Key Questions Before You Start

Take a few moments to think about your answers to the following questions. Having a vision in mind for how you might benefit from the gig economy or by offering professional services will help you focus your mind, your time, and your energy. 

What are your skills?

What kind of skills do you offer to clients?

Be honest about what work you are particularly good at producing. Having an honest understanding about your skills and which of them excite you the most gives you a good sense of which direction you might take as an independent contractor.

 

Find Your Passion

What is it about this work that excites you?

There’s money, yes, but why are you interested in this particular work?

Perhaps you want to reap some reward for a skill you perfected, or maybe you simply love music, accounting, or teaching that high-intensity fitness class. Maybe you have an old skill you can breathe new life into and make some extra money. Or, maybe the market is right for your talent and you can take advantage of that skill today.

Whatever it is, your reason for becoming an independent contractor should be something that excites, motivates, and rewards you personally and financially. So what is it for you?

What is your market?

Who will pay you for your services, and how much are they willing to pay?

Think about the following questions:

  • With whom will you interact on a regular basis?
  • Who do you see as your customers?
  • What do you know about them?
  • Do you know how much they are willing to spend on the product you’ll make or the service you’ll provide?
  • How might you go about contacting them?

Payment & Planning

What kind of payment terms do you prefer? Do you need to be paid immediately, or can you offer a longer term payment option to clients? 

While it’s always nice to get paid up-front or at the completion of a project, it’s a good idea to have a sense about how you’ll get paid. You can negotiate a down payment, installments, balance due at completion, and a processing period in case invoices need to run through their accounting department.

For example, one common practice in receiving payments is Net 30. Under a Net 30 payment plan, you’d receive payment within 30 days from when you submit an invoice.

How many hours a week do you expect to work for this gig or professional service?

How many hours you work as an independent contractor depends on many factors such as your availability, customer need, or the anticipated duration of the project. It’s wise to still have a sense of how you’ll invest your time, and how much of it you’ll give to work and how much to life. Keep it balanced – burnout is a real thing!