If we were a staffing agency, we’d probably do the usual things: hide what we’re billing the client, pay you a fraction of that, deprive you of benefits, and treat you as an interchangeable commodity. Very few people dream of spending the rest of their lives working in that kind of environment. But the culture has traditionally offered only a couple of alternatives to outright “temp” work: 1) Permanent Employment, where all your eggs are in one company basket – for this you get benefits, and maybe a 9-5 work day, but little control of your own life. 2) Contracting and Self-employment. We link those two together because, traditionally, you have to do all the work of a small business when operating as a contractor, and get none of the employee benefits. You’re doing your own accounting, tax reporting, expense reporting… work never really seems to end.
The beautiful thing about not thinking traditionally, is that we can ask why not? Why can’t a contractor go home and have the rest of the evening to oneself, or go out with friends and colleagues? Why can’t a contractor have benefits that go with you from job to job? That beats ordinary employment, which tends to leave benefit gaps as you move. And why can’t you offload some or all of the hassles of the back office without signing away an unknown percentage of your income? After all, you could hire a bunch of people to do it for you – so why isn’t there some entity that’s willing to do it all, but for a really reasonable cut?
At Free Agent Source, we start out thinking outside the box. If you’d like to think, and possibly work, outside those lines with us, we’re interested in hearing from you. Are you a contractor, temp worker, freelancer? Do you want to spend your time doing what you excel at and love, without chewing up the rest of your hours counting beans and filing papers? Is it worth a few bucks? Sign in at the forums, or sign on as a free agent (no obligation), and let us show you a different way to work and be successful in the new economy.
Cartoon provided by our friends at ToonGoo
Crafted By Daniel DiGriz
Daniel DiGriz is a business developer, community organizer for business, and President of Market Moose, where he serves as a consultant on business processes, internet marketing, content creation, and web production. He is also author of the Rules of Work blog and creator/contributor at JobHacker.org. As co-founder of Free Agent Source and Business Development Executive, Daniel concentrates on developing company marketing initiatives and engaging the Northeastern community of entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses. Daniel is based in the New York City area.
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