1099 to Small Biz: Beware of administrative overhead
When I first went 1099, I thought there was going to be lots of administrative nonsense to deal with.
I was wrong!
As a solo 1099, it's actually pretty minimal.
There are a few hours required at the beginning of a sub-contract to get things set up, and then maybe a few hours every month to do things like invoicing, setting up a networking coffee meeting, logging expenses, etc.
Not a bad pay off for boosting your income 50%!
But let's say you get ambitious and want to grow the company (multiple contracts, more employees, etc.).
It's not an incremental growth in administrative overhead. It's several multiples!
Here is all the stuff you have to deal with now:
- Setting up and maintaining a payroll infrastructure
- Dealing with new tax authorities (like state unemployment offices)
- Managing multiple sub-contracts and dealing with unresponsive program managers
- Recruiting and all the associated coordination activities
- Managing people and getting them to do things like filling out their time card on time so you an invoice on time
- Dealing with the general fear that things can fall apart at any second
No single thing is a big deal. But your brain gets fried trying to coordinate everything and when you have your own billable gig/day job to worry about it, it can be a real drag.
The pay off can be worth it, but it takes some pain to get there, the type of pain you may have been trying to avoid in the first place by becoming a solo 1099.
Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.