Going 1099 is a book that teaches you how to become a solo federal sub-contractor and gain control of your working life, earn more money and unlock more free time. I wrote it because quite a few people have asked me how they can become a 1099. I figured it was best to write a single book that I can send them and that I can share with others who are interested. This newsletter goes out Monday - Friday and covers topics that will help you succeed in starting and maintaining successful 1099 career.
Build trust and deliver
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I picked up this book about government contracting a long time ago. I've avoided reading it because it looked SO dry but it's actually pretty good! Becoming a GovCon Expert: How to Accelerate Your Success in Government Contracting What surprised me was the fact that in the first chapter, one of the co-authors makes the point that successful government contracting businesses are build on a trust in you, not successfully doing paperwork. "You have the skill, experience, training and most importantly…contacts. Those contacts are people who know, like, and trust you already and are willing to help you navigate the Government Contracting (GovCon) landscape. These are the people who want you to do the work because they know they can depend on you. Remember, people pay to have their problems solved and they don’t want to take chances. They want guarantees. They want peace of mind. They want security. If you create a company based on connections with people who know how good you are at what you do, you have a better chance of getting hired to fill the contract. But if you don’t have those relationships, then you have to prove in other ways that you can get the job done." The book is focused on building out a Govcon company, but the same idea applies to being a solo 1099. If you become a trusted professional, clients will want to work with you. Having clients that want to work with you give you leverage to set your terms with prime contractors, meaning you can negotiate a 1099 role with a higher billable rate. This is why in my book I say to not worry about the paperwork until after you get your first gig and instead to focus on making sure you are valuable to your current clients and future clients. Build trust and build a network. This is the way to 1099 success. If you're interested in learning how to get your first solo 1099 federal sub-contract, check out my book: |
I'm Dale, the author of Going 1099
Going 1099 is a book that teaches you how to become a solo federal sub-contractor and gain control of your working life, earn more money and unlock more free time. I wrote it because quite a few people have asked me how they can become a 1099. I figured it was best to write a single book that I can send them and that I can share with others who are interested. This newsletter goes out Monday - Friday and covers topics that will help you succeed in starting and maintaining successful 1099 career.
One of the reasons a company would bring on a 1099 or a sub-contractor is because bringing on a full time W2 employee would be too risky. If a contract has a limited amount of time left on it and there is a vacancy, companies may not want to hire someone because they're not sure if they'll have billable work for the employee after the contract ends. This is when hiring a 1099 would make sense, even if it reduces their margin. They're trading margin in exchange for a lower risky profile. In...
Hi all, Not returning to the newsletter just yet but thought I'd send out a link to an interview I did with Jonathan Stark on his podcast, Ditching Hourly. https://podcast.ditchinghourly.com/people/dale-davidson Jonathan advocates for getting away from hourly billing in your independent consulting practice. I agree, but I discuss why that's difficult in government contracting but why it might be okay anyway, particularly if you're jus getting started. He's a great follow for those of you who...
Hi all, I've enjoyed writing this newsletter for over a year now, but I've decided to take a hiatus for the time being. There is an extensive archive if you'd like to go back and read the previous ones. As always, if you have 1099 questions, feel free to ping me via e-mail at dale@1099fedhub.com. Good luck to you all! -Dale If you're interested in learning how to get your first solo 1099 federal sub-contract, check out my book: Going 1099: How to become a solo federal sub-contractor and gain...