Previous client has approached me for ad-hoc consulting assistance.

**northernladuk** · 6 July 2018, 02:56

Could be a nice set up that. The only thing I'd say to look out for is moonlighting on current clients time. I've seen someone walked for that. Started off put of hours or weekends and he got sloppy. I'm sure plenty of people get away with it though to be fair.

**WordIsBond** · 6 July 2018, 05:48

Some random thoughts in no particular order.

Will your current client object? Don't risk a full-time contract for one day a week, unless you have realistic hopes of getting several part time clients like this. Some clients may not like any deal like this at all because they won't believe you can really do both.

Even if they are ok with it, will they object to you taking a day off once or twice a month on short notice to do this? If so, you have to make sure you are able to do this without needing those days off.

Support roles can drift into IR35 pretty easily because you are often working when the client wants doing what the client wants. There's a risk of SDC becoming a big factor, and if you use a retainer then they'll argue MOO against you as well. So you can quickly end up inside IR35. It's not a big deal if this becomes IR35, you just pay your salary and pension out of the proceeds of this one and dividends out of your full-time contract. But you do want to be aware of IR35, and declare it appropriately.

For your other roles, having more than one concurrent client is a plus for IR35. Strictly speaking, the rules are that each contract is judged on its own merits for IR35. In the real world, having multiple concurrent clients has showed up in case law. It's just harder for them to convince a tribunal that you really are an employee when you are saying, 'No, I'm a business' and you are actually building a business with multiple clients. It's not a silver bullet but it's a nice thing to have in your IR35 dossier.

I like a retainer approach and use it. I'm not going to recreate it here, but I wrote a lot about my approach on retainers: https://forums.contractoruk.com/busi...-contract.html. I was talking about typically one day a month, so obviously you'd want to adjust what I was using.

Here's another thread with some interesting discussion: https://forums.contractoruk.com/busi...agreement.html.

If you have something like this running, bench time is a lot less painful financially, the company reserves don't drain away so fast if you have £400-500 a week coming in from this part time role. On the other hand, you also may find you want to take a week or four in between contracts because you just get tired with evening/weekend work month in and month out. It can mess with family life, too. It's great financially and for building a business but it may come with non-monetary costs that you end up not wanting to pay.

If some of the work is email and you can do it while sitting on a train on your way to your full-time gig, or during lunch break, then it may not cut as much into your personal time. It might mean taking a lunch and working through rather than going out to lunch but that's cheaper anyway.

**Old Greg** · 6 July 2018, 06:46

I did this for 7 to 8 months and it worked out well. I had a 90 minute commute each way on a comfortable train with a decent table, so thought, why not, what else am I going to do with the time? And as WiB said, it's comforting to know you can at least cover your mortgage (or whatever) if you are benched from your main gig. And there may be the opportunity to grow it if you want to.

For my own circumstances, I had a very young family at the time and didn't want to spend time working at home, and I will admit that it did get tiring getting the laptop out on the train for an hour every day at 7:30 a.m. and for half an hour on the way home (with a baby at home who didn't sleep well - the answer to 'what else am I going to do with the time?' was sleep).

My advice (which I didn't follow at the time) is to keep an eye on how this is impinging on your tiredness levels or home / family life. Remember, that you can always take the odd day off from your main gig if you need a break on the weekend. You don't need to tell them why.

No useful advice on how to price it.

**psychocandy** · 6 July 2018, 14:46

I did this on a retainer basis for a while. BUT it was for a mate who I knew wouldn't take the piss and he was happy to pay it (it wasn't a huge amount - £800 a month) because then he didn't feel guilty phoning me.

I was a bit wary but he never called me during work time (he would text and I'd call him back for 5 mins lunchtime). And it was probably once a month. Then maybe I'd log in remotely at home for an hour. (and he'd pay me VERY well for that).

If he wanted me to go to site, he'd arrange it weeks in advance and I'd sort it with full time client. Obviously, didnt tell them because it wasn't relevant what I did on day off. I just asked mate to cover my normal rate but he used to pay me more.

