Name: Peter Freeborn
Title: Web developer, entrepreneur
Location: Houston, Texas
Years as an Independent Contractor: Two years

What kind of independent contractor are you?
I'm doing Web development and I also manage other developers who work off-site, as telecommuters or contractors.

Can you be more specific about "Web solutions for homebuilders"?
This company has been hosting Web pages for certain Texas homebuilders for five years and now they are staring to expand to do more inside the office solutions, like intranets, databases and other things to help these builders manage their businesses.

Right now we're developing a system that helps the sales counselors out in sales offices in the new subdivisions to print out contracts. When you buy a house you have sign about 20 different contracts, and this program stores all the contracts on the Internet and lets the salesmen enter fields in the forms and print them out. The system is available to all the sales reps. We did this contract system for one client, and we already have two other clients that want it.

How do you manage the other programmers who are working on the project?
I have an hourly rate that I bill to Builders Communications. Then I find the programmers and I manage them and pay them. I take a markup on those guys when I charge Builders Communications.

When and how did you make the transition to being a contractor?
I was a manager at Altra Energy, a software company that develops software for the gas and power industries. I got tired of the office politics, and I just quit. It was pretty much spur of the moment.

I called around trying to get jobs and didn’t get anything. Then I went through a contracting firm and started working for Shell as a contractor in their office. I went and told the contracting firm that I wanted to be independent and work for Shell directly. We worked out terms, I bought out my contract and they let me go. I've done business with the contracting firm for last two years now, hiring programmers through them.

I hear a child in the background … is that what motivated you to want to be a contractor and work at home?
I have two kids, ages two and five. But I was more motivated by the money. You can make a lot more money working as a contractor than as an employee.

I did MS Access programming in college, and I was doing a lot of contracting. I like the lifestyle better, especially if you’re in a situation like I am now, where I pretty much work from home. I can schedule everything around my other priorities.

What about the Web development business in general? It seems like an ideal business to be in now where you can make your own working arrangements.
I made a conscious effort at Shell to get onto a project that did Web development, and I made an effort to learn it. I knew it would be hot. I picked the field because I knew I could be a contractor.

Now I go to seminars and always try to keep up with my technical skills. The part of the job that I enjoy the most is learning all the new technologies.

How do you differentiate yourself from other people doing similar work? Have you ever had to pitch yourself as the best person for a job, against other candidates?
Not really. I guess I'm just lucky with this industry. I've gotten to a point now where I know a lot of stuff and have had quite a bit of experience. I'm turning into a bit of a salesman too, with this job for Builder Communications.

So it's given you the opportunity to grow professionally?
Yes. I go out with the owner of Builders Communications and demo the software and do sales. I enjoy that too. The clients are interested because they are already working with the firm, and already have a level of trust. It's so easy to come in and offer a solution.

What has going solo meant for you personally?
I finally got myself in a situation where the clients just want the job done and they don't care how. As long as I can ensure that and keep clients happy with my results, I can work any sort of schedule I want.

Do you have any advice for someone who is thinking of becoming a contractor?
I would say to have some persistence. Don’t give up if you don't get a job in week. It takes a while, but you start to land positions.

One of the things I did when I started is to send faxes and email to all the technical training outfits in Houston. And I still get some business from one of those companies.

Another suggestion is go into a contracting firm and ask whether you can somehow arrange to buy out your contract when it's up. Tell them that you want to be independent. That way you get a job and you serve your time under the contracting company. When they let you go, you contract directly with the client. You can tell the contracting firm that there's a benefit for them, too, since you'll be keeping your ear to the ground and will hire people through them when it comes up.