Gigging Your Way to the Top
We live in a world where tech jobs pay 22 year-olds a few hundred thousand bucks a year to sit in a bouncy house with a beer and work 25 hours a week, but then there’s the rest of us out in the workforce trying to make something of ourselves. My servers all work on a contract basis and they are paid really well to work hard for me for about 10 hours a week at the most, and here is why I think they have the right mentality toward work:
Gone are the days where dad goes out and works while mom is at home with the kids. The single household income just doesn’t cut it anymore for most families, and with rising costs, I see that memory fading further and further into history. Many of my friends graduated from college, had their dad’s golfing buddy hook them up with a cushy accounting job, and now complain about how they wish they had more vacation time and a longer weekend. Their yearly minimal raises are pre-determined and not based on actual merit. They may one day, in their 50s or 60s, be pushed out or pushed into a closet-style office to stack papers until their retirement.
On the other hand, my helpers aren’t employed with me full time. Most of them do contract work for a few different companies. They know how much they need to make per month, pick up the appropriate amount of work, and the rest of the time is theirs to do as they please. With no employment tax or payroll costs on my end, I pay them the extra. If they want to save extra money, they can pick up more, and just the same, if they want to take a month off to go visit Europe, they absolutely have all the freedom in the world to do that!
Additionally, diversifying the nature of their work can diminish much of the risk with seasonal work and help them grow their job skills. Gig work is essentially self employment and if entrepreneurship doesn’t happen to be your thing, gig work carries much of the same freedom and significantly less risk. There are a few cons to gig work amongst the many pros, but I think there are great and simple solutions to them.
The cons to gig-work are that, for one, there is absolutely no guarantee. If we are having a slow month, their phone simply doesn’t ring that month. It can certainly be a little feast or famine, but that, again, is the reason to diversify. Serving for a catering company like Tastify is great, for about 70% of the year. The other 30% is slow for all caterers usually, so it might be a good time to pick up some photography or graphic design work, for example. Also, finding gig work can be challenging. My suggestion is to think about who hires Independent Contractors: Catering Companies, Seasonal Jobs, Security Jobs, Venues, and more. Even School Districts hire contractors. A google search for that is probably worth your time.
Overall, if you are in phase of transition, new to a city, interested in freedom, trying to expand your job skills, or just simply a hustler when it comes to making money, gig-work is for you. Your friends with corporate jobs will be really jealous that you get to make your own schedule and when you calculate your hourly rate, my guess is that it is actually impressive compared to theirs as well.