Only time I did something at short notice I was off anyway, and he paid me something like £2500 for a nights work when I had to trek to london.

If it meant work most days though I wouldnt have done it. One full time is enough unless you want to die young.

**LondonManc** · 6 July 2018, 15:16

Do it all by email.

Potentially set up a help desk area on your company website to service their tickets/requests, including adding quotes, requirements docs, etc.

Keep it official; if it takes off, have you got someone that you can sub-contract stuff to?

**SeededLoaf** · 7 July 2018, 07:49

If you take it on and there's any issue with commitment can you just give them a short notice and walk?

Obviously not ideal and best avoiding upsetting your previous client but looks quite appealing. Give it a go.

The big question is what are you going to spend the extra moolah on?

**password** · 8 July 2018, 10:58

Thanks guys,

Plenty of interesting feedback here and especially the IR35 concerns. Ok, MOO makes the retainer approach a definite no-no imho. SDC is a bit tricky I guess. It's quite annoying because of the nature of the work. I will literally be coming in as a consultant "body for hire" because the client has a gap in skills..and the role is difficult to hire for. Fair enough, I will be doing a variety of BAU tasks in the sales/solutions department but that's the nature of the role. What an annoyance.

I think i'll get this one reviewed.

With regards terms etc. I think I will probably go for a 6 month term initially with a fairly reasonable notice period (1, 2 weeks). Now that retainer is off the table I will probably quote an hourly rate and just see how the work pans out I guess. I wonder what the HMRC would say to a pricing structure as follows:

* First hour is £500 and any excess is £1 (50% joking/serious)

* I'm not too worried because given the nature of the tasks, I don't think immediate responses would be required. I mean if a tech query comes in then I would assume that a 3-4 hour response would be sufficient during working hours? They aren't paying me enough for rapid response 5 working days a week. Mornings, lunch and evenings should cover that off.

If it takes off, I don't really have anybody but could find somebody, I think.

I know quality varies a lot but has anybody ever used marketplaces (Guru, Elance etc) for outsourcing small parcels of programming work?

Cheers

**LondonManc** · 9 July 2018, 07:49

Originally posted by password View Post

Thanks guys,

Plenty of interesting feedback here and especially the IR35 concerns. Ok, MOO makes the retainer approach a definite no-no imho. SDC is a bit tricky I guess. It's quite annoying because of the nature of the work. I will literally be coming in as a consultant "body for hire" because the client has a gap in skills..and the role is difficult to hire for. Fair enough, I will be doing a variety of BAU tasks in the sales/solutions department but that's the nature of the role. What an annoyance.

I think i'll get this one reviewed.

With regards terms etc. I think I will probably go for a 6 month term initially with a fairly reasonable notice period (1, 2 weeks). Now that retainer is off the table I will probably quote an hourly rate and just see how the work pans out I guess. I wonder what the HMRC would say to a pricing structure as follows:

* First hour is £500 and any excess is £1 (50% joking/serious)

* I'm not too worried because given the nature of the tasks, I don't think immediate responses would be required. I mean if a tech query comes in then I would assume that a 3-4 hour response would be sufficient during working hours? They aren't paying me enough for rapid response 5 working days a week. Mornings, lunch and evenings should cover that off.

If it takes off, I don't really have anybody but could find somebody, I think.

I know quality varies a lot but has anybody ever used marketplaces (Guru, Elance etc) for outsourcing small parcels of programming work?

Cheers

Why? A retainer is an admin fee that means that you're available immediately. It doesn't mean that you can carry out work immediately for them. Make sure that you establish correct SLAs - responding to calls and requests rather than fixing them/carrying them out.

**password** · 9 July 2018, 21:41

Originally posted by LondonManc View Post

Why? A retainer is an admin fee that means that you're available immediately. It doesn't mean that you can carry out work immediately for them. Make sure that you establish correct SLAs - responding to calls and requests rather than fixing them/carrying them out.

Ok, interesting. Once clients reverts back to me I will investigate further.

Thanks guys..

Previous client has approached me for ad-hoc consulting assistance.