In this week’s episode of the podcast, I talk about the similarities and differences between working as a subcontractor versus working as a team member. While there are similarities being subcontractor vs team member is quite different and these differences should be considered thoroughly when looking into this.
Now I can only speak from my personal experience as I’ve done a little bit of both. I’ve also subcontracted work to other VAs. So I’m speaking from that perspective as well. But next week, I’m really excited because I’m going to have someone on the podcast who runs an agency and has team members versus subcontractors. So she will be able to give us her perspective that I honestly cannot do.
So I’m really excited about that. So be looking back for that episode next Thursday. So let’s talk about this concept of subcontracting, versus being a team member on a team of virtual assistants or an agency. So I have the perspective, as I said, of subcontracting work to other VAs as well as being subcontracted to one thing to remember when you are subcontracted to or you sub to someone else you are the person is not going to get paid as much. If you are you are subcontracting because the VA who got the client in the first place is going to take a percentage of that fee. So most of the time, I find that you can get as little as 30% of the client fee or up to 90%. It just kind of depends.
And one of the pieces of that is how much responsibility you’re taking. So that’s going to vary based on the VA that you were working with. And I just wanted to touch on three things about sub-contracting. So as a subcontractor, you are still an independent contractor, you oftentimes will work directly with another virtual assistant and they will subcontract out work to you. And in most cases, you will not work directly with their client, meaning you won’t have conversations with their client connect with their client, or anything like that, they will just give you the task to do. This is from my experience. Now, every virtual assistant most likely runs their VA business differently. And if they subcontract, they might have the experience of sharing that VA or that client information with you.
But in my experience, I personally have never if I was subcontracted to work on a project. I didn’t have direct contact with the client. I’m just merely doing the task that the VA hired me to do. And as a VA who has subcontracted work to other VAs, I personally kept my relationship with the client and just subcontracted the actual pieces or tasks, and then the person that I was contracting to did the work and then I communicated back with the client. So that’s my experience. And I’m sure that everybody’s experience is different.
The third thing that I wanted to say about sub-contracting is different from being a team member. The first is you’re an independent contractor. The second is you will work mainly with the VA versus working with the client, him or herself. And thirdly, if you are subcontracting, the work may be sporadic meaning it may not be a constant flow of work from you, the person you’re subcontracting from, it might be here and there and it may not be something you can count on. At least that is from my experience.
I have worked as a subcontractor, and I have hired people and in both cases, it was a sporadic type of
relationship and it wasn’t always easy to do. As a virtual assistant, I found that it was difficult because I did not know when someone was going to need something. And it was hard to plan for. But it was still nice because I didn’t have to have the stress of finding the client. So that is, to me the advantage. And then let’s talk about team members. So I say a team member, as someone who is a part of an agency. Once again, the possibility is there for you to still be an independent contractor. But your relationship would be with the owner of the team versus the client themselves, Wouldn’t pay you as far as the financial piece, they would pay you, or it’s a possibility that you would be employed by this team or agency.
This is my experience, my newest experience with being on a team is that it is an employee situation. And that is different from most virtual assistants who are independent contractors. So you could possibly be an independent contractor or possibly be employed. That’s the difference when you’re working as a team or agency. And in this case, you most likely will have some connections with the clients themselves, it will be a little bit different situation as the client is first in touch with the team leader or agency owner, and then they will introduce you to the client and the client can still go back to the agency owner, if they have problems with you, or they need something that maybe you can’t provide.
So the relationship is more of a triangular relationship where you are overseen by the agency owner. So that is a little bit different. In that regard, not not a bad thing, it’s just that is the way the model works. And again, it’s less stressful because you don’t have to find the clients themselves. But you still have to get to maintain a relationship with the client and build a one on one relationship with a client. And the perk of this is that the work is most likely ongoing, rather than sporadic. And that for me is this is a new experience for me has been the best part because the relationship can be built, and you can have ongoing work to do. That is the pace that I’ve really enjoyed. And is what I would say is better than being a subcontractor. So these are some things to consider when you are maybe you’re looking for work.
And as a VA you’re struggling to find clients find someone to subcontract with or find a team to join. Because this can be a way that you can take some of the stress away from looking for clients all the time. And next week, as I shared, I will be having a team leader or team owner, agency owner on the podcast to answer some of your most burning questions. So if you have questions, please send them to me ASAP so that I can ask them here on the podcast next week.
As always, I hope that this podcast was helpful to you and I hope you enjoyed Subcontractor vs Team Member here in the Virtual Assistant Advantage podcast. If there is a topic or subject that you would like me to cover here on the podcast, please don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know. Because I am doing this for those of you who are wanting to become a virtual assistant or if you were wanting to grow your business, if you’re needing to make more income with your business or if you are a business owner who is looking to work with a VA. I think that the topics that we cover here can help you to do so. Thanks for listening and have a great rest of your week.
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