Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitc
I reckon I could get £250 to £300 a day for software testing/analysis
|
Is this a guarantee of work though? And within how many companies? What if they experience a slump? If they've got such a definite amount of work coming why don't they just employ someone permanently (at half that rate)? Etc.
As I say, we have a couple of consultants we use to do database stuff our IT department can't be arsed to do. They are not particularly gifted or anything (they simply have experience with our systems) but their rates as mentioned are still fairly good.
In previous years they were getting a fair amount of work through us but then this year our group centre asked for costs to be lowered and the budgets for use of consultants dropped dramatically as one of the first things to go. While I'm not crying for them particularly it did make me glad to have a guaranteed salary / sick pay / etc.
I think one of them now works part-time somewhere else and then does our stuff on the side which seems one way of trying to get the best of both worlds.
Tax & legal issues you should obviously seek independence advice or follow up Ebany's contacts (or both) but billing doesn't seem to be particularly difficult to manage. So long as you're explicit with the client as to what they're paying for, what support you're offering, for how long, etc.
A lot of even small firms seem to split the labour into three. One to be the sales person (promise the earth, give them the bullshit), two the guy who handles most of the actual work and finally someone who cares about money and is happy to bitch at accounts departments forever. If you're doing all three roles yourself then not only will you be time-pressured but you may sour relationships. Some contractors we've used in the past have simply been blacklisted (effectively) for losing their rag excessively over late payments.
I also wouldn't underestimate the "schmoozing" / sales element of being a contractor - a good part of the thing that determines whether our contractors / consultants get work (both in IT and in maintenance, where I work) is not just how efficient they are, but how "nice" they are. I'm not talking bribes here, but if you're the guy whose always known as both reliable, efficient and someone whose a pleasure to do business with you'll do better than just being an ill-tempered genius. The other thing that stops me being a consultant is that on a Monday morning after a heavy weekend I don't think I could put on my "Yes of course I'll suck your cock Mr Director Sir, where shall I send the invoice?" voice too often during sales pitches.