Crush The Competition

The Olympics is a spectacular event. It is awe inspiring to watch the athletes who have trained for years to compete in the games to win a medal. If we said to you that athletes and contractors have a number of things in common, would you believe us? Probably not! But, it is surprising how much in common contractors and athletes have with each other: each is a specialist in their field, competition for the top spot is rife, and if successful,  the rewards are great.

So, in celebration of the Rio Olympics 2016 , we look at what contractors can learn from athletes on how to ‘Crush the Competition’:

Be adaptable

It will be surprising to know that quite a few of the world’s top sports personalities actually started out in a different sport. For instance, Ian Botham (top cricketer) started out playing football for Scunthorpe United, and possibly most surprisingly, Usain Bolt(fastest man on the Earth)  dreamt of playing football for Manchester United!

We are not suggesting that you quit your job to become a professional sports person! What we are saying, is that, it can be easy to stay with what we know. But, if this is not working out for you , don’t be afraid to try something else.

Aim to beat your personal best  

When an athlete achieves a ‘personal best’, it is not the end of the road for them. The drive and determination they have, steers them on to do even better next time. As a contractor, operating in a highly competitive arena it would be irresponsible not to adopt the same philosophy.

As Albert Einstein said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying”. Regularly take time out to top up your knowledge and skills by reading trade magazines, attending training courses organised by industry bodies or brushing up on your skills with online training courses.

This is particularly pertinent if you contract in the digital or IT market where technology is developing at such an immense rate.

Don’t operate in isolation

Behind every great athlete is a great team of professionals, including psychologists’, medics and coaches. As a contractor, you won’t need this level of support (unless you have a dangerous job!), but it is important that you have a support network around you, and an accountant needs to be included in this.

An accountant who is experienced in the contractor market will be able to advise you on the best way to operate and how to minimise your tax responsibilities. Tax is a very complicated area and getting it wrong could have a devastating effect on your business, so getting professional advice on is very important.

Invest in your brand

Every top athlete knows the importance of building their personal brand to help attract lucrative endorsement deals. Whilst you might not be looking to find sponsors, you are trying to attract new contracts. Having a distinctive brand will help differentiate yourself from your competition and help sell your services to clients. At the basic level, this should include having a profile on a business networking site such as LinkedIn. If you want to move it to the next level, creating a simple but well-designed website will help establish your brand.

Know your competition

You may see your competition as the enemy, but they can also be a role model, somebody who you look up to and learn from. In your network, is there somebody who you admire? If the answer is yes, spend some time studying how they work and what areas they specialise in. Then use this knowledge to make your service offering even better.

As a contractor, it is impossible to study all your competitors, as there are thousands of contractors out there offering a similar service to you. So, limit your research to those you know well or have worked with before.

In order to win the race, you have to be in it in the first place

What you don’t want to find,  is that you have put in a great effort to go for a contract, only to price yourself out of it. A way around this is to talk to recruitment consultants who specialise in your field to find out what the average rate is for a particular skill set, and then use this to establish your own minimum charge rate.

For further contractor tips, please check out our other articles. Alternatively, if you would like to speak to a member of the Cogent team, please call us on 020 8952 2234. 

 

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