Discussion on:
View:
Show:
No wonder it's so hard for full-time consultants to get work. Guys like you who already have a good job that pays the mortgage and puts food on the table are out there competing with us, just to prove that you can. You're cutting back on what shouldbe your top priority -- family and home -- just because you don't find what you're doing outside the home to be "challenging" enough. Spend a year or more trying to make ends meet by collecting unemployment checks, breeding your dogs, and selling off your retirement portfolio, and then talk to me about "challenge".
On the other hand, the dayjob doesn't pay as much as consulting, so it's not necessarily just a matter of doing it for the challenge. Also, as the article mentions, having a maintenance-mode dayjob means you don't get to work with newer technology, which means you're endangering your future employability.
If you have a lot of experience as a consultant but can't find consulting work, maybe you should consider an in-house job. Small companies are usually really positive about hiring someone who's been a consultant, because they know they've been through trial by fire.
Hope things turn around for you.
If you have a lot of experience as a consultant but can't find consulting work, maybe you should consider an in-house job. Small companies are usually really positive about hiring someone who's been a consultant, because they know they've been through trial by fire.
Hope things turn around for you.
>>No wonder it's so hard for full-time consultants to get work. Guys like you who already have a good job that pays the mortgage and puts food on the table are out there competing with us, just to prove that you can.
Why don't you look for a dayjob, so that you can have a "base" salary (the day job) and "bonuses" (the consulting)"? Don't criticize someone who hustles to make an extra buck.
Besides, how do you know he doesn't need the extra money?
>>You're cutting back on what shouldbe your top priority -- family and home -- just because you don't find what you're doing outside the home to be "challenging" enough.
That isn't for you to say. My wife has encouraged me to work part time at night, in addition to my day job, sothat we can make ends meet. But I work every other night, rather than every night. In this way, I'm home almost all the time at night.
>>Spend a year or more trying to make ends meet by collecting unemployment checks, breeding your dogs, and selling off your retirement portfolio, and then talk to me about "challenge".
Rather than be jealous and critical of someone who has a job when you don't, you should be happy that not everyone has as difficult a situation as you have.
By the way, sorry about your difficult situation.
Why don't you look for a dayjob, so that you can have a "base" salary (the day job) and "bonuses" (the consulting)"? Don't criticize someone who hustles to make an extra buck.
Besides, how do you know he doesn't need the extra money?
>>You're cutting back on what shouldbe your top priority -- family and home -- just because you don't find what you're doing outside the home to be "challenging" enough.
That isn't for you to say. My wife has encouraged me to work part time at night, in addition to my day job, sothat we can make ends meet. But I work every other night, rather than every night. In this way, I'm home almost all the time at night.
>>Spend a year or more trying to make ends meet by collecting unemployment checks, breeding your dogs, and selling off your retirement portfolio, and then talk to me about "challenge".
Rather than be jealous and critical of someone who has a job when you don't, you should be happy that not everyone has as difficult a situation as you have.
By the way, sorry about your difficult situation.
DC Guy... I am not about to fault this guy for being enterprising/entrepreneurial. If you are having a difficult time finding work, perhaps it is how you are going about soliciting business...or perhaps the quality of your work, that is causing you to have difficulties. For you to whine that he has one job while he is establishing himself in his potential job, as a full-time consultant, doesn't say much about you. You are attacking him for supposedly cutting back on what you say should be his top priority...*family and home*, when you have no idea what his situation is. Stop whining about your situation, projecting your frustration on someone who is doing it the "American Way", get off your duff, and get to work...or get to work figuring out that perhaps your *attitude* is part of the problem.
what kind of loser are you. Yeah-- the market is tough but if people can moonlight in consulting projects-- all the more power-- and sometimes they moonlight to pay the mortgage that you covet!!
Good people always have too much work...
great article Mitch
Good people always have too much work...
great article Mitch
You have changed my life-- I think that you easily bring to light some real issue that confront poeple who work more than one job. You should mention that some people need to do extra work-- its just for cerebral need...
Israeli Army huh-- do you know Avi Rossali??
Israeli Army huh-- do you know Avi Rossali??
Sounds like Maslow is doing everything you are not doing. He is a go-getter who recognizes the limitations of his current position and is doing what he believes he needs to do to rectify the situation. Rather than bemoan his success, you should look and what he is doing and apply it to your own situation.
