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So You Want to be A Freelancer

samuelmullen.com

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Re: So You Want to be A Freelancer

#71

Post by flyinRyan »

danielweber wrote: post #69
flyinRyan wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, why would they? Does an iphone cost less in the Congo (assuming you would buy it legally)?

If you freelance, your rates don't matter if you are selling your labor in Memphis or Manhattan or LA? I didn't know that.

Well, I'm sure the employer will try to tell you they do but part of being a consultant is selling. :) I don't pay $800 for an iphone because it costs $700 to make (probably more like $50-$200), I pay it because that's the price the market decided it was worth.

Re: So You Want to be A Freelancer

#72

Post by flyinRyan »

mokkol wrote: post #46
bdunn wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mentioned "family", so I'm going to assume you're married. At least here in Virginia (I'm no insurance expert), a group is 2 or more people. My wife is officially a shareholder of my company, and so she and I have a group policy. We pay a little under $1000/mo to insure the two of us and our two girls.

you seriously pay 1000 dollars every month just for insurance??? Im so happy i'm not an american right now....

Just wait until you hear what their deductible is.

Re: So You Want to be A Freelancer

#74

Post by Nursie »

lbolla wrote: post #22
Nursie wrote: post #10

I'd love to go freelance. Luckily here in the UK there is a thriving(ish) market in contract work. Short time, usually project-based, better paying than perm work. So far it's been quite fun.

Can you share your experience? How did you get started contracting in the UK? Did you contact a head-hunter or do you find your own contracts? How?

I just started looking for contracts on job boards (notably jobsite.co.uk, which may not be the best but has worked for me). When applying for them I ticked the box to allow the website to publish my CV to any/all agents.

I then spent about two weeks telling people that no, I'm not interested in a perm role, and got work at about the end of week 3. (for reference I'm a server-side C/C++ programmer with an interest in crypto and about a decade's experience).

That's when I registered a company, bought domain names, got accountants (nixon williams, they specialise in this, seem to be ok so far) who handled tax registration etc etc.

-- edit --

happy to answer any further questions. I'm only about a year in and on my second contract.

Re: So You Want to be A Freelancer

#75

Post by Nursie »

glenjamin wrote: post #41
ambuj wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been contracting for about 8 years now and yes, it is quite easy to get started in the UK. You can find your own contracts or most likely you'll need to send your CV to head-hunters looking for contractors. Once you get a contract, you've got two options: a) setup a limited company to invoice your client/agency. Many accountants in the market that can help you with that. e.g http://www.sjdaccountancy.com/ or b…

I'd like to highly recommend crunch.co.uk for UK contractors - they're a Brighton-based startup whose product is something like a cross between freeagent and a traditional accountant. I'm not affiliated with them, just a happy customer. You can read a bit about them in this interview http://elitebusinessmagazine.co.uk/interviews/item/a-waterco... Disclaimer: They do also have an referral scheme, feel free to nudge me…

Are they good?

I use Nixon Williams at the mo, who are more expensive but do seem to handle everything (i.e. tell me exactly what/when tax is due, things need to be signed etc etc)

Re: So You Want to be A Freelancer

#76

Post by lifeisstillgood »

flyinRyan wrote: post #68
lbolla wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you share your experience? How did you get started contracting in the UK? Did you contact a head-hunter or do you find your own contracts? How?

Head hunter. It's really, really easy. Remember, they don't make money unless you're making money. Just be careful that they don't screw you on the rate (you should always try to find out from the company what they're paying for you so you can see what the agency is actually taking because they will lie about it).

Head hunter or "recruitment agent"?

As in a specialist looking for top notch talent or just a cv mover?

Mostly because I have never met one of the former ;-)

Re: So You Want to be A Freelancer

#77

Post by lifeisstillgood »

boothead wrote: post #25
ambuj wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been contracting for about 8 years now and yes, it is quite easy to get started in the UK. You can find your own contracts or most likely you'll need to send your CV to head-hunters looking for contractors. Once you get a contract, you've got two options: a) setup a limited company to invoice your client/agency. Many accountants in the market that can help you with that. e.g http://www.sjdaccountancy.com/ or b…

Agree except for recommending SJD. They are a good accountancy firm but when I was with them they would only do my accounts through a really horrid excel spreadsheet. This time round I've gone with http://www.nimblejackaccounting.co.uk/ who bundle an account with freeagent (which is probably the best contractor accounting package out there) AND the set up of your limited company in their monthly fee. If you're going…

Is that spouse-as-a-director trick legal ?

(The idea is that if the company bills 100,000 pounds it pays corp tax of 20,000. Then the director can withdraw the profit of 80k as a dividend. Since a tax has already been paid on the 100k the 80k is free of income tax. However income tax is charged at two levels in the uk (25% and 40%). The govt says that the first level of 25% has already been paid (by corp tax at 20%). The 40% only kicks in at 43,000 a year - so you can as a director withdraw 43,000 as dividend and not pay "extra" tax on personal income.

The parent is suggesting your spouse can be a director and do the same, effectively making a 80k pa net household income on 100k revenue. (And if your are in a stable threesome it's even better :-)

If it is legal send me your accountants number - my mail is in the profile!

Re: So You Want to be A Freelancer

#79

Post by lifeisstillgood »

boothead wrote: post #30
ambuj wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree about the umbrella company! Should be your last option! But something worth considering if you are not 100% sure about contracting and whether you want to do it for long term. I'm with SJD and yes, they still do have that horrid excel spreadsheet!

Poor you... Seriously there's no competition in my mind: freeagent compared to that spreadsheet is like being fed ferrero rocher by Angelina Jolie at the ambassadors ball verses having faeces flung at you by drunk chimps at the zoo!

And congratulations - the prize for Most Outrageous Similie guaranteed To End the Argument is ...

Love it.

Re: So You Want to be A Freelancer

#80

Post by mathattack »

flyinRyan wrote: post #70
mathattack wrote: post #55

The dollar conversion is very important. I used to work with some people who made $800/day as independent consultants. Some full time employees making north of $100K were livid, and complained about being exploited. The complexities of, "Withhold taxes, pay both sides of social security, pay your own 401K and health care, pay for your own training, and don't even think of multiplying the daily rate times 260" just di…

But $800/day is still significantly more than $100k/yr even after taking those things into account. For me both those numbers were higher but it came to a 45% increase if I only took 6 weeks vacation.

It was a little more than 100K, but I'm being purposefully vague on the exact #s.

But let's do some back of the envelope math: $800 day * 250 days (10 holidays) * 75% (3/4 billable) = 150K - 10K ? Social Security - 5K No more 401K match - 10K Health Insurance (Multiply for a family) - 5K Training - 5K Other benefits (leave, sick days, life insurance, etc) ------ 115K

Some of these numbers may be off, and I've missed some things, but this is roughly in line with the original post.

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