Unit of 1 - Consulting Company Vs. Being an Independent

Large scale consulting and independent consulting are quite different. I much prefer the latter.

The difference between being an independent and working as a part of a large organization is that I have control over all aspects of the business. I like seeing the pipeline of projects, and never being surprised at a decision made elsewhere in the company.

The obvious downside is that you are also solely responsible for sales, marketing, legal, finance, taking out the trash, mailing packages, etc etc etc. Especially when you're busy with client work, it takes a lot of discipline to keep up on the networking and other infrastructure-type work.

I firmly believe, many businesses are much better off being run as a group of independents collaborating, rather than with traditional corporate structure and overhead. I've seen time and time again where individuals who were mediocre employees really shine as independent contractors. I think it's the complete accountability of the sink or swim reality of running your own business. Also, it's a self-selecting group. As an independent, there's no place to hide. If you don't perform, you're out of business.

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Andrea Michalek is a technology management consultant and runs Unit of 1 - a networking group for the self-employed.