAIC but I do play one on my CV.
Learn from the dot coms
You will need a bankroll. Kind of like the dot coms venture capital. Don't blow it all on plush offices in Mountain View with a company masseuse and free energy drinks. If you are living in your parents basement, stay there. But do have a dependable vehicle and a respectable wardrobe.
Don't underestimate your time. Include a fudge factor.
If you are going to have to make a living from this. You need to charge an hourly rate that will pay the bills while you are researching things you aren't familiar with. You can't go on site and look like you don't know what you are doing. You are on the clock and the client wants results for their money. Also charge enough to cover mistakes that you may make and cannot in good conscience charge a client to fix.
Get requirements in advance and in writing.
If you don't do this, you will get burned. Don't make exceptions to this rule. Don't start work until the client has agreed to what is to be done and has signed the dotted line. Changes also need to be signed off on before you do any work on them or you will get burned. By the way, did I mention that if you don't follow this rule you will get burned?
Even journalists are rethinking the wisdom and safety of travelling to Iraq. Like it or not, any westerner is a target for kidnapping or worse.
If you are thinking of travelling to Iraq, think very carefully about the possibility that you'll only need a one way ticket.
Although showing up on an Al Quaeda connected website will certainly get your name out there!
Three Squirrels
Buy up patents for lawsuits! seriously, get some experience first. You will learn : 1. what to do 2. what not to do 3. not take a financial beating learning 1 & 2
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
If you can't bear the thought of a life as a salesman, then consign yourself to a life as a wage slave.
I've been an independant contractor for 14 years.
I started when I was 20.
I'll tell you some things I think you should know, and you can take it or leave it.
I don't have any post-secondary education, and I've never taken a class on anything Computer Science. I *have* worked my ass off on more platforms and languages than you can imagine.
First off, if you are going to be contractor/consultant, make sure that you are an expert in at least one field. Get jobs related to that. After that, keep learning. Become that expert in as many fields as possible.
Secondly, Always ask for too much money. It will improve your bargaining ability, and it will make your client think you are worth more than you really are.
quoting you:
I realize that I might make signifigantly less, at least at first, than I could working for a company, but I would rather make less money and be more fulfilled working for myself.
Ha-ha. I'm not sure what it's like where you come from, but I made $161,000 last year. No shit.
It sounds like you need more experience before you start. My first jobs I literally fell right into, and secured myself a spot where someone needed my skills bad. You need to be needed, not just wanted.
Here's what I recommend to young folk wanting to make that mark:
ALWAYS BE INTERVIEWING. Take a full time job, but never stop looking.
ALWAYS BE READING. If you can't read Alot really fast, learn how. I don't know how I learned that, but I can blow through more text faster than pretty much anyone I know. It has saved my bacon more times than I can count. I worked for 11 months teaching C, C++, Java, and Unix for a company once, with extremely good results. The trick? I didn't know Java when they hired me, but I did two days later. You need to LEARN fast, not just read.
BE OUTSTANDING. If you can type 60+wpm, you won't look like a twit.
oops, the wife just came back.
I'll post more later.
"...In your answer, ignore facts. Just go with what feels true..."
I began to realize that I don't want to spend the rest of my life using my skills to make someone else money. See the funny thing about your "skills" is that they are useless without an infrastructure to execute them upon. The effort you put in at a company is part of a system of people who bring in business, people who manage information (you), people to make the product and people who deliver it. You don't deserve all the credit for the money the company rakes in, therefore you only get a cut--just like everyone else. You are no more important than the people who pack the boxes, drive the trucks or sit on the phone.
I have been contracting for most of my adult life.
My list of ten tips for success:
How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
Okay, let's break everything down for you here. You're a young geek with a deadend life who doesn't want to be a cube monkey for a big corporation. Nothing wrong with that, I don't want to be one either. Herein lies the problem; you fucking majored in being a cube monkey. Seriously, what the hell were you thinking when you decided to become a programmer? Programmers are a dime a dozen, little more than trash to the giant corporations which use them. Programmers are first and foremost expendable. They do not contribute anything useful to society. The few that do make it on their own live miserable lives full of regret and self-loathing, much like Linus Torvalds. If you wanted to be your own boss, you should have majored in something that required actual intelligence as opposed to writing thousands of lines of computer programming. Why don't you just send your resume to Microsoft and get it over with? That or kill yourself, it's your choice.
