Dec
22
There are times when a business needs to hire an outside contractor. A busy period or a specialist project is sometimes not enough to warrant a full-time employee and a contractor is a flexible and easy way to solve an immediate, but not ongoing problem. There are agencies well versed in contractor etiquette and it pays to use their expertise.
Agencies can make the process of hiring a contractor a lot simpler and smoother, particularly if an organization is hiring for the first time. There are plenty of agencies to choose from and it’s best to undertake some research before deciding which one to use. An IT firm, for example, should seek out an agency with experience in that field in order to get the best contractor for the job. An agency should also be upfront about contract rates and margins and know all about the latest rules and regulations.
Agencies are equipped with a huge database of contractors and can search through it efficiently, bringing up the best contractor for the job. This cuts out a lot of work on the part of the business, which might not know where to look and waste a lot of time and effort in the process. The quicker a contractor is found, the sooner the job can be started and finished. Once a suitable candidate is found, the agency performs the necessary background checks. Identity, confirmation of a company registered office address, and VAT registration certificate to name but a few. All the boxes have to be ticked before the agency is satisfied. This again would cost the hirer time and money.
It can happen that there are several contractors available and in this case the agency will collect the relevant resumes and email them to the organization. A reputable agency will offer his experience and comments about the prospective contractor. If asked, he can even organize the interviews and attend them to give his informed opinion.
The next step after the contractor has been chosen is to agree terms and to make sure a contract is signed. It is the agency’s role to make sure this happens quickly and smoothly and he acts as a mediator between the two parties. On occasion, the agent will visit the site to make sure everyone is happy. If a renewal looks likely, the agency will pre-empt this and draw up a new or extended contract. It is the agency’s job to take all the risk and hassle out of the hiring process and let the client get on with his work.
Read On : Mechanical And Electrical Services
Oct
23
Becoming an Internet Marketing/Business Consultant
Filed Under Make Money, Marketing via the Internet | Leave a Comment
I received an email from Andy Jenkins a little while ago (why do I stay up so late reading my emails? 
( ) and I just had to read the blog post. It’s something I fully believe everybody should be doing; not necessarily in internet marketing and consulting for small businesses, but that everybody should have a second stream of income to supplement their day job and make their lives better. So I read the article and had to post a reply, which I felt was sooo good I had to share it with you guys. Here it is…..
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Hey Andy,
I like your style of writing: upfront, to the point, in your face, funny and so on. I didn’t want to say you’re an inspiration to us all because it always looks soooo cheesy and to me it borders on adulation by the masses… but this time I have to hand it to you… your message was pretty darned good and you’re so right. It did the job with me and got me to thinking about actually doing something along these lines.
You see, I work full time at the moment and I’ve got a bit of a thing about being a full time employee and then holding myself out to be a “consultant” to business people and entrepreneurs that have had the guts to break out of the J.O.B. mould and work on their own business. I haven’t done this yet (although I want to) as I’m not prepared to risk my families security for the sake of my dreams and ambitions. Why should they suffer IF it were to go horribly wrong? Those in the “guru business IM world” that espouse the ideology of “burning your boats and making it work”, i.e. give up your day job so that if you don’t succeed, you won’t be able to eat or keep a roof over your head or pay the bills etc which literally FORCES you to succeed, are plain wrong. Might work with some people, but not for most. Does that make us bad or poor entrepreneurs or business people. NO! We’re sensible. BUT, as you write so clearly, consult alongside your day job UNTIL the consulting work is more than the day job, THEN give up the day job (if you want to that is!).
So please keep writing posts about this topic and give your readers practical hints and tips on the best way to do it or the best resources from which to learn how to break into this market. Remember here in the UK we are in a deep recession so there is a barrier from the start in terms of winning over small businesses and hiring us for such work.
I would be very interested in knowing how to charge for such work. What’s it worth? How do you strike a deal that’s win-win for both me as a consultant and the business as the client?
Please continue Andy……
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The URL you should follow if you want to read more about Andy’s original post and follow the comments is below:
http://www.andyjenkinsblog.com/2009/10/22/rant-consulting-is-a-bad-business/#comment-1667