Newsletter: October 2005
Janelle S. Taylor, Contributing Editor
Consulting and Independent Contracting in Medical Anthropology
Elisa J. Sobo (San Diego State U)
Un/conventional Careers. Six years ago, I wrote a piece for this column contrasting my experiences as an anthropologist working in a medical school setting to those of ‘normal’ anthropological academics, who (as legend has it) work as professors of various stripes in departments of anthropology that are located within arts and sciences or humanities divisions (see AN41(1):98). Four years ago, I revisited some of the issues raised in that piece in relation to my move beyond campus walls to work in the healthcare business, where rewards and requirements differed even more greatly from those I was trained to anticipate and understandings of anthropology were more varied (see AN42(9):55-56).
In those short articles, besides discussing the differences in deliverables, I was especially vociferous about our need as anthropologists to reach those who actually have power to implement changes within healthcare (versus impressing only one another with our ever-insightful analyses). Beyond that soapbox message, both pieces intended to give readers some ideas regarding non-traditional job options, and to reflect on some of the challenges and rewards of such. Here, I will talk about some other unconventional options for work: independent contracting and consulting.
Although I do not do contract/consulting work for a living, my foray into the health services arena has led to a variety of extramural engagements. The jobs I’ve taken on have ranged from writing a short article for a fee to acting as a ‘thought leader’ (what an appellation!) for a day-long strategic retreat for hospital managers. I also have been engaged for longer-term projects with substantive deliverables. For example, for the past two years I have overseen the analysis of yearly healthcare satisfaction surveys for a local physician group. Last fall, I rewrote a strategic plan for the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System’s Quality Enhancement Research Initiative for HIV/AIDS (QUERI HIV). This led to a long-term engagement as ‘Academic Expert Collaborator’ for QUERI-HIV and has opened up many opportunities for me that support my academic mission at SDSU and my scholarly interest in health services delivery, improvement, and organizational change.
Becoming a Contractor/Consultant. One thing that I learned over the course of the past few years is that if you want to become an independent contractor/consultant, all you need to do is say it is so. You also might buy some accounting and tax preparation software, open a dedicated bank account, and get yourself a business license. Things get complicated fast if you are considering a joint business venture or having employees and most people opt to start off with a sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor has sole responsibility for, and sole control of, the business. This is the least regulated business form, and has the fewest implications for how you do your taxes. Often, although this varies by state and you should check your local regulations, the license is not strictly necessary if you are employed and only take the odd job now and again. However, it will be of at least symbolic value and may be required if you expect to take any tax deductions against the business. These are generally not worth the hassle initially, but everyone’s situation is unique; an hour-long consultation with a tax professional can be helpful here.
Business Plans and Models. Becoming a contractor/consultant is easy; developing a business and being successful is not. You must be willing to package your skills and offerings in ways that appeal to the market—and you also must be willing to repackage yourself as the market changes direction and different types of services or orientations come into demand. In addition to being flexible, you must be patient. Many successful consultants build business incrementally, giving up their day jobs only after having created a sound business base. Others jump straight in, but as consultant Jan Upton warned in a recent Evalbusiness listserv exchange, she broke even only in year two, and she “felt lucky” at that (information on Upton’s experience is used in this essay with Upton’s permission).
A business plan or model reflecting a well-considered understanding of your customer, your competition, and market trends is essential. A business plan makes a ‘good idea’ into a realistic, achievable set of objectives (and it is mandatory if you seek to secure a business loan). You will also want to create a concrete, market-responsive fee schedule. Find out what comparable others in your region charge and what targeted clients or employers are willing to pay; most fee schedules differentiate between hourly, day-long, by-the-week, or longer-term jobs and rates also may vary by type of work (advising only, data collection, analysis, report preparation, project direction, proposal writing, and etcetera). While consultants generally earn more per hour than they would as salaried employees, fees must cover operating costs and taxes, which are higher for the self-employed because there is no employer contribution. There are many print and internet resources that you can draw upon in making a business plan and in determining how to succeed in business generally. Upton recommends books by Paul and Sarah Edwards, Seth Godin, Don Green, Daniel Sitarz, and Barbara Stanny. While laws do vary across the nation, and you should check to see what laws apply in your specific situation, the San Deigo Chamber of Commerece offers an on-line ‘start up kit’ at http://www.sdchamber.org/ebc/page1.html that is worth taking a look at.