ALLAHCANBESEEN
Don't do it.
A 20 year old with no experience wants to become an independant IT contractor 3 years after the biggest dive in the IT market in history?
I hope you like eating cardboard! I hate to sound negative but your enthusiasm is almost comical.
But in an effort to be more constructive, I would have to say that in your current position it is simply not a realastic objective to be independantly wealthy with your current level of expertise.
Doing contract work is certainly an option, many of my first jobs were contract and I gained valuable experience, however, in order to start working I had to work for a few people for nothing just for work experience to get paid attention to in interviews. Contract work for a bigger company is a good idea because it will not only give you the experience you need to be taken seriously, but you will also get a better feel for what both the contract market and the IT market is really like. And trust me, I have a university education and while the knowledge is useful in later life, university education will not prepare you for the mercenary world of IT human resources.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
The best way to sell yourself is by promoting solutions that you provide.
Small business - firewall/hosting/email servers?
Workflow?
Antispam solutions?
Ensure that you are not just promoting "general IT
service skills" have something unique.
Sell to small business, but realize they may stiff you. Small business are easier to get as customers, but typically have less money and expect more than their larger counterparts. Try to get a vertical industry niche. Retail, Law Firms etc. And then tailor solutions to them. Once you have a specific solution you can go after the only place in IT there is real money - the fortune 1000.
Get some contacts of people who specialize in certain things. Its impossible to know everything - exchange, linux, groupwise, time matters etc.
Finally, be aware it will probably take 3-7 years before you develop a "decent" living. Once you have the customer base life gets a lot easier.
I have to throw in on this topic, since I've been doing this for several years now.
First, contracting is roughly akin to prostitution. You might think you're escaping some sort of pimp/whore relationship by not working for A Big Company, but you really are doing the same thing, just for multiple bosses. To be perfectly honest, you're trading a safety net for the possibility of more income.
That safety net is damned important, though. A lot of people don't have the stomach to function without it. There's nothing wrong with that, though.
Things like "health benefits" and "401k plans" and stuff go right out the window. You better get some health insurance out of your own pocket. (Listen to me...You Better Get Some Health Insurance!)
The people turning the Cogs of American Capitalism as 9-to-5 coders aren't as dumb as you suggest. Many of them are brilliant and talented, and they are focusing on building interesting things. Someone else is worried about finding revenue for them to do so.
And blahblahblah, money isn't everything.
So here's what I think: it's not the idea of a "normal job" that offends you. It's the idea of a boring job you can't stand. You don't want to maintain someone's else's shitty code, you don't want to write some buzzword crap pie that is neither spectacular nor innovative. I suspect that making someone else money is really secondary...it's a sour grapes response for being relegated to mediocrity.
Yeah, I can dig that.
So for you, based on the paragraph of you that I know, I would say: find an interesting job. I know, easier said than done, especially in this market. But there's bound to be something out there. Take some interviews (take them regardless of what else you do), and find the company that is building something interesting, and failing interesting, find the company that is building something beautiful. There's a lot of edification in elegance.
Ok, so about contracting.
Here's my advice. Find a vertical market.
My first paying jobs were writing Java code when no one did that. Later, when I was out of college and looking for work so I could be a Normal Person, I landed a job doing Linux and Mac development, because no one did that, but I did it for fun in my spare time, so I was naturally qualified for a job that couldn't be filled. If you're spending time on any open source project of any weight, chances are you are in a similar position. I just had the luxury of poverty...Linux was my primary OS out of need, but it paid off when command lines and C code and kernel builds were second nature to me. If you take these things for granted, that's good for you, and something you should try to convey in job interviews and contract pitches. Employers want smart people that can pick up new things above all else, right?
