What is subcontracting? Contractors are hired to complete a job or project, such as renovating a home, selling products, even making deliveries. Even Web site design is a job for contractors, who take on all of these jobs and them farm the work out to others. Contractors accept jobs, and then match work to individuals they hire for an agreed-upon sum. And viola – the subcontractor is born.
Considering Subcontracting?
The advantages of subcontracting are easy to see. Subcontractors generally only work with one individual: the contractor. Subcontractors do not have to find their own clients, write up invoices, or deal with a lot of customer service in most cases, because these are jobs for the contractor. Subcontracting is an attractive form of self employment because it’s so hassle-free, and a lot of the responsibility actually falls on the contractor.
Subcontractors don’t usually receive normal pay checks, but have to claim their taxes at the end of each cycle instead of paying taxes a week or two weeks at a time. This makes subcontractors free agents, and often they aren’t tied to one specific contractor or company. Instead, subcontractors may choose to work with several different companies, picking and choosing jobs and projects that most appeal to the individual in question.
Sound good? Learn how to use subcontracting to get started in self employment, and a whole new career path might be revealed.
Getting Started in Self Employment
First, it’s not necessary to find the jobs or the clients. Subcontractors need only to focus on finding the contractor who’s got jobs to give away. It’s a good idea to run ads and even to look for contractors in the area in order to do this. In most cases, contractors are always looking for new people to add to their crews. Subcontracting actually comes in many forms, making it a very viable route to true self employment. Delivering papers, building furniture, consulting – all of these are potential tasks for subcontractors.
To find work, find the contractor who needs new people. Those who are considering subcontracting should look for projects and jobs in fields where they already have some familiarity. For instance, someone who has worked on electronics for ten years probably won’t know much about graphic design, so why would a contractor want to hire this person to build Web pages?
Getting started in self employment can be simple when subcontracting is the goal. The key to success is in knowing individual strengths and focusing on areas where experience has already been gained. Then, all that’s left is to find the contractor who’s doing a lot of work.
KC Morgan - KC Morgan has been the featured writer in Self-Employment since 2006, using personal experience to create guides to being self-employed.
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