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Finding my own Gigs- anyone willing to pay a small fee if I pass them something

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    #11
    Originally posted by TheFaQQer View Post
    I'd be prepared to pay something for someone finding me a contract which I accept.

    But I wouldn't pay anything for the prospect of just talking to someone about a potential role.
    Agreed

    Comment


      #12
      Originally posted by Seahorse17 View Post
      Isn't it illegal to charge people for finding them work? I'm sure I read something about this.
      I'm not sure about that, but i am absolutely certain that finding projects for companies is perfectly laudable.
      I am certainly not offering to find work for employees and don't want to be burdened for contractors who see themselves as employees with bigger pay cheques. I totally agree with IR35 for those people.

      Comment


        #13
        Originally posted by eek View Post
        Its the difference between a contractor and being a consultancy....

        Client -> Agency -> me - all payments must come from the agency - what the agency pays is yours
        Client -> Me -> sales agent . In this case me paying a sales agent is perfectly acceptable for the work they find.

        Personally I think 20% is the top whack for most sales agents but it depends on the size of the project, the profit and the work involved.

        And I am looking for a sales agent or 2 for next year when I actually move towards consultancy...
        That's where I am now. Worth the effort but you have to run a business properly and find work directly. We should keep in touch.

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          #14
          How can you ensure the people you find work for are up to the tasks asked? If they turn out to be useless it would reflect on you wouldn't it? Lot's can talk the talk but not walk the walk....

          Comment


            #15
            Originally posted by amon View Post
            I haven't worked it out but it would definitely be less than half of what an agency takes. I'm mainly interested in the idea of having someone permanently finding work for myself and a few dozen others.
            Agencies really have become despicable, but worse than their dishonesty and greed is the amount of time they waste applying to projects that don't exist, or are wrongly described and so forth.
            Given they have no idea what their client is talking about it's hard to expect any better.

            When I find my own contracts I have no trouble getting an honest contract and paid on time and always direct meaningful contact with the client.
            My wild guess would be somewhere between between 5 and 10% of value depending whether it was a drip every month or a single payment on receipt of first payment. All suggestions considered.
            I guess there could be a fee paid to a contractor who then refers more opportunities, e.g a PM hiring a full team.

            A
            And here you have a problem.

            Example - The simplest.
            3 month engagement at £500 a day. You're wanting half of what an agent wants (anywhere between 10 and 20%).

            That means you want at least £1500 with no risk. Are you expecting 1500 after the 3 months?

            I don't have a problem with the idea, but I struggle to see how you can enforce it without taking risk (and become an agent).
            A finders fee of £150 for the example seems more likely, paid after 1st invoice is paid, but again how can you enforce it without a contract with one of the parties.

            It seems to be commercially non-viable unless you become an agent. And that is kinda the opposite of what you're trying to do.

            Just my simplistic thoughts...
            See You Next Tuesday

            Comment


              #16
              Originally posted by amon View Post
              Hi All,
              I'm interested in what people think.
              I put a fair bit of effort and expense into finding my own work and I invariably find a lot of stuff that is not right for me and have to pass up.
              Would anyone be interested in these at a small fee (nothing like an agency fee), I need to recoup the cost and in fact if I had this opportunity I would be able to invest a bit more and be more aggressive and probably find quite a bit. I wouldn't get involved in being a go between, just a straight agreement for a finders fee or something. Any ideas considered. You may not be aware, but fees run form 20 to 30+ percent and growing. It is financially well worth the effort.
              Just a thought. Please either discuss or PM me with your skills and fees etc and we can discuss it. Thanks
              Isnt there something seriously wrong with the model here if you're spending a lot of time and expense searching for roles then discover they are not right for you?

              Comment


                #17
                Originally posted by Lance View Post
                And here you have a problem.

                Example - The simplest.
                3 month engagement at £500 a day. You're wanting half of what an agent wants (anywhere between 10 and 20%).