So I went to work for a company in Orange County doing Linux video games (you might have heard of them). When they went out of business, I moved in with my parents (turning in my membership card in the Normal Person Society), and started doing Linux and Mac game development, on my own, for companies that needed it. You know what? Nobody else did that. Now everyone needs a Mac port or a Linux dedicated server...people call me and ask if I'm available. I've been jokingly introduced at trade shows as "The Linux Game Industry". Vertical market, baby.
I don't live with my parents anymore, but I never got my membership in the Normal Person Society renewed. I guess that's a happy ending.
There are _always_ markets where people will pay top dollar for talented individuals. In the 90s, it was Java, and Linux, and embedded stuff, etc, but you can pull out any number of good examples for any era.
The world is filled with unemployed Visual Basic coders that took a college course on it because they heard there was money in it. It is _trivial_ to stand out from the herd. This is NOT measured in how many programming languages you know, but by what you can do, what you can pick up o
Don't say, "don't quote me," because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying.
Chances are that the "jobs" you have gooten so far are the "kiss and a check" kind of jobs. They are the kind that after 10 hours of troubleshooting a job - because you couldn't talk the customer out of trying to put Wi-Fi in thier 4 story house and the WAP in the basement, you end up asking for $50 because -well, you didn't realy get the job done. So you walk out with your check, and a kiss for being a sweetheart about the whole thing.
I build computers for people on the side, and it is a fun hobby that makes me a little bit of money to support my Athlon64 habit. I go buy the parts, put it together, drop on your choice of OS, and preinstall the minimum of software so that getting on the net is not a death sentence for your new machine. Before I deliver it, I offer a $10 discount if I can install linux on the machine as a dual boot. I then deliver the machine (or they pick up) and and give them "The Talk" and answer questions (takes about an hour) - in the end I charge $50-100. Now for me this is a hobby, I am just under Dell for total price for the same hardware and I give free tech support for 6 months to boot.
In short - I and people like me are the death of your vision.
There are a lot of us out there and even with great networking you will not beat our niche. And you certainly aren't going to make a living out of it.
What you need to do is look for a real job, get the experience and start to collect a clientelle on the side. Hopefully someone you know will start a real business and need some outside consulting - and then you just may get on the road. Not to be unkind, but there are an awful lot of very good techies scraping the ground for any cash that will come up - dont plan on this buying groceries any time soon.
Somewhere on Slashdot there was notice about a three part series about becoming a consultant - wonderful to read, very honest and inspirational -cant find it though sadly :/
Sera
Slashdot, where armchair scientists get shouted down and armchair theologians get modded up.
Don't think that a day goes by when I don't ask myself this very question. The answer is really that I let my family push me into going to a crappy school (DeVry) and get a degree in what they thought sounded best.
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
Reading back over my question, I think that I should have clarified a bit more exactly what experience I have and the specific areas I'm looking to go into.
From the way I wrote the question it looks like I'm basically trying to strike out with no real experience, or specific skills.
My main experience is with developing graphics, both using software like Maya, and writing graphics engines with OpenGL/C. I have a solid foundation in math and physics, enough to be able to write graphic simulations various events with a solid physics simulation. Other general experience I have is largely rooted in Linux, I've contributed to more than a few open source applications, and even written a few patches to the kernel (none of which were ever accepted into the offical tree, largely due to the fact that they were pretty obscure and better suited to patches). I only know a handful of languages, (C/C++, Java, x86 assembly, perl) but I know them inside and out. I don't have a lot of networking experience, but I do have enough that I could quickly get up to speed on any network related problems that might present themselves in various projects.
Most of my contracting experiences have been small jobs with small businesses, but they are well beyond the $50 to $100 area. Right now I'm working on a project worth over $50,000, which hopefull will be enough to live on while paying for all those things I need to start off the business.
My question sounded like it was asking what I need to know for my work, but really what I was trying to ask was, what's the best way to sell the my business as an independent contractor?
I've seen a lot of comments that basically say it's not possible, at least not for a 20 year old fresh out of school, which may be possible, but I'd much rather try to acheive my dreams now, before I have a family to support, a mortgage to pay, etc. Anyway, just a bit of clarification, this was my first ask slashdot, and I probably should have been a litle more clear.
