The Contractor versus the Employee

In a recent post, I talked about the StartUp Academy, which helps people start their own home-based businesses as independent contractors. The StartUp Academy is something I’ve been working on for sometime after I noticed a compressing of regular salaried jobs – sometimes it was the consolidation of two jobs into one but most often, entire jobs were being outsourced to consultants and contractors.

New technologies, new opportunities

There are many business analysts and economists who see the reduction of permanent jobs as a bad thing – and to some extent, they’re probably correct – but I saw it as an opportunity. New technologies have made it easier for people to work at home, wherever their home may be – a city, a beachside town, outback Australia – so long as they have access to a reliable Internet connection.

Now, people who have previously been excluded from the job market have an opportunity to earn an income. That’s great news for workers and for the economy, and it’s why the government has spearheaded a move to encourage working from home, or teleworking as it’s officially known, among businesses and their staff.

EzyLearn’s a Telework Partner

I joined the Telework Partner Program with the Australian Government a few years back and even presented a seminar at the Reinvent Your Career Expo, because I really see contracting as the future for many professions. I launched the StartUp Academy, because I wanted to help people make the transition from salaried employee to independent contractor and even more importantly remote contractor.

Build credibility, reputation and trust

This brings me to the reason you clicked on this blog post in the first place: that free guide on becoming an independent contractor. Before you can start providing services to clients as an independent contractor, you need to set yourself up. As an independent contractor, you can operate your own business as a sole-trader (or a partnership, company or trust) and as a sole-trader, you have certain responsibilities you didn’t as an employee – you have to determine your own charge out rates, manage your own superannuation, make provisions for your annual and sick leave, and so forth.

Tips, hints and advice from REAL contractors

I spoke to a number of independent contractors, consultants and freelancers to find out exactly what they wish they had known about starting out as a contractor before they started out. Based on their comments, observations and advice I put this guide together for you, which you can download from the StartUp Academy website, absolutely FREE.

I hope you find it useful, and if you’re reading it over the summer and weighing up your options for the new year, you might want to consider one of the business opportunities available at the StartUp Academy for 2015.