Pointing Towards a New Collaboration

We have written about the many ways a small business owner can collaborate with others. We are seeing the consulting approach more and more and believe it is worth another discussion.

In moving our home and business outside the city, we heave been engaging with many in the residential contract field. When discussing with the team currently working on an exterior clean-up, we were surprised to hear they were all independent workers utilizing the 1099 approach. More surprising, was that they were all related. We thought for sure the leader of this pack was their employer. We were wrong.

More and more, it seems independent workers prefer to be their own boss.They may take direction from a project manager, of sorts, but they are choosing this structure to have more control of their livelihoods. The project manager will arrange for the job, provide them with direction and then they are in their own to complete it, under the manager’s supervision. However, the liability and the contract remain between the owner and the project leader.

When it comes time for payment, arrangements include the informant workers providing an invoice to the project leader. This can be done on a weekly or biweekly basis or even monthly, depending on the agreed upon terms. Annually, the project manager will issue the workers a 1099 reporting the income that was paid to them for all jobs. This is akin to the W-2 many of us who have worked in the corporate environment receive.

Relative to insurance, health or otherwise, each worker is responsible for their own. There are no additional benefits normally offered to the independent workers or contractors that the project manager provides other than the job itself, regular payment, and annual filing statements. However, most professionals who prefer to work for themselves, regulate their own schedule, and have true autonomy in the jobs they work on, accept and embrace this structure.

Collaboration and teamwork can go hand in hand or paw in paw. Dogs will often work in teams as well, but many, like people, prefer the autonomy of an independent environment. Just make sure to know the advantages and the disadvantages before you move forward.

Be well.