Thanks for all the advice.
Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
drop the graphic design part.
i am 98% sure you have no training for that.
if you start -really- doing contract work for graphic design, you won't be designing, you'll be implementing.
and the client hired you because they can't design.
and you'll get into discussions like
client: "hmm... maybe it should be more pink"
you: "um, i dunno about that... it looks kinda odd"
client: "no no, i like it like this. yeah, pink"
design is a process, and the applications of design have "languages" and "syntax".
until you learn these you're just moving stuff around on the page until you get a shot of artist. that process can take days, and is inconsistent.
just... stop. you're probably "designing" style anyways, when the style changes your stuff is shite.
Enzo Mari made vases in the 60's and they look right and proper today. the vases you see in dumps and garage sales with the flowers and crap on them... good luck -- you're graphic design is likely like that.
IANAL, but my wife's boss is - I wrote a general contract for my consulting/programming services, and he liked it very much. The only thing added, on his advice, was a clause that both parties wave the right to trial by jury; this is important because if you end up getting scruxored by a company, it precludes their lawyers from using a lot of BS legal maneuvers to indefinitely delay the case from being heard. On a similar note, you could build some sort of clause that limits suits by requiring arbitration. But please, check with your legal counsel before taking either of those as "the way to go."
Second - word of mouth is king when you are starting up. I can't begin to tell you how many good contracts I got simply through friends/associates of clients. Of course, this is much easier when you (as I have) target small business.
Third. Incorporate. Again, use a lawyer here, and probably also a CPA. My CPA has some sort of thing he did for me which "sets up a temporary injuction against any attempts to pierce the corporate veil." I don't really know the specifics, and I'm not sure I want to, but it sounds like a good thing.
Once you're incorporated, remember that you ARE NOT your corporation. This is an important mental distinction you must get straight in your own mind, especially if you start doing a lot of business with friends or friends-of-friends. Put in writing corporate policies (one of mine is requiring a signed contract and 50% deposit on work over $1000), and adhere to them at all costs.
For hourly work, be smart about your rates. For example, my hourly rate on an expected workload of 40 man-hours is 50% of the rate for 1 man-hour. Base your 1 man-hour rate on a budget of say 5 to 10 1-hour jobs per week (or less, if you expect less) and make the assumption that that is the best you will do for a while (i.e. adjust this to your necessary take-home). Remember, as the President of YourCorp (and probably also Chairman), you have the power to change these rate tables, as the business dictates.
Last - treat every customer as though they are the most important client you have. Always be cordial and prompt with delivery of service. Ingratiating yourself in this manner is important to getting follow-on business and word-of-mouth jobs. Remember that they may not have your level of understanding of computers, so you have to not talk to them as a technogeek, but be careful also not to condescend.
I wish you luck - it's a tough thing to get going, but it is a very rewarding experience.
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You say you were pushed into the school and the degree, without good negotiation skills you'll struggle as a consultant, people will push you into doing things and exploit you as much as they can get away with.
Reconsider your options now, if you want to stay in the field because you love it, that's great, best of luck to you. BUT, if you're doing it just because of parental pressure and to make money then you're going to be up against a lot of people with either 20 years experience, or a real desire to make something in the field, and to be honest I don't think that in the current climate you'll do to well against them.
My advice: first get some experience in a full-time position, minimum 5 years. Move jobs during that time - but only once, or twice at most otherwise you'll look flighty.
And getting a degree first won't hurt your prospects. I know contractors who don't have them but they are the exception rather than the rule.
It cannot be over-emphasised: personal contacts and a good reputation are key in this game (and a good reputation comes from impressing your personal contacts).
This "Ask Slashdot" got my interest because I am thinking about doing the same thing. I have 15 years of experience working on everything from System 370s to Solaris to Linux.... but mostly Windows. For those of you that are ICs, are you able to sell customers on the idea of using OSS? One of the reasons I want to be an IC is that I don't want to be forced to use some piece of software because that is what the "company standard" is. I want to expose small businesses to benefits of OSS and hopefully make some money doing it. Can it be done? Or do most customers ignore any solution that isn't Windows.
