What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
Sorry for the long post.
I worked with my step brother in a start up a few years ago. The business was poorly managed by the owner but my performance in team building, system building, leadership, teaching, and creativity impressed everyone involved. A few months after that business shut down, my step brother was hired for sales and general management of a local data corporation.
This data corp company grosses about 1mil a year right now. They have been growing steadily to this point over the last 15 years but they recently received a lot of recognition in their field and are primed to nearly double their clientele, of which include some big names. This company's biggest problem right now is infrastructure. In the past, they would hire people to manage these clients, generally two to three clients per manager.
These client managers would be hired on and given three months to learn the data software thoroughly enough to help clients solve problems. Keep in mind that it takes three months to learn the basics, but it takes most hires six to eight months to be proficient enough to handle multiple clients or to be considered quality from a client perspective. Since the company was small the owner never really had any training program for new hires, he would just throw them in and hope they learned via osmosis and this was sufficient for a long time.
Unfortunately, just before this recent client boom they lost almost half of their client managers and the managers that remained are overworked and wearing too many hats. So, now they have double the clients, clients with higher expectations, half the crew and no training program. This is where I come in.
My step brother told them about what i am capable of, so i got an interview. They said that they were very impressed and that they want to hire me to learn the software thoroughly and create a training program for new hires. Additionally, they want me to make a training program(mainly videos) for clients so that converting their systems/teams to the data corps proprietary software can be even more efficient and less of a hassle.
I have two problems with this: 1- they want to pay me nearly minimum wage to perform these tasks, 2- they want me to also stay as a client manager department lead. I refuse to be stuck in a building for the rest of my life managing clients/employees. I am a jack of all trades like my father and grandfather and there are too many interesting things to learn in this world for me to stop here. I would much rather have a life of surplus time with little money than surplus money with little time. I was initially going to refuse but I started thinking about maybe being hired as a independent contractor. Maybe I could be hired to learn the software and build the training programs in exchange for a small percent of annual gross/net(or something similar, payed over 12 months, yearly) for the life of the company. I could see myself including a service where I update the training program when new patches are released over the years. It may sound outlandish but my abilities have the potential to facilitate an enormous amount of growth and income for the business and owner; I know what I am worth. They desperately need my unique set of skills and I am willing to bet that they will pay for it.
My problem with my idea is that I have no idea what I am doing as far as business contracts go or how to form this into a reasonable offer. Business contracts and being an independent contractor are trades that I am not a jack of, yet. I am not above asking for help so I am posting here to hopefully get some general advice on what to do and how as far as turning this employment opportunity into a independent contractor/residual income opportunity. I have many questions, such as: What % would be considered reasonable? What stipulations would be a good idea to include? Should i charge them hourly during the months that I am learning the software? What would be some key points that should be emphasized in the selling of this idea? etc... However, I suspect that my biggest problems is that I don't know what questions that I should be asking you. I am very aware of my ignorance in the area of business contracts. However, I feel like independent contracting is probably going to be a very good fit for me. Additionally, I know that If I am going to be in the world of independent contracting I am going to need a big name on my resume and this could be it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Even if you feel like you don't have much to say, please say something; I will listen objectively.
Also, keep in mind that i do plan on contacting a contract lawyer for the contract itself. What i am asking for is your advice on general ways this can work or what you would do if you were in my shoes.
Sorry for the long post.
I worked with my step brother in a start up a few years ago. The business was poorly managed by the owner but my performance in team building, system building, leadership, teaching, and creativity impressed everyone involved. A few months after that business shut down, my step brother was hired for sales and general management of a local data corporation.
This data corp company grosses about 1mil a year right now. They have been growing steadily to this point over the last 15 years but they recently received a lot of recognition in their field and are primed to nearly double their clientele, of which include some big names. This company's biggest problem right now is infrastructure. In the past, they would hire people to manage these clients, generally two to three clients per manager.
These client managers would be hired on and given three months to learn the data software thoroughly enough to help clients solve problems. Keep in mind that it takes three months to learn the basics, but it takes most hires six to eight months to be proficient enough to handle multiple clients or to be considered quality from a client perspective. Since the company was small the owner never really had any training program for new hires, he would just throw them in and hope they learned via osmosis and this was sufficient for a long time.
Unfortunately, just before this recent client boom they lost almost half of their client managers and the managers that remained are overworked and wearing too many hats. So, now they have double the clients, clients with higher expectations, half the crew and no training program. This is where I come in.
My step brother told them about what i am capable of, so i got an interview. They said that they were very impressed and that they want to hire me to learn the software thoroughly and create a training program for new hires. Additionally, they want me to make a training program(mainly videos) for clients so that converting their systems/teams to the data corps proprietary software can be even more efficient and less of a hassle.
I have two problems with this: 1- they want to pay me nearly minimum wage to perform these tasks, 2- they want me to also stay as a client manager department lead. I refuse to be stuck in a building for the rest of my life managing clients/employees. I am a jack of all trades like my father and grandfather and there are too many interesting things to learn in this world for me to stop here. I would much rather have a life of surplus time with little money than surplus money with little time. I was initially going to refuse but I started thinking about maybe being hired as a independent contractor. Maybe I could be hired to learn the software and build the training programs in exchange for a small percent of annual gross/net(or something similar, payed over 12 months, yearly) for the life of the company. I could see myself including a service where I update the training program when new patches are released over the years. It may sound outlandish but my abilities have the potential to facilitate an enormous amount of growth and income for the business and owner; I know what I am worth. They desperately need my unique set of skills and I am willing to bet that they will pay for it.
My problem with my idea is that I have no idea what I am doing as far as business contracts go or how to form this into a reasonable offer. Business contracts and being an independent contractor are trades that I am not a jack of, yet. I am not above asking for help so I am posting here to hopefully get some general advice on what to do and how as far as turning this employment opportunity into a independent contractor/residual income opportunity. I have many questions, such as: What % would be considered reasonable? What stipulations would be a good idea to include? Should i charge them hourly during the months that I am learning the software? What would be some key points that should be emphasized in the selling of this idea? etc... However, I suspect that my biggest problems is that I don't know what questions that I should be asking you. I am very aware of my ignorance in the area of business contracts. However, I feel like independent contracting is probably going to be a very good fit for me. Additionally, I know that If I am going to be in the world of independent contracting I am going to need a big name on my resume and this could be it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Even if you feel like you don't have much to say, please say something; I will listen objectively.
Also, keep in mind that i do plan on contacting a contract lawyer for the contract itself. What i am asking for is your advice on general ways this can work or what you would do if you were in my shoes.