This goes out to DC Guy who obviously has no clue what Mitch's life is about, whether he has a family to look after or not. Don't make assumptions, always ask questions before starting to judge, also if you don't know someone then you have no right to judge them (which i think you are a little guilty of doing). Im not gonna preach what you should or shouldn't do. Im only a 20 year old young-adult who has a LAN Admin. Diploma, bill's to pay, family to look out for, school work to continue studying and alot of scars. Point is, the reason why people like you cannot get a consulting job is because either you don't have the connections, or the patience and perseverence to obtain the position of Consultant, dont blame others for your faults. Getmore involved around the community, start "networking" and you'll be surprised as to what can happen in a week.
who consult on their time because their day job does not pay the bills. Some live in areas where the economy is not good, salaries are not what they should be, and in order to feed mamma and the babies, they take on side jobs to supplement their income. That would apply to me.
There are lots of issues to consider and plan for:
- Non-compete & non-disclosure agreements. Avoid costly
legal battles & damage to your reputation by looking into
these things first.
- Ownership of the work product (make sure you can prove
that the work was done on your time using your
equipment).
- Support. You don't want your cell phone ringing all day
at your real job.
- Competitors. Definitely a no-no to work there, don't risk
it.
- Discretion. Don't share information, even if it seems
trivial, with anyone. Leverage your knowledge, but don't
share your experiences.
- Statement of Work. Make sure that you and your
customer understand the PRECISE nature of the agreement
(scope, payment terms,deliverables, warranty, etc).
- Insurance. Errors & Ommissions Insurance and General
Liability insurance are expensive, but are required by many
companies and IMO required to protect yourself.
- Accounting software and/or Accountant. Having both is
good.
- Attorney. Having one review your standard contracts /
agreements is a smart investment.
There is a lot of work and overhead in doing this right (part
of the reason that true Consultants generally cost more).
You can certainly get by being a "cowboy", but that can
expose you (and your house, bank accounts, ...) to a lot of
risk. Another thing to consider is a broker who provides
the insurance, bills the client, etc., but also takes 20% -
40% of all revenue.
It's a good way to test the water, but may not provide a
realistic or representative view of being a consultant.
- Non-compete & non-disclosure agreements. Avoid costly
legal battles & damage to your reputation by looking into
these things first.
- Ownership of the work product (make sure you can prove
that the work was done on your time using your
equipment).
- Support. You don't want your cell phone ringing all day
at your real job.
- Competitors. Definitely a no-no to work there, don't risk
it.
- Discretion. Don't share information, even if it seems
trivial, with anyone. Leverage your knowledge, but don't
share your experiences.
- Statement of Work. Make sure that you and your
customer understand the PRECISE nature of the agreement
(scope, payment terms,deliverables, warranty, etc).
- Insurance. Errors & Ommissions Insurance and General
Liability insurance are expensive, but are required by many
companies and IMO required to protect yourself.
- Accounting software and/or Accountant. Having both is
good.
- Attorney. Having one review your standard contracts /
agreements is a smart investment.
There is a lot of work and overhead in doing this right (part
of the reason that true Consultants generally cost more).
You can certainly get by being a "cowboy", but that can
expose you (and your house, bank accounts, ...) to a lot of
risk. Another thing to consider is a broker who provides
the insurance, bills the client, etc., but also takes 20% -
40% of all revenue.
It's a good way to test the water, but may not provide a
realistic or representative view of being a consultant.
ChipN,
thanks for chippin' in & offering some really great advice. Your comments should be read by all. I appreciate your article becuase I do contract work that borders on quasi-consulting and have been looking at ways to get paid for the consulting portion of what I do. As it stands, I do contract work, but at a very high level. What I get paid for and what the clients end up getting is much more.
In this tight economy the people giving out the contracts are trying to get more bang for the buck. Consultant contracts are being scaled back and the ones giving the work out are finding that if they hire a contractor with alot of experience and high skill level, they can continuously either quiz them or prompt them for out of the boxsolutions by giving them tasks to accomplish they themselves could not figure out. What happens is that they end up stretching what the original scope of the job was when they bring you on. When you state, "That wasn't what I was originaly hired to do, it may cost a little more money" they balk and claim that you are a difficult contractor. I work with an outsourcing agency, which takes some off the top like you stated, but there are some advantages. Such as the client negotiation issues when there is a difficult client and the insurance issue.
Recently, one client on a long contract negotiated a lower rate upon an extension of my contract because I requested a week in between to spend with my daughter. Their claim was budgetary - butbelieve me, the issue didn't arise until I requested the week in between. So, although there are some good contracts out there for good people - believe me, the tight economy is bringing out the worst in the client host guest relationship and also the aspects of contract negotiation with them.
stanasia@yahoo.com
thanks for chippin' in & offering some really great advice. Your comments should be read by all. I appreciate your article becuase I do contract work that borders on quasi-consulting and have been looking at ways to get paid for the consulting portion of what I do. As it stands, I do contract work, but at a very high level. What I get paid for and what the clients end up getting is much more.