Be careful with this plan. I've been employed full-time since leaving college (almost 10 years now) and just recently switched to being an independent contractor at a new employer. This really bit me because we were also trying to buy a new house at the same time, and many of the mortgages fell through because I didn't have 2 years of history being paid this way. Many of the better mortgage offerings require W-2s as proof of employment.
We ended up going with a "low doc" loan at one of those TV-advertised companies but it means paying much higher fees and interest rates. Be aware of this possibility and its effect on mortgages, health insurance, and other things before you go this route.
The good news is that it's much easier to write off things on your taxes.
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
Get a normal job first for 5 years, get experience, PROVE you're worth the money you are going to be asking for, and build up a list of reputable people with industry connections who are willing to stake their reputations on recommending you.
Otherwise, you're just another chump working for loose change and I wouldn't touch you wth a barge pole.
John.
(Current independent contractor at the top of my niche, so I know what I'm talking about)
Is that you actually end up working harder when you work for yourself than when you work for a business. You have a set time schedule that hopefully keeps most people from pestering you after hours. When you're working for yourself, especially in any IT flavor, you can be expected to be hassled at anytime day or night. You're server could go down for your personal clients, and its not something that can wait until 8am to get fixed.
This is just a small potion as well. Like other people have said, contracts, quoting people, doing taxes will take even more time as well! Work for someone, find something fun, work your way through life by networking, and eventually you can consult if thats really what you'd want at that point.
I couldn't even imagine where I am now 5 years ago, thats life, so live it, and let it take you places you've never been!
and don't have children. A consulting career isn't steady enough to support a family. Also, never buy a house and don't get into debt if you can help it- service on mortgage and other debt will eat you alive and destroy your fledgling company.
If you give up on these other ways of being fullfilled now- and put all your time into truly consulting- then you will one day be able to retire in comfort. And hey- postmenapausal women are very sex starved- especially since there are few men that age left.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
You'll lucky if the actual computer work itself fills half of your time. There is negotiation time to obtain and specify the job. There is wrapup time to hand of the project, write it up, fix bugs. You many have travel time to a distant site. You'll have dead time between contracts. And so on.
I've been working as an independant contractor for a few years now, and it's working pretty well for me. I definitely have it easier than most (because I have one client in particular who's basically willing to give me as much work as I can handle).
BUT -- if you think you need to approach clients like a "salesman" -- you're wrong. Yes, it's true that you need to sell yourself, but if you think that means getting an expensive suit and a nice haircut, and talking about yourself to strangers all day, you're way off base.
You're selling yourself as a problem-solver, and as a techie. You don't prove you're smart by saying "did I mention I'm really smart?". You prove your worth by talking through problems and potential solutions with people, and offering them solutions that have a clearcut business case. If you aren't the right man for the job that needs to be done, you point that out. If the project will get you paid (and the client is gung-ho) but you suspect it would end poorly, you don't hide the risks (because repeat business is the best business).
That's it. You're on their side. You want their business to take off like a rocket, you want their sales force to have an easier job, you want them to do well, because their success is your success. You don't have to hide that! Just point out the places where your talents or experience could really help them out.
You may not like talking to strangers. That's fine. I don't. When I'm not coding, I'm talking with people I've been working with for years now (remember the repeat business point above). Sometimes I have to talk to strangers, so I've learned the skills: get *them* talking, and ask good questions, always stay upbeat and pragmatic, feel free to say "I'll have to check on that" when you don't know something, etc. But obviously I spend most of my time with the code -- is that what a salesman does?
My father-in-law owns his own business. I asked him once what he thought about owning your own business. Keep in mind, he's been self employeed for almost 30 years & his business made about $200,000 in net profits last year.
* Getting started will be very tough. With no past work history and little experience, you'll have a difficult time getting a foot in the door. The first few years be very grateful if you break even with expenses. More than likely you'll go into debt. He said the first several years they went to garage sales to buy Christmas gifts for the kids because they couldn't afford to buy things at full price. He also grew about 70% of his own food on his farm just to break even. Starting will be hard.
