Our guest contributor, attorney and entrepreneur Dorcia Carrillo, shares some advice on the legal and business aspects of side hustles.
In this new economy, workers no longer expect to retire from the company at which they started their careers. Instead, people are moving from employer to employer and often participating in the gig economy. The gig economy, as defined by Investopedia.com, is characterized by temporary flexible jobs performed by independent contractors, freelancers, or consultants (side hustles). Independent contractor, freelancer, and consultant differ slightly, but for the sake of ease, I will use consultant to collectively refer to these three variations of a side hustle. Side hustles are by no means new but they are becoming much more widespread and respected than they were a few decades ago. In the early 2000s, the only people I knew who survived as freelancers or consultants were writers and IT professionals. Now people with other creative and technical skills are building their side hustles into respected brands.
I recommend that entrepreneurs create and use a template consulting agreement for their professional service side hustles. A standard agreement can be a competitive advantage and is an important tool for expanding a side hustle into a valued business. Of course, not every entrepreneur needs to have a written agreement in place for every project. Furthermore, consulting agreements will vary across services and sectors. The purpose here is just to highlight some, not all, of the key provisions that a consultant should consider including in a template consulting agreement.
Define the Business Relationship
First, a consulting agreement should state the relationship between the parties. It may seem obvious that a consultant is just that, but it is absolutely worth noting. More clearly, a consultant is not an agent or employee of her client and a consultant typically acts under her own discretion. These points are important because they may affect how a consultant operates. For example, a consultant is not paid as an employee and, therefore, may be subject to self-employment tax. Moreover, if the consultant is operating as an incorporated entity, the corporation rather than the individual will be signing and acting under the agreement.
Define the Scope of Work
Second, any consulting agreement should clearly state the services the consultant will provide. It is critical to identify what services are included in the scope of work. For example, a web developer should identify what if any maintenance, technical support, or upgrade services will be provided. It is also a good idea to note what services will not be performed. A well written scope of work, or statement of work as it is sometimes called, is the best way to avoid or alleviate confusion about performance. As a drafting tip, I recommend that on-going or complex project work be detailed in a separate attachment referenced in the consulting agreement rather than detailed in the main document.
Set the Payment Terms
Third and equally as important as the scope of work, are the payment terms. I know that negotiating a price for services is often the most difficult aspect of reaching an agreement. For this reason, it is imperative to precisely document the agreed upon pricing terms. A template consulting agreement should have a provision to note payment amount, frequency, and schedule. Additionally, the consultant must ensure that invoices are consistent with the terms of the agreement. If the agreement provides for an hourly rate, related invoices should be billed by the hour. As with work scope, the actual payment terms may be a referenced attachment to the agreement if the terms have to be explained in more than a few sentences.
Protect Intellectual Property
Lastly, a provision for intellectual property is another clause that some entrepreneurs, namely those who create or develop copyrightable works or patentable technologies, need in their consulting agreements. Intellectual property is any product of the human intellect that the law protects from unauthorized use by others. Some examples include music, software, and tools. Importantly, a consulting agreement can identify whether the consultant or client has rights to relevant intellectual property and what those rights are. All sorts of arrangements can be made for consultants and their clients to use, share, buy, sell, license, and reproduce the relevant intellectual property.
A template consulting agreement does not have to be a long complicated document. As stated, it should at least address the consultant-client relationship, scope of work, payment terms, and intellectual property rights. Other clauses that may need to be included relate to warranty, indemnification, assignment and transferability, and governing law. I recommend speaking with a knowledgeable attorney about your specific legal needs. Alternatively, automated services like Rocket Lawyer are available to get started with a basic contract. At the very least, I encourage consultants to carefully review and negotiate the terms before signing any consulting agreement that a potential client presents.
Happy consulting!
Dorcia Carrillo manages a business and corporate law firm, the Law Office of Dorcia Carrillo PLLC, where she guides clients from entrepreneurs to executives through the intersection between business deals and legal documentation. Dorcia likes helping growing businesses with practical legal advice and workable solutions. She is a New York Giants fan and ardent supporter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
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You’ve set all these goals for yourself at the beginning of the year. Before you know it, we’re way past mid-year, and in between, all those career resolutions are right there with your unused gym membership.
I know the feeling. I love making plans and setting goals for the future. The challenge, like with everyone, comes when it’s time to turn those plans into action. The more time goes by, the harder it is to get back to those goals and actually accomplish them. Or recognize when those goals have changed, re-focus and re-calibrate.
Every year somewhere towards the halfway mark, I schedule a mid-year check meeting with Me, Myself and I. It’s my own reality check as to where I’m standing in general. I have to say, it’s not always the most fun meeting to have, especially when I’ve let this goal slide, that objective get forgotten and those dreams get delayed one, two or several more years.
After a while, I got tired to starting over every New Year and rehashing the same goals without much success. Stopping at mid-year to truly evaluate where I stand allows me to have the honest conversation I need to hold with myself in order to make progress. Even if progress sometimes means stepping back in order to better move ahead…
If you’re at this point too or considering having a truthful conversation with yourself about where your career stands, here are 3 steps you can take:
(HONESTLY) REVIEW YOUR YEAR SO FAR
Now is the time to do an assessment of the first half of the year. Take a sheet of paper and write down all the goals you had at the beginning of year, or just dig out your Goal Book from the beginning of the year (if you have one).
