Hi, I was wondering if anyone ever got any offers to work from home as an employee instead of as a contractor? I am asking because my goal is to be able to make a living from home so I am wondering if I should also take work at home employee job offers in addition to contract offers and if my site should include that? Thanks.

You probably should consider the pro's and con's of both scenarios. As an independent contractor you are in control, but you don't have insurance and perks that might come from being an employee. I do know people who are employees and work from home it works nicely for them. As an employee however your employer calls all the shots, but you may have benefits such as medical, dental, vision, 401k etc. So you need to consider what it is that you want to do and accomplish. If you want to have your own company and be your own boss then being an independent contractor would be the way to go. So what do you want?

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Rhonda Holscher, Owner
Rhonda's Virtual Office - Hire a Virtual Assistant

Suzanne,

I do not get offers to work as an employee however I also do not put myself out there for that either. I have however telecommuted as an employee before starting my business.

Rhonda touched on some great points and let me add that while working for someone else I was fortunate that they were extremely flexible. Although I worked mostly 9 to 5 I had lots of wiggle room in my schedule. That may not be the case for all. I was required to be in the home office for meeting, trainings and such so there was some travel involved.

The other word of caution is employees v contractors are treated separately as far as tax obligations so you would have to keep excellent books and records. Also deductions could dicey in mixing the two.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Hello guys,
I have this same issue. I'm just starting my VA company. I'm from Grenada in the Caribbean and I target small businesses and entrepreneurs. I have never had a problem in getting clients. It seems that they come to me rather than I go to them. But in order for me to function efficiently I need to have things in order....I'm just a methodical person. Two days ago, a cabinetry company called me up to and offered to employ me as their admin assistant. I am in two minds about this though, and I share Suzanne's sentiment.

I do my 9-5 work on-site and Goddess from home (or a coffee shop, whatever). This helps me to keep my employee and business work completely separated. When Goddess goes full-time, I will not be seeking employee-type jobs.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

I think i would refuse if that were offered. It may be more stable in the sense that you get benefits but the benefits arent worth giving up the control. Then again , i've been so seriously burned in the job before this one(i've only been at this new job two weeks) that i just dont trust employers anymore. My new job is very good and im learning a lot but frankly, i'm burned out. Thats why i've been much more seriously researching on becoming a va. I need out of the corporate world for at least a year but still need to make money and being a va seems the way to do it.

I've been a contractor for the last 3 years and my personal opinion is that it isn't worth it. Contracting is very unstable and I've been released suddenly because that's the life of a contractor. And unless you get lucky enough to contract with an agency big enough to offer benefits, you do without. My experience has been that admins are at the bottom of the totem pole and given little respect in the office and contractors are even lower than that.

If you truly feel that the stability of being an employee is what you want, then you should do it. If you can be a WFH employee, then more power to you! For me, I'm just embarking on my VA business (website went up yesterday!) and am interested to see how this fares for me. If I'm going to go without benefits, I'm going to do it as my own boss.

Post an update and let us know what you decide.

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&rea and Associates, LLC
"Dedicated to Helping Small Businesses Compete"