You don’t have to hate your job to be an independent contractor.

You don’t need to hire a team of your own employees to be a successful. 

Nor is it a must that you aim to build a large multi-million dollar business.

Even though people choosing to work as independent contractors is not a new phenomenon, there are still lots of misconceptions about what is needed to start independent work.

Since the early 1990s, the US workforce has experienced an upward trend in the percentage of people working as independents.  The COVID-19 pandemic has now accelerated the rate of growth of workers identifying as independent contractors, with more and more people seeking flexibility and better control of their time.

For experienced independent contractors, the benefits of this type of work structure are obvious: the flexibility of working hours; the semblance of control over the type and amount of work to be done; the ability to earn more by simultaneously working on several projects.  As the icing on the cake, many independents report that they are able to make more money on average than they did while working in as a salaried company employee.  

However, for employees who are currently working at their 9-5, there’s a lot of confusion about what happens in the space between starting their independent journey and achieving the ideal type of work-life they want. To help reduce this obscurity, here are answers to three of the most common objections that employed workers have about transitioning to the independent contracting workstyle.  

1. But I don’t hate my job

You’ve probably heard your friends, family members, or even colleagues complain about how much they dislike their job.  Some jobs are too stressful, others too boring, some with toxic workplaces, others with concerning office practices.  Hearing such stories, it’s easy to see why the idea of working for yourself is attractive to so many people.

But what about those people who don’t hate their jobs?  Many employees work in roles where they are happy and feel fulfilled.  A good number of people enjoy their work and do work they love or are at least content with in enjoyable workplace environments.

Why would anyone who is completely happy with their 9-5 work ever consider working independently?

Because your position with the company—happy as you may be—is never truly certain. An associate of mine is head of human resources at a large multinational company.  She had the most stressful period of her career earlier this year when her company entered a restructuring process that let go of nearly 30% of its workforce.  The company experienced sudden budget constraints and maintaining their full capacity of employees was no longer possible.  Her stress came from having to remove dozens of employees who were good at their jobs and dedicated to the company.

All of them were fired.

All of them were shocked.

All of them had their lives completely uprooted.

Only one or two had any backup plans or savings to tap into.

That experience showed her that even people who love their jobs and are great at the work are susceptible to the ups and downs of company budgets.  More alarmingly, her company is currently planning to hire short-term contract workers for a handful of the same jobs that were eliminated in the restructuring process.  

Being prepared for the future of work is not about hating your job.  It’s about positioning yourself to be a preferred service provider for companies and clients seeking your skillset.

2. I don’t want to manage others or hire employees.

Not everyone is meant to work in teams of people.  We’ve all had the experience of working with someone who prefers to go off on their own to do the work, only coming back to touch base when they’ve done nearly everything.  Heck, some of us have often been that person who prefers to go off and work on our own.

Building your own independent contracting service business doesn’t mean you have to start hiring people to work with or for you.  Many independents like the solitary efficiency of working alone or of only occasionally subcontracting work to someone else.  Depending on the type of work you engage in and the disposition of each client, you may find yourself working alone across all aspects of your business activities.

However, it’s important to be careful to not take on too many internal responsibilities.  You will likely benefit from having someone else handle routine activities like accounting, scheduling, legal documentation, invoicing, and even client onboarding.  Finding a low-cost virtual assistant from a gig site or finding the right type of software can make these tasks easier to handle while you focus on the work itself.

3. I’m not interested in building a big business.

“I went from earning $65,000 a year at my 9-5 to making that in one week once I launched my business! Now I have a team of 10 who make money for me while I sleep.”

Social media is rife with nearly unbelievable success stories about how someone started a new business and became a millionaire overnight.  On top of that, every few months there is a new tech unicorn that reaches billions of dollars in valuation and makes the founders wealthy beyond the average person’s wildest dreams.  The visibility of these successes makes it seem as though everybody is building a billion-dollar company.

In reality, a unicorn is called a unicorn for a reason—because they are so rare (I know, I know, unicorns the animal are purely fictional, but you get what I mean).  A company only has a 0.00006% chance of becoming a unicorn.

Many business coaches will attest to the fact that most small business founders aren’t looking to build a gargantuan business.  Many want to make a good amount of money doing work they like while spending the rest of their free time on their own terms.  This small-scale approach to business is in line with how most independents are able to start their solo work.  

Building massive multi-million dollar business is an impressive goal and certainly one that can be achieved with the right systems.  Hiring small armies of employees to work on your business is also a commendable goal.  Yet these things aren’t necessary for building a successful career as a contractor. The aim for independents is often simple: to make more than enough money that buys a lifestyle of stability and happy contentment.