Self employment (ie company of 1)?

[Trillian42]

Has anyone had experience with self employment? I have the opportunity to eventually (in six months or so) be hired as a full time employee. In the mean time they want to hire me as a contractor. I would need to form my own "company" and they are willing to work with me to help me set that up.

Anyone have any experience with this? Do I need an attorny, can I do this on my own? Thanks in advance for any help.

[WorkInProgress]

No personal experience with it, but I know a couple people who have done it. (They're family friends.)

How sure are you of the FT hiring in 6 months? Do you have a letter with that as your start date?

EDIT:
If you do it, you'll be on the hook for your own insurance, SS, state and federal taxes.

I would want to consult an attorney in addition to seeing what your prospective employer tells you that you need to do.

EDIT again: I'm sure there's a bunch of information about this available online. Have you checked yet?

[spokes]

i am assuming that when you say they you mean your "employer".

if my understanding is correct i would not rely completely on their advice - it makes more sense to me for you to find your own expert to advise you on all the in/outs of this employee/employer relationship as there will be many things that you will need to consider, such as taxes, insurance/workers comp, retirement plans etc.

I woudl also note thatti seems like a lot of stuff to go through for 6 months.......

[cache]

You just have to set up a propritorship(sp?), which is relatively simple and cheap. The only thing is depending on your work, check with them about you having to be insured/bonded, because that may cost a few bucks. Or just ask them if you can work through a temp agency, where everything is already taken care of.

[Skyblade]

I worked as a contractor before and its a bit like setting up your own company, but not quite the same. All I did was give the company an invoice every week or every two weeks and stated that they had to pay me within 2 weeks or 30 days (I forget). I also had to file taxes quarterly (as opposed to once a year). Also, when you get your check, you have to be pretty disciplined and remember that a little bit more than 30% of it will go to taxes.

[wordsmith]

My dad's self-employed. Insurance issues suck and taxes are more complicated.

[AG_47]

I'm currently considered self-employed. I'm an independent contractor for a rebate company. I have to go into the company for one day training every three or four months. I pick up my work (from a truck that drives to different communities - the actual comany is located 3 hours from my home) in the morning and complete it at home. The next morning I'll drop off my completed work and pick up new work. Every thursday night I'll fill out an invoice and will get paid every two weeks. They don't take out taxes which sucks. I haven't paid any taxes yet this year and I haven't saved anything. I don't know how to pay my taxes but I think I'll have to fill out a self-employment form. I suggest going to a tax preparer. That's what I'll end up doing. I also don't get any benefits. I get my health insurance through the state for $50/month but I'm not elgible for dental (hopefully I won't get a cavity). I don't get vacation days but I can get out of work any time I want without them questioning me. I can also choose how many hours I want per day. If I want 20 hours two days a week I could do it (I would never choose to work 20 hours a day though) or I could work 10 hours four days a week or I could work part time. They give you work it batches that should take 2 hours to complete (sometimes it doesn't take as long and sometimes it takes twice as long).You have to be very dedicated to be self employed. I get distracted very easily so my work often takes twice as long as it should. I only get paid for how much work there is so if it takes 8 hours or 16 hours, I'll get paid the same amount. I work while I watch tv which is cool but it slows my productivity. It would be much better if I could go to an office everyday to limit the distractions. I don't have a home office but that would probably help with the distractions as well. Self employment only works for certain people (not me, that's why I'm looking for a new career/job), but sometimes you don't know if it will work for you until you try it . Hope this helped, Good Luck !!

Edit: I didn't have to start my own company or anything - I just had to sign a contract and fill out a tax form so the government knows that I'm working. This company hires over 600 contracters each year and has been around for decades so I trust them. If your company says they are going to hire you FT in six months then I would get them to put it in writing.