Hello James, I've contracted for about twenty-five years. From experience, here's a few tips:
Incorporate your business. You'll gain protection under the corporate veil. Elect Sub-chapter S. (Essentially, you'll pay only personal income taxe, and not corporate taxes. Always contract for 1099 payment -- Never, never W2! Also, there are essentially twenty to twenty-one criteria for independent contractor status. (I Googled around and found this link: http://www.hasys.com/systems/20_factors.pdf ). Be aware that the contracting business is not what it used to be. With out-sourcing and off-shoring, it's tough to compete with someone making $10/day when you used to get $75 to $125/hr or more (keep in mind that China's not a major player, . . .yet). Also, the technology has changed or evolved to the point that no one, NO ONE, can know it all. RFP's or job orders can be so specific that the odds of a match are abysmal. More likely than not, and especially with government contracts, the client usually has someone or some company already in mind, but the contracting agency is required by law to publish an RFP (. . .all that Equal Opportunity stuff, etc.); therefore, they write the RFP to be so exclusively specific that the odds of another responding party meeting all of the requirements are a zillion to one. Adding insult to injury of this scenario, many companies are so gun-shy of IRS consequence, that they will not contract directly with a single independent contractor; rather, they contract with staffing or accounting firms that are notoriously overpriced for the skill levels of indivudual that they provide. If for example, you work with a company like Accenture (formerly Authur Anderson), you'll get paid a fraction of what they bill you out for, and probably, they're going to only hire you as a W2 employee, anyway. I have worked with a few small job brokers, but beware! There are only two or three that I respect and will still do business with, and also the business has become much more difficult for them, too. Finally, the perceived value of the work done is devalued. Programming in the traditional or former sense (as in two decades ago) is now considered no more than a clerical task. The market for programming skills, (the so-called wave of the future, . . .I never liked that term, anyway) has been glutted by trade school wonders that have no concept of how business is conducted (don't believe me, . . .ask an eighteen-month "graduate" to write a five page abstract on the nuances of MRPII, the ramifications of Just-in-Time Inventory with emphasis on Raw Materials in considerations for the Rolling Mill Production Schedule of a hot rolled steel mini-mill, all of which are blanked under an Enterprise System that included Human Resources, Payroll, and General Plant Accounting.) Finally, the web and advent of HTML, et. al., has created an opportunity for art students and marketing grads. to get into the mix. This is why so many web sites are such a pain in the !#$% to visit. Too much information, . . .too much time to load, . . .too annoying. Given the plethora of html page editors, etc., web design has become more of a cosmetic thing -- it's certainly not programming. (Arguably, server-side code and to some extent, client-side Java Script require some programming and organizational skills.) As for server and network administration, again, the technology is analogous to no more than typewriter repair skills of the pre computer era. After all, personal computers, etc. and now considered to be disposable Consumer Electronics by the industry. Bummer, huh? Seriously, good luck, Ron Wingfield -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: James W. Thompson, II To: beginners@perl.org Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 7:49 PM Subject: [Maybe OT] This isn't a technical question and I know no one here can/should probably dispense legal advice; but does anyone know of some good resources (other than talking to a lawyer) regarding freelance programming/consulting contracts? -- James W. Thompson, II (New Orleans, LA) -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://learn.perl.org/> <http://learn.perl.org/first-response>
