Dale Davidson

Author of Going 1099: How to become a solo federal sub-contractor and gain control of your working life, earn more money, and unlock more free time

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@ramit Agree. I also had a hard time understanding the other direction. If you buy a house that’s more expensive than your rent, that money needs to come from somewhere. If you don’t change your other lifestyle expenses, the money MUST come from investments or savings.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@p_millerd Can probably use AI for the research compilation part and then you can just do the fun writing/analysis part. But, only if it’s interesting to you personally your own advice!

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@apentz Is there anything a smaller company can offer senior talent that would attract them? Lower comp but higher incentive pay? More autonomy?

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

This reminds me of Matthew Crawford’s book: Shopcraft as Soulcraft.

Makes the case that building stuff in the real world forces you to engage with reality in a way that shows whether your efforts in this life are useful. Hard, but deeply satisfying.

This is in comparison to a lot of modern office work. He was president of a think tank but it was so stupid he couldn’t take it anymore and quit to open up his motorcycle repair shop.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@p_millerd I think kids would find a way to somehow fling the food beyond the radius of the catcher ;).

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@apentz “A good decision now is better than a perfect decision later.”

Helps me when I’m in analysis paralysis mode.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

Things I’m doing in my 9 person government consulting business

- almost full time client work (I’m billable)
- doing benefits set up, invoicing, etc
- setting up happy hours with folks I’m trying to recruit and persuade them my no brand company is better than Deloitte, Booz, etc
- figuring out how much I can pay myself if I leave billable work
- hopping on calls with current prime partner and trying to get new ones
- managing personal psychology when things are going well and things fall through
- finding time for family life, business, fitness, etc.

No time for capital allocation! More like energy allocation.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@MatznerJon @pinpulleddrmf He did! Still needed to be there! But maybe @pinpulleddrmf could have done better.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@apentz I don’t know it’s pretty cool to be the CEO AND the intern.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@apentz At the beginning there are lots of unknowns that can only be revealed through experience. I imagine a lot of these unknowns can bankrupt you if you’re not prepared.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

This is especially true if you work for a company that bills out your labor (agency/consulting model).

If you’re willing to take some risk you can solo 1099 and capture much more of that bill rate.

Yes, still a job but it’s gateway entrepreneurship.

I teach people how to do this in the #govcon industry.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

What if you're an "ideas guy?"

When you're starting off in your career, no one takes your ideas seriously.

And for good reason: you have no real world experience!

A lot of the best ideas that have actually have a chance of being implemented require you to understand how organizations work: your clients or your company.

But it's discouraging to always have your ideas shut down and ignored.

And if you're aspiring to go #govcon 1099, it's very likely you're a creative type who is always generating ideas on how to improve things. It's probably one of the reasons you want to go 1099.

The thing is, you likely even have less power and influence as a solo 1099 than you did as a W2 employee!

So to get your ideas implemented, you need to learn some client consulting skills which is likely a weakness of yours. It is for me.

These include:

Deep listening - Pay attention to what the client cares about and be able to repeat it back to them

Communication - You're probably 10 steps ahead of your client with your ideas. Being able to explain it in terms that they understand so they can confidently explain it to their boss is critical

Persuasion - Persuasion is the art of getting a client to do what you want without any formal authority over them. You will need to learn to address their objections, show how your idea helps them with something they care about, and then guiding them to take action

Adaptability - Your ideas likely will have to change form to adapt to client feedback and organizational reality

Exercising creativity in a business context requires dealing with the messiness of other people. There is no way around it.

So if you do want to be successful with new, creative ideas, you need to round it out with consulting skills that help you implement them.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@apentz This is the way.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

Hope is not a strategy (#govcon 1099 version)

My newsletter a few days ago mentioned the quote, "Hold hope lightly."

Basically you should be hopeful but not get attached to day dreams.

Another, more aggressive way to frame this is to think, "Hope is not a strategy."

You HOPE that you don't get into a car accident, but your STRATEGY is to be a defensive driver and then mitigate risk by wearing a seatbelt and getting car insurance.

You HOPE that the love of your life bumps into you at the store, but your STRATEGY to get a partner is to go on as many dates with as many people as possible.

You HOPE that you can get a promotion or raise at work, but your STRATEGY is to improve your skills and bring in new business.

You HOPE that you can go 1099 and work for yourself, but your STRATEGY is to develop good client relationships, network, and flip job interviews into 1099 interviews.

Have hope, but develop a strategy to get what you want.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

@apentz Sex sells Alan. Need six pack abs to show off to prospective customers!

Off to cold plunge now.

[Dale Davidson @dalemdavidson]

Small business challenge:

* If you have a service/agency model where you bill out employees, you lose money if you let them go
* Not a big deal if you're bigger and have a good recruiting process to replace
* If you're smaller, that is literally money out of the owners pocket

In the small business case, to minimize loss of profit, probably best to always be recruiting for your current staff's positions.