In this tight economy the people giving out the contracts are trying to get more bang for the buck. Consultant contracts are being scaled back and the ones giving the work out are finding that if they hire a contractor with alot of experience and high skill level, they can continuously either quiz them or prompt them for out of the boxsolutions by giving them tasks to accomplish they themselves could not figure out. What happens is that they end up stretching what the original scope of the job was when they bring you on. When you state, "That wasn't what I was originaly hired to do, it may cost a little more money" they balk and claim that you are a difficult contractor. I work with an outsourcing agency, which takes some off the top like you stated, but there are some advantages. Such as the client negotiation issues when there is a difficult client and the insurance issue.
Recently, one client on a long contract negotiated a lower rate upon an extension of my contract because I requested a week in between to spend with my daughter. Their claim was budgetary - butbelieve me, the issue didn't arise until I requested the week in between. So, although there are some good contracts out there for good people - believe me, the tight economy is bringing out the worst in the client host guest relationship and also the aspects of contract negotiation with them.
stanasia@yahoo.com
The first is having the customer "pick your mind". I have no
problem with this during an engagement - you are being
paid to help out.
We have run across several prospects who are clearly
"fishing for answers". If it is simple I just tell them - builds
goodwill. Usually the questions are valid and the prospect
wants to see if you really know what you are talking about.
What we do then restate the problem and issues, describe
some of the possible solutions, and state a planfor moving
forward. This demonstrates your understanding of the
situation and your ability to find solutions without giving
everything away.
Generally if a prospect is not willing to bring you in for a
day or two for a high-level review and analysis then there is
no way they would pay for more either. And, during that
day or two if you can give them the answers they need then
all the better. That builds good customer rapport and
loyalty. Everybody is looking for value, so the best thing
that you can do as a Consultant is provide it day in and day
out.
The second issue is billings. Once you lower your rates it is
nearly impossible to raise them again. What we do (and
this has only happened 1 or 2 times in several years) is
offer a temporary discount. For example, present it as "we
will bill you at our current rate but for the next month we
will provide you with a 20% discount for your inconvenience
caused by my taking a vacation this month" (example from
the previous post).
Thanks for the feedback.
problem with this during an engagement - you are being
paid to help out.
We have run across several prospects who are clearly
"fishing for answers". If it is simple I just tell them - builds
goodwill. Usually the questions are valid and the prospect
wants to see if you really know what you are talking about.
What we do then restate the problem and issues, describe
some of the possible solutions, and state a planfor moving
forward. This demonstrates your understanding of the
situation and your ability to find solutions without giving
everything away.
Generally if a prospect is not willing to bring you in for a
day or two for a high-level review and analysis then there is
no way they would pay for more either. And, during that
day or two if you can give them the answers they need then
all the better. That builds good customer rapport and
loyalty. Everybody is looking for value, so the best thing
that you can do as a Consultant is provide it day in and day
out.
The second issue is billings. Once you lower your rates it is
nearly impossible to raise them again. What we do (and
this has only happened 1 or 2 times in several years) is
offer a temporary discount. For example, present it as "we
will bill you at our current rate but for the next month we
will provide you with a 20% discount for your inconvenience
caused by my taking a vacation this month" (example from
the previous post).
Thanks for the feedback.
This entire article is excellent advice except for the tax advice. Saving the expected taxes until "next April" is NOT advisable. IRS regulations require expected ("estimated") taxes to be paid quarterly as the income is earned. The IRS imposes fines ("penalties") and interest on estimated taxes not paid on time (meaning quarterly, NOT in April); this increases the total tax liability. Estimated taxes can be avoided if IRS withholding is adequately increased from your regular (employment) paychecks; adequate means that you owe only trivial amounts (see IRS technical rules on this amount) at April filing time; then you owe no significant taxes in April, since these taxes were paid throughout the year by withholding.
Thank you DCCMD for pointing out the IRS point of view. It should be pointed out that this writer is a resident of Canada and deals with a completely different set of tax laws.
All the best to you and Happy Consulting!
All the best to you and Happy Consulting!
My question to this article is how do you pick-up paying clients in the first place? In this economy, it is hard enough to find something full-time let alone something on the side. What types of skill-sets are best to do p/t gigs? I am an IT business systems analyst working full-time but have been looking for contract as well as better paying full-time positions and it is just nothing out there.
Your case is same as mine, I worked full time on a company and started consulting on the side to some customers. This is a good opportunity to refresh or get new experience from this customers.
In some point, i realized that my customer base grew up (it became a business by itself) and after meet with old friends that have their own consulting company, leave my current work and partner with them, but this is another story.
In some point, i realized that my customer base grew up (it became a business by itself) and after meet with old friends that have their own consulting company, leave my current work and partner with them, but this is another story.
- Keyboard Shortcuts:
- Prev
- Next
- Toggle