Business models generally indicate something about the business mix expected or desired. One thing to consider is how closely a job must match your core interests in order for you to accept it. Are you intending to be a generalist, or a narrow niche practitioner? There are costs and benefits to either choice. You also will want to think about how you will balance duration and scope of your portfolio of jobs. In order to have a stable source of income, some consultants advise having at least one large long-term contract or account, as an anchor. Anchor accounts also can be protective against intellectual and mental over-fragmentation. However, it is probably the case that a diverse portfolio can offer more financial security, not only because all your eggs are not in one basket but also because more jobs create more referrals. This may be especially important when you are starting off.
Marketing Marketing Marketing. Understanding the business environment in which you wish to secure a foothold is necessary, but not sufficient. Marketing is key. It is true that untapped opportunities for consulting or contracting may already exist for you. For example, they may present themselves in the form of calls for help or advice. If you presently work for an organization or institution where your contract allows it, rather than referring the inquiring party to an article or book, or a different department, offer to take care of the caller’s problem after hours—for a fee. Similarly, if you are invited to speak to a local lay or professional group or even the media, go ahead and ask if an honorarium is entailed. Although anthropological training does not prepare us to make such requests, others do it all the time. If money has been budgeted for the task at hand, people are generally more than happy to give it to you. And if you do a good job, they will likely share your name with others as well as come to you again when other needs arise.
Notwithstanding, if you expect all of your business to come to you on a silver platter, you will never succeed at self-employment. People and organizations cannot hire you or buy from you unless they understand what you have to offer and how it can benefit them. You will spend more of your early days selling than doing. Even when you are flush with work, you must keep marketing and selling your products and skills to ensure future engagements. Do not confuse marketing with marketing collateral. Jan Upton says, “In-person contact and doing discounted work for members of my network were much more productive ways of getting long-term contracts” than direct mail. Upton now does no advertising except through her Web page (http://www.ircorporation.com/). Her experience validates the advice of others against unnecessary overhead.
Making Friends. Marketing can involve cold calling as well as leveraging your existing network of professional relationships. If cold-calling seems frightful to you, practice first on someone who already is in the consulting business: call with an invitation to lunch, with the express goal of collecting information to help you think through how you would like your own consulting business to run. Mentorship from established individuals can be invaluable. Sometimes these initial contacts lead to subcontracts, and carrying out work for someone else is a good way to begin to learn the ropes as well as get your name ‘out there’. Further, it is important to have some like-minded colleagues. Check with NAPA or the SfAA for local practitioner organization (LPO) information and begin to network, even if only virtually.
Keeping your Value. In contract and consulting work, your goal is to deliver a product according to the client’s specifications (e.g., an evaluation, white paper, or action plan) and not to add a publication entry to your CV (although often you can do that too, if permission for use of data is secured and your time allows). Once you stop thinking of projects in terms of (and fetishizing) academic publications, you will see many opportunities to contribute. You may begin to value these other types of opportunities more as your paradigm shifts and as your own market value comes to depend on technical reports and other products instead of on academic papers.
Having said that, it is important that you maintain your expertise by staying familiar with the anthropological literature and updating your skills within the field as time goes by and our internal standards change. You may also find it useful to keep writing for anthropological audiences so that your credibility and value as an anthropologist per se is maintained within as well as beyond your professional circle. But this depends, of course, on your career trajectory and interests; some anthropologists have done very well for themselves without ever participating in professional anthropological discourses. As for me, I cannot imagine otherwise.
Please send column contributions to the SMA Contributing Editor, Janelle Taylor (jstaylor@u.washington.edu)