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Thinking of contracting

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    Thinking of contracting

    PLEASE DELETE THIS POST IF DEEMED INAPPROPRIATE

    Good Afternoon Folks

    I hope you're all well. Ever since I was made redundant about 7 years ago, I have had short term temporary contracts - the longest has been for 6 months, and generally they are 3 months or shorter. I have over 15 years experience of credit control (debt collection), and despite that, I'm having great difficulty in securing permanent employment. It may also be due to the fact that I have not had a permanent job for the last 7 years or so and /or perhaps to do with my age - I have recently turned 49.

    I am now thinking of doing contract work as a credit controller, but very scared to take the plunge. If I decide to take this route, how can I get enough clients in order for me to make money to meet my own living expenditure? How can I find out that there is a market out there for contract credit controllers? A lot of my friends have said there are loads of companies out there who are owed money by customers and they would need someone to make sure the money is collected. However, I'm not so sure that there is a ready made market out there for my services.

    What is your opinion on this?

    Any responses greatly appreciated.

    #2
    Most of us on here are IT contractors. There are a few engineers on here as well. And personally I know non-IT project managers, accountants and graphic designers/digital artists.

    You really need to see if there is a market for your skills. This means you need to network and do web searches to find out if there is a market. Since it's your target market it is your responsibility to do the homework by networking, doing web searches and contacting agencies. No one on here can tell you whether there is a market as we either aren't in it, or maybe your competitors so don't want you to enter it. In short we aren't here to spoon feed you in to how to find your market.

    Then once you find there is a market you need to find out how most people in your target market get paid. For example graphic designers can be contractors or freelancers. The reason to choose one over the other includes how they source work, ease of set up and whether they are also permanent employees.
    "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

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      #3
      Thank You.

      Comment


        #4
        Most jobsites let you set up custom searches, create some with 'credit' in the search box and see what contracts turn up.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by geek84 View Post
          PLEASE DELETE THIS POST IF DEEMED INAPPROPRIATE

          Good Afternoon Folks

          I hope you're all well. Ever since I was made redundant about 7 years ago, I have had short term temporary contracts - the longest has been for 6 months, and generally they are 3 months or shorter. I have over 15 years experience of credit control (debt collection), and despite that, I'm having great difficulty in securing permanent employment. It may also be due to the fact that I have not had a permanent job for the last 7 years or so and /or perhaps to do with my age - I have recently turned 49.

          I am now thinking of doing contract work as a credit controller, but very scared to take the plunge. If I decide to take this route, how can I get enough clients in order for me to make money to meet my own living expenditure? How can I find out that there is a market out there for contract credit controllers? A lot of my friends have said there are loads of companies out there who are owed money by customers and they would need someone to make sure the money is collected. However, I'm not so sure that there is a ready made market out there for my services.

          What is your opinion on this?

          Any responses greatly appreciated.
          Hi. It sounds like you are mixing up contracting and freelancing a little. Most of us here are contractors, where we work short - mid term contracts for clients on a full time basis. Very similar to what you have been doing when you say you have been working temporary contracts, the set up might just be different though with you though if you are being paid PAYE by the agency, rather than through your own LTD company.

          It sounds like you are looking at more of a freelance situation though, where you work directly with them, possibly from your own (home) office? If this is the case it would be the same as me working directly for clients as a front end developer. It's just a case of building up your network and leveraging existing contacts to get work, and as you build a reputation you will get referrals etc. You can join local business groups, chamber of commerce etc. Could you approach companies you have worked with before, and offer to work directly with them? If you are freelancing you would need to work out a charging structure. Do you charge x per call / contact, or a % of monies recovered or a mixture? Is this also something you could start whilst working on temp contracts, so you can dip a toe in the water?

          HTH and good luck with your venture.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by geek84 View Post
            Ever since I was made redundant about 7 years ago, I have had short term temporary contracts - the longest has been for 6 months, and generally they are 3 months or shorter. .
            To my mind you have been contracting for the last 7 years. What do you think will be different as a "contractor" from what you have been doing ?
            Is it just running as a limited company?

            Comment

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