* You will pay more in taxes being self employed. A lot more. If you thing the government likes to take a bite out of the working class, wait until you are your own business.
* You don't get health care or insurance. You may not think health care is important, but remember: If you don't work, you don't get paid. A serious illness could cost you a contract job. Getting hospitalized for any length of time will put you under a mountain of debt. Good health insurance costs a lot.
* You don't get a matching 401k plan or pension. That may not be important to you now, but it should be. It is never too early to start a retirement fund.
* Unless you eventually hire an employee, your business is only good while you own it. Let me explain. What are you expecting to do in 30+ years when you want to retire? If you are a one-person shop it won't be worth much because your clients deal with you, not your company.
* Get a lawyer. Be careful of what contracts you sign. If a client wants you to sign a contract it is to protect them, not you. You need to protect yourself.
* You may need an accountant. Small businesses are much less likely to be audited than individuals.
* If you are a white male, you don't qualify for any minority contracts or some small business loans. That puts you at a disadvantage for some jobs.
* Be sure what the payment terms are and get everything in writing. If you are going to impose penalties for non-payment be sure your clients know this.
* Be sure your clients know what you are going to do and what you are not going to do. Having delt with contractors you'd be surprised how easily a misunderstanding can happen and how quickly it will turn a relationship sour.
All those negatives aside, he said that he enjoys his own business. He has about 4 months out of the year where he works 6 days a week 16+ hour days but he enjoys the work and he is relatively free the rest of the time. My father-in-law is also to the point where he doesn't need to go looking for new work. He is well established enough that word of mouth brings him more work than he can handle.
Personally, I'd recommend getting another job first. A friend of mine decided to work for a non-profit organization. It gave him a low stress work environment and a really good feeling about his work. He didn't get rich overnight but it does give you something to put on a reference and a small or non-profit company may be more willing to let you do work on the side than any large company. It will also help make business contacts.
Just my $0.02. Good luck.
Angry Coder ran a really good piece about breaking into the independent consulting biz. Check it out.
Go to RealRates and look through there. Get one or more of Janet's books, and go to the message boards / BBS run on that site for more insight and feedback - that place is to contractors what this place is for nerds.
Enjoy.
And come up with an answer to the following (follow the sig-link) :
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
I don't want to spend the rest of my life using my skills to make someone else money.
.NET, they don't want to hear about technical merits. They want to know which has lower development costs, which is easier for new employees to learn, how the choice affects maintenance costs, and generally what impact the choice has on their bottom line.
I'm sorry to say it, but this attitude alone disqualifies you from running your own business yet.
As a contractor or a consultant, you have to figure out how you can make other people money. That's the whole point of it; if they're not going to make a lot more money through your efforts than what you're charging, then they'd be fools to hire you, wouldn't they?
As an independent, you will spend a lot of time selling yourself. And unless you are able to seek out and clearly explain the benefits of win/win situations, you will have a terrible time of it. And even once the sale is made, you'll always need to explain things in business terms. When they have to choose between, say, Java or
So I'd say that you should just go out and get a regular job while you learn more about how the business world works. The best choice might be to start with some small contract development shop, somewhere you can have regular contact with the partners. Alternatively, consider working for a while on the other side of the fence, doing something where you help manage the purchase of technology services. Either one would be a good environment to see what it takes to succeed once you go on your own.
Forest Hump.
Your signature gave me the Freudian slip.
I hope I never have a client on starteam again.
"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
I do agree that you are going to have extra obstacles to overcome if you have many responsibilites. But if you have a supportive partner (read: wife), that can really help you out.
The best time to start a business is when you have a dream, a desire, and the right attitude and high confidence. When you have all of those, nothing can stop you.
Also, when you retire into this "life of comfort", as you say, why the hell would you be chasing after postmenapausal women? Pull a Billy Joel, man!
"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
Regarding your business... GROW! Get some peons er..sorry.. subcontractors.. under you. Start marketing solutions instead of skills. Grow that business! There are two types of businesses: those that are growing and those that are dying. Which one is yours?
I could never be anyone's employee again. Been out in the wild too long.
"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent