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.
Can you poach yourself to 1099 status?
On one of the sub-contracts my company is on, I learned an interesting detail about how the prime handles candidate submissions from companies that are teammates on the same contract. Say my company, Custom Analysis, is on the contract and Raytheon is on the contract. We are both subs to Booz Allen (these are all hypothetical). I find a great person for the position who is a current Raytheon employee and submit him for an open position. In my particular scenario, the prime, Booz, has said in this scenario, they would only accept the employee from Custom Analysis IF he is not already on this particular contract. Basically, if he is currently working for Raytheon on the same contract, they want to prevent poaching amongst the sub-contractors. However, if the Raytheon employee is on an entirely different contract, they will accept him. This seems like a good policy to maintain harmony on the team. Now, how does this apply to a 1099 scenario? Well, in the example above, it's a little bit ambiguous because you're not being poached per se by a teammate, but rather, you are trying to become a new teammate to the prime and poaching yourself. The letter of the law may favor you. However, there is the spirit of the law that the prime program manager might want to observe, particularly if they have a good relationship with your company. These are the types of dynamics you may need to get a feel for, particularly if you're trying to flip your current job into a 1099 role and you are working for a sub-contractor. This is why in my book I recommend having a conversation with the prime PM (if you are workin for the sub) to get a sense for if they'd be willing to go through with it. It's not quite a Game of Thrones level alliance dynamic issues, but it's something to be mindful about. 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...