                That means you want at least £1500 with no risk. Are you expecting 1500 after the 3 months?

                I don't have a problem with the idea, but I struggle to see how you can enforce it without taking risk (and become an agent).
                A finders fee of £150 for the example seems more likely, paid after 1st invoice is paid, but again how can you enforce it without a contract with one of the parties.

                It seems to be commercially non-viable unless you become an agent. And that is kinda the opposite of what you're trying to do.

                Just my simplistic thoughts...
                I totally understand where that is coming from and I'm looking for the ideal solution, I do think your thinking is slightly flawed though, or maybe I misunderstand it.

                Your 3 months contract worth 30k would result in about 8-10k kept by the agency apart from all the other little issues and risks you bear. How do you jump form that to £150? What risk do you assume the agency carries that would be different. How long have you been in the business? I can only guess that you are making some wrong assumptions somewhere.
                I am simply looking for partners to share my up front costs in finding my own work. It is not unreasonable to ask for a realistic fee for that.
                The benefit to someone working along with me is that they could own the relationship with the client , that depends on the agreement, I haven't worked it out yet, they truly run a business instead of an ir35 pseudo-employee. They get paid by the client then they pay the agreed fee to me for finding them the work.

                Comment


                  #18
                  Originally posted by amon View Post
                  I totally understand where that is coming from and I'm looking for the ideal solution, I do think your thinking is slightly flawed though, or maybe I misunderstand it.

                  Your 3 months contract worth 30k would result in about 8-10k kept by the agency
                  Dunno about that. I presume you mean the contract you have with the agency. You mean the contract they have with the client? Either way your assumed margins are way too high. Factor 10 to 20% max. If you are the top end of that you need learn to negotiate better rather than jump models. If you can negotiate down from a 20 to 30% margin I doubt you'd have the nouse to handle direct negotiation tbh.
                  'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

                  Comment


                    #19
                    Originally posted by amon View Post
                    Your 3 months contract worth 30k would result in about 8-10k kept by the agency apart from all the other little issues and risks you bear.
                    10 to 20% of £30k is 8-10k????????


                    Let's say you find a gig. I get 3 months at £500 a day. You want half of what an agent wants (that's £1,500 based on 20 days per month @ 5% btw).
                    I get a renewal for another 3 months and decide I don't want to pay you. How are you going to enforce it? That's what I mean by risk.
                    What if I just don't pay you at all? How do you enforced that?

                    This is why agents take their money from the client to pay to you. They are in control.
                    I suggested a finders fee as you are not doing the work of an agent so why should you get the same value? And with a nominal finders fee (£150 was just a finger in the air) people might cough up.
                    See You Next Tuesday

                    Comment


                      #20
                      Originally posted by washed up contractor View Post
                      Isnt there something seriously wrong with the model here if you're spending a lot of time and expense searching for roles then discover they are not right for you?
                      That is how selling anything works. You set up a funnel, at one end you put in tens of thousands of potentials, you work your way through them qualifying out those who don't fit for whatever reason and you end up with a few who become customers.
                      If you had a magic wand you would get the perfect list of people who hire "Java programmers with J2ee aged 30 -40" and you wouldn't need all that hassle, you'd just call and say "do you need anyone"
                      After the bank crash I hired a telesales and bought a database and did this because agencies were sending me no work, I ran an agency for nearly a year because I couldn't afford to ignore all the people needing contractors with different skills and not needing mine and my telesales girl needed the work, but I hated it and gave it up.
                      Right now I'm struggling again because I have turned 50 and my DOB is on every CV database in Europe and not even GDPR can force them to take it off. This is waiting for you too.
                      I don't want to run an agency and do payroll and all the other hassle, but the cost of all that marketing cant be justified unless you have a broad range of available people willing to pay an honest fee. I could of course just advertise the roles on Jobserve and hire a recruiter and maybe that's the answer

                      Comment

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