tips on going contracting

[kal]

I had a 4-week notice period from permie~dom, and started looking with this being made clear up front. Many potential gigs were (understandably) put off by the notice period, but others were seemingly not. For me, however, I was happy to wait for the right one to come along.....and it did.
Client was happy to wait for my specific experience, and thus I gave notice and then started with Client 4-weeks +1 day later.....no warchest, really, but the 6-month gig I am in will comortably see me through a further 6 months on the bench if necessary (hope not!).
Got myself good accoutants, InTouch, who set up Company for me and are brilliant at hand-holding me through the odd diverse question/scenario I have come up against, and now a month or so in and really happy with it all.

That said, as others will point out, everything hinges on the current gig lasting term, and so each week of invoicing makes me feel a little more secure.....

I was on a three month notice period with no chance of them letting me out any sooner, bit the bullet and just resigned, then started looking 2 weeks before my end date, landed my first contract a mile down the road from my old place, this was 12 months ago and the market is a lot more tulip now but to quote Del Boy - 'he who dares wins' :-) At the end of the day there is no right or wrong time to take the plunge. Oh and I would do Ltd for def, Umbrella are a short term solution only and why in the world you would want another link in the chain making money off your sweat and tears for doing very little while working in the least tax efficient manner is anyone's guess.