What accomplishments are you most proud of so far in the year? What hasn’t worked so well for you? What feedback have you gotten so far? Where can you improve? Grab a cup of tea, sit in your favorite spot and honestly look at how far you’ve come.
RE-INVIGORATE YOUR GOALS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR
After conducting an honest assessment of where you stand, you can now actually put some life back into those goals. From this point on, you can dust yourself off and look forward to the last few months of the year.
What do you really intend to accomplish by the end of the year? Why does it matter so much to you to accomplish these objectives? What do you have to do to get there? It’s time to set those objectives and plans in motion!
Don’t forget to use the SMART approach to refreshing or re-creating your goals. In order to be effective and achievable, they must be:
S- Specific: Paint as clear a picture of the outcome you’re looking for. Use clear deliverables and deadlines. For instance, commit to getting two clients a week, or delivering one report a month.
M- Measurable: Unless you can measure your progress, you can’t really know how close you are to meeting your goals. Put some figures behind them, such as numbers of deliverables, website traffic or other measurable metrics.
A- Attainable: Can you realistically reach your goals, or are you being unreasonable considering your resources, time and energy? Be honest about how attainable your goals really are.
R- Results-Oriented: You need to see some results. Whether it’s revenue, promotions, raises, or website reach, your goals must show progress towards tangible results.
T- Time-bound: Someday won’t cut it. You need a deadline to get your objectives achieved by. Whether it’s next month, or next year, every goal must have a specific deadline associated to it.
SET UP AN ACTION PLAN
After putting life back into your goals and taking a definite look forward, it’s time to start decomposing these refreshed goals into action steps. It’s one thing to have brilliant objectives; it’s another to actually follow the steps to bring them into fruition.
For each goal, determine which step(s) you can take NOW (as in TODAY), and which steps you can take by the end of the year to reach your objectives.
IN CONCLUSION:
REVIEW YOUR YEAR SO FAR AND PERFORM AN HONEST ASSESSMENT OF HOW FAR YOU’VE COME
REFRESH OR RECREATE YOUR GOALS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR
SET UP AN ACTION PLAN
Have you done your mid-year career check yet? What have you learnt so far?
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Growing up in Senegal (West Africa), I’ve always loved learning. Anything education-related, from shiny new notebooks to large academic books, had me doing a (mental) happy dance. I guess you could say I was a nerd, pink glasses, heavy backpack and all… As the second girl in a single-parent family, I had learnt very early on to treasure the gift of education, mostly because my dear mom sacrificed so much so all four of us could have access to it. In a country where women were (and still are) under-represented in so many ways, being educated as a girl was (and still is) precious!
As passionate as I was about learning, I would have never suspected back then that the gift of education would actually change my life. Fast-forward a few years as I completed high school, both my mother and I were called in to the principal’s office. Shaking with nervousness, I kept wondering what that was all about. As it turned out, I was in the running for a scholarship to a prestigious school. Except the school was in the U.S., and if I was lucky enough, I’d be starting in the next few months…
The power of learning and education will take you further than you may have thought, across continents and countries. Whether formal or informal, everything you learn takes you some place you’ve never been before…
A few years later, I was graduating from Undergraduate and Graduate school, proudly wearing my favorite handmade African outfit under my robe. As I walked across the stage, thoughts of my journey flashed through my mind. Never in a million years had I thought learning would take me halfway across the world, enhancing my precious roots, and experiencing new cultures, ideas and concepts.
It was the power of education that taught me never to stop learning. Even after graduating as an Accounting major, my thirst of learning cultivated from years as a student, never dried up. It had awakened in me a constant curiosity, this constant sense that behind even the most trivial of things or events, there’s always something to learn.
Once a student, always a student. Learning doesn’t stop at graduation, or after completing a significant milestone in life. We learn every single day, formally or informally, and we’re made better, stronger, and so much more fulfilled because of it.
It’s also learning that brought me back to my first love of writing through blogging. After getting a formal education, I kept informally learning about the one passion I had had since childhood. The more I learnt, the more I could incorporate what I learnt in and outside of school and college. The more I was able to combine my natural talents with professional demands and start building my own path…
That’s the thing about learning and education. It doesn’t have to be in a specific discipline or path. It’s not necessarily done in formal settings. It can take you from the cubicle to the corner office, lead you to try things you’ve never considered, and push you to explore those skills and talents you may have neglected before.
I’m thankful to have been given the gift of education, in both formal and informal settings. As my dear grandmother used to say in her native Cape-Verdean creole over her stove making the best soul food I ever ate: “What you know, no one can ever take away for you!”
Keep on learning and getting inspired by other students’ stories who are overcoming odds to achieve success in their lives through education!
Dorcia Carrillo manages a business and corporate law firm, the Law Office of Dorcia Carrillo PLLC, where she guides clients from entrepreneurs to executives through the intersection between business deals and legal documentation. Dorcia likes helping growing businesses with practical legal advice and workable solutions. She is a New York Giants fan and ardent supporter of the Alzheimer’s Association. 
