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On these pages, we’ll be exploring the complex and rapidly evolving business and regulatory conditions surrounding the use or independent contractors, consultants, and 1099s. Companies of all sizes that engage independent contractors are subject to myriad risks and responsibilities for using 1099s.
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Jan 30 2012
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Top 3 Going Solo Questions Webinar Was a First!
I did pret
ty well at the college on the hill, got a first job, married, had two kids, held down a number of satisfying and progressive career roles, even launched a dot.com business that was funded and achieved some major startup milestones. All this before becoming a bona-fide “IC” (independent consultant) and then joining MBO as its first Chief Marketing Officer. Bottom line: I’m not a newbie to the work world. I share this to let you know that despite having a fair amount of experience under my belt - until last Friday, I had never, ever spoken in a Webinar and honestly probably infrequently listened in to one. I finally get what all the fuss is about, and both my colleague Sara Conde, MBO’s consultant services advisor, are hooked and ready to do it again.
Independent work is a complex topic. Educational short cuts do help. There are many of what I now think of as “voiceover” topics. A voiceover topic is one that is important, but cannot simply be answered by a quick web search. It needs decoding by those with experience in the topic, who can draw on multiple examples and point to useful next steps.
We discussed The Top 3 Questions to Ask Before Going Solo. I am curious: what else is complicated about going out on your own that we can help bring to life for you? We’ve heard that calculating a bill rate for consulting is a very challenging topic where ever experienced consultants struggle. So we’re using that as our next Webinar topic for February, and after that, digging into Encore careers, especially for Boomers, in March. Our Webinars are the last Friday of each month. Be sure to register for the next one to hear about the three main ways to calculate your consulting bill rate, as well helpful steps and tools for taking your own career to the next level of success. Who doesn’t love to know how to figure out what they are worth?
Back to my first Webinar. The big a-ha? It illustrated for me the difference between throwing a message out there into the market, and actually interacting with real-life aspiring professional consultants you can personally help. Just in case you are curious, the three over-arching questions we explored were:
- Are you Emotionally Ready?
- Are you Professionally Ready?
- Are you Financially Ready?
In each area, Sara (a hobbyist radio personality when she’s not at her full-time role advising MBO associates and their business clients) took us through real-life examples from consultants she has interacted with and provided a list of helpful sub-questions on each topic to hone in on readiness before taking the leap. Listen in if you’d like a preview. I thought there were some great take-aways. Please don’t be too harsh on me. As I said, it was my first!