Scott I went out on my own full-time last September, and let me tell you it was the scariest thing I ever did, and also the best life decision I ever made.
I just kind of "fell in" to doing it full-time. I'd been doing part-time side work for about 3 years and had a client appear who wanted me 40+ hours. I was working a very boring, code-monkey type job in a dysfunctional sweatshop so it was an easy decision to make. Check that: It was an easy decision because my husband was working for UnitedHealth Group at the time and health insurance was taken care of. If I'd been single or the sole provider for my family I would have had a harder time making the leap. So that's a consideration -- health care for the self-employed is not for the faint of heart. Neither are taxes. Get a GOOD accountant! Business for me has been very steady, but it really took off when I joined a local freelance professionals group and hooked up with a graphic designer. These guys bring in the business because people respond to pretty pictures (I wish I'd known how hard it would be to market my programming skills!), and then also want all the database functionality that designers don't have the skills to provide. I've done my most interesting projects by partnering with designers this way. As someone else mentioned, there is a real difference between freelancing/being self-employed and being an independent contractor who just happens to work at home. This is something I'm finding out the hard way at the moment. I just became an independent contractor for a company, working remotely, and am kicking myself every morning when I sign in to IM at 9 am sharp (because the client requires me to do so). Now I have to ask for days off, or make sure they know I'm going to be at the dentist, only work the schedule they want me to -- I didn't realize how much I valued the freedom I had as a freelancer to control my own work hours and have a flexible schedule. So if your goal is to throw off the chains of 9 to 5, stick with freelancing/owning your own company. If you just want to work at home and want pretty steady money, do the independent contractor route. >Hey guys, > > > >Who's in business for themselves? This whole issue with my contract going >away in December has gotten me thinking about going into business for >myself. > >Is anyone having success at it, How much of a PITA is it > > > >Rewards. > >Pitfalls.. > > > > > >Thanks > > > >sas > > > >-- > >Scott Stewart > >ColdFusion Developer > > > >SSTWebworks > >4405 Oakshyre Way > >Raleigh, NC. 27616 > >(703) 220-2835 > > > >http://www.sstwebworks.com > > <http://www.linkedin.com/in/sstwebworks> >http://www.linkedin.com/in/sstwebworks > > > >Boycott Sys-Con ><http://www.sstwebworks.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/10/16/Boycotting-SysCon> > >http://www.sstwebworks.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/10/16/Boycotting-SysCon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion 8 - Build next generation apps today, with easy PDF and Ajax features - download now http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/coldfusion/cf8_beta_whatsnew_052907.pdf Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:248019 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
