So, what is the difference between a contractor and an employee?

And I’m not talking about the benefits of going contracting, just the people themselves.

Most contractors, like myself, never started their careers as contractors, they worked for someone, had a boss and was just the same as any other employee.

But then something happened, an episode in their lives that drove them to explore contracting in more detail.

Maybe they had reached the end of the road in their job. They had given 100% for years and what for? They still had more month than money, their efforts were not recognised or maybe they had absolutely no promotion prospects.

Or maybe, like me, the lack of flexibility was the thing that made them break for freedom.

Or maybe they were made redundant or forced to retire, with loads more to give but nowhere to use their skills.

Regardless of the episode in their lives, they made that leap of faith to go contracting.

They took action, found out what contracting was all about, applied for a contract and started their contracting career.

So, what’s holding you back?

You have heard the same myths about contracting as they did, heard the same hype about IR35 as they did, but they sought the truth and you haven’t found the answers yet.

With all the negative talk around contracting, the myths that are simply not true, along with the hype about IR35, you may have become too afraid to consider contracting.

Instead you continue where you are on your current career path, even though you may feel…

You are not recognised for the work you do

You are not paid what you are worth

You have got to work late, or it might hurt your Personal Development Review

You cannot say “No”, or you won’t get a pay rise

You have no work life balance

You start convincing yourself, you don’t have the specialist skills to go contracting, you would be worse off going contracting as no work no pay, you will get all the rotten jobs if you go contracting, people will treat you differently as there is a them and us culture so best stay where you are.

Before I had my daughter, I was in the same place you are now, working long hours, trying to impress the boss. It wasn’t a problem as, at that time, I had no children.

Then my beautiful daughter came along.

Things changed for me when I went back to work after maternity leave. 

My priorities had shifted.

I had only been back in work a couple of months and I remember my boss telling me I had to finish a piece of work before I left that evening as he needed it for the morning. I felt I had no choice so frantically rang my husband to tell him I would not be able to pick up our daughter from the nursery despite it being closer to my work than his.

He also had a boss and couldn’t just leave, so when he eventually arrived at the nursery, he was very late. We escaped a fine that time as it was the first time we had been late.

The worse thing about that day was that I didn’t get home until after my daughter was in bed.

I sat and cried.

I had no work life balance and knew I had to do something.  

I knew about contracting but had heard exactly, the same myths as you are today, but I knew I needed to take control of my life and career and not leave it in the hands of my boss.

My employer was going through a round of redundancies at the time and I don’t know if it was my hormones or a moment of madness, but I asked to take redundancy. 

I hadn’t really discussed it with my husband before-hand, but I knew I had to take control.

He was very understanding, by the way, and agreed with me totally.

My boss was very concerned at me leaving a secure job knowing I was the main earner and had a baby in the house, but eventually agreed to make me redundant.

And so, I made my leap into the contracting world.

That was over 25 years ago, and I quickly learnt that most of the myths and hype about contracting are simply not true.

In had spent years thinking about contracting, up to that point, but was too fearful to make that leap. 

There seemed to be so many hurdles and I was so scared, but it is amazing what a change in priorities can do to you.

Suddenly the most important thing for me was to get a work life balance and the obstacles I believed were there and the myths about contracting were a minor consideration.

If others were contracting, why not me?

Now, It would be wrong of me to say contracting was all plain sailing as that is not true. I have fallen into several pitfalls during my time as a contractor which has taught me so much.

It is these pitfalls that drove me to start my mission, helping other people transition from permie to contractor in a safe and supportive community, preventing them for falling into the same pitfalls as I fell into.

If you have been batting the idea of contracting away because you see it as a challenge, too many obstacles for you, then let me assure you, most of the myths about contracting are simply not true.

And there is a way to make the move into contracting a safe and measured way.

A 3-Step process as simple as A.B.C for you to follow to transition from permie to contractor.

I really want to work with you to help you come to an informed decision about contracting, that could allow you to take control of your life and career, creating you a better work life balance.

It is my mission to help as many people as possible, including you, to remove those obstacles that you believe are in your way of contracting.

As a result, I am running a FREE 90-minute training session the Expand and Contract Masterclass

next Tuesday 28th August to cover my simple 3-sep blueprint for taking back control of your life and career, creating a better work life balance. 

To register, please just click on this link

https://tiny.cc/EandCMasterclass

You won’t want to miss this.

I will be going through the whole process broken down into 3 simple steps,

as simple as A, B, C.

             A – Assess

             B – Build

             C – Connect

All of the strategies I have used during my 25 years as a contractor.

I would love you to join me

As I said it is totally FREE on Tuesday 28th August at 7pm

Please just click on the link to register

https://tiny.cc/EandCMasterclass