Articles
Browse every published article connected to Paul Monax, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Paul Monax, or search within this exact expert archive.
There is a better way and I can show you how. If you are running your business as a sole proprietor, then you are filing a Schedule C as part of you annual 1040 income tax filing, but even thought that is technically a business, it is likely not the best business structure for you to use.
Have you ever sat down and calculated what you are paying that staffing agency or recruiter that found your latest contract? I'll bet it is more than you think. That is, if you can even get the gross bill rate that the staffing firm is billing you out at. Many times that is kept like a state secret, so that the contractor that is out working at the client site (or doing the work from home) has no idea how much the client is really being charged for their services.
One of the advantages of being the owner of a business, specifically one that is taxed as an S-Corp is that you have some flexibility in how, when and how much you pay in taxes. In case the S-Corp term is unfamiliar to you, it is basically forming a corporation or an LLC and filing the correct follow-on forms with the IRS.
Back in 1999, a friend, Glen Whitbeck, and I who were working on a project together came up with the "3 Times Rule". It is a rule of thumb that even 12 years later has remained a pretty accurate rule of thumb. Since it is a rule of thumb, it isn't always totally accurate, but surprisingly enough it has turned out to be quite close as an average for sure.
Well, the smartass answer is that it depends. I know, I know, that is a cop out answer, but did you think there was a silver bullet, single easy solution for all people and all cases? There never is is there… For the full answer, please read on. Did you just get laid off and haven’t yet found the next full-time position that is a fit for you and so you are now looking for a short-term contract to help with a gap in employment until you can land another full-time position?
Have you ever thought to yourself that you aren't an Expert? Belittling ourselves is a crappy pastime that we all seem to participate in from time to time. We are all experts in a number of areas of life, based upon our own experiences. Every singe one of us is an Expert at many things, and in more areas than we give ourselves credit for. I know it happens to me, and I have to take a step back and remind myself that I do have expertise in many areas.
An RFP is a Request For Proposal. They can be put out by any company or organization, but they are most common in a government agency situation where they are looking to have multiple bidders each propose their own solution to the problem that is presented. An RFP is typically just a Requirements document that the requestor is then looking for companies to submit a proposal that provides details on their particular solution that they would implement if awarded the contract.
There has been a lot of discussion in the news recently about Independent Contractor status vs. being an Employee and how to tell the difference, both from the worker's and the company's perspectives. Is someone you have working for your business or are considering bringing on to your company an Employee vs. Independent Contractor?
That is a phrase that I heard at a recent course that I attended on marketing on the internet. The implication is that it is better to get your first version of a not-quite-ready ad or even a new product out there and see how it goes over, than to have nothing out there at all. And thus no one out there knowing what you are up too. Another way I've heard the same concept presented is Ready, Fire, Aim. Implying that you should get as ready as you can be, but then produce something that you get out to your market or the end users to see how it works for them.
If you are an IT contractor, I would say that it depends on the types of contracts you are doing, but in general I think it is a very good idea if not mandatory for every IT Contractor here in the United States to carry some kind of liability insurance.
Have you ever thought about your personal brand and what it says about you? When you hear Apple or Microsoft, those names conjure up a particular brand image in your mind. Depending on your particular view of the world and those companies it can be either a good or a bad image that is brought to focus in your mind when you hear the name for those particular brands, and for a lot of companies and brands there is both good and bad.
It is just a scaled down version of what you would have with a multiple employee business, but in this case you are the sole employee. There are 2 different taxes that make up what are called payroll taxes. The first is Social Security which is sometimes called FICA for Federal Insurance Contributions Act or OASDI for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. The second is Medicare also known by its lesser name of HI for Health Insurance.
You choose the best advisers you can find at the time, but that doesn’t mean that you have to stick with the same ones for life. Don’t be afraid to make a change if you outgrow one of your advisers such that someone you are currently using isn’t the best fit for your current situation anymore. I know there is a loyalty factor, but is that really serving you? Is sticking with someone you have outgrown serving either of you well?
I get asked all the time about being a contractor and specifically how to be an IT Contractor. Being a contractor in any field I would imagine is pretty similar, but since I am a software engineer by trade, I am most familiar with IT disciplines and thus this is specifically geared toward how to be an IT contractor. What I hear most frequently, is that people are afraid of the perceived lack of stability and/or gaps in paychecks. How stable is your job situation these days? Have there been any layoffs at your company? Or in your industry? Or have you already been laid off yourself?r
If you are new to Independent Contracting, and even if you are an old hand, I'm sure you have wondered how to determine what rate you should charge your clients for your services. That is definitely a tricky subject and one with many variables and even more answers. Don't you agree? The variables that factor into the equation include: - Your Skill Set - The Clients Desired Skill Set - Availability of the desired Skill Set in the Marketplace - Your Experience Level - The Clients Desired Experience Level
I recently stumbled across an amazing video of the Stanford University Commencement speech from 2005 given by Steve Jobs. It is only 15 minutes long, but yet it is very powerful. In his speech, Steve tells 3 different stories about his life. The first one being about connecting the dots of his life where he says
A common theme from some of the reading and training that I have done over the past few years is that if you think small in your business and life too for that matter, then that will become your reality. Those thought patterns of "smallness" will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you and your business will always remain small. If on the other hand, you are able to step outside of your comfort zone and grow to become bigger than you are, you will grow into those bigger shoes.
There have been gobs of studies like this one from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics focused on the number of years of school someone has completed in relation to their annual and lifetime earning potential. If you are a high school drop out vs. high school graduate vs. Associates Degree vs. Bachelors Degree vs. Masters Degree vs. Doctoral Degree. The higher up the education ladder you have climbed, the more money are making now and will continue to make in your career.
One option that you may not have previously considered is Independent Contracting, and there are a number of different Forms of relationship available for Independent Contracting. In an attempt to reduce expenses and adapt to the changed business climate, businesses of all size are reducing their full-time employee head count and instead increasing their use of Independent Contractors. Have you seen that trend?