Dave Donaldson is stewing over an article on Contractor vs. Consultant. My take—the original author doesn’t have the reputation to make it as a contractor. Case in point—and I quote: “you're never allowed to admit that you don't know something” Well, I don’t know about Dave, but I don’t generally have people coming to ask me to do work they aren’t confident I can do (based on my reputation) . If I am approached about something I don’t know, my reputation goes up when I admit I don’t know. Additionally, they generally want to know if I know someone that is as good as I am in what I can do.
Maybe, that’s why he felt the biggest difference was reputation. By the way—I do work for a consulting company—a consulting company of one. Does that mean I work alone? Hardly. To be successful as an independent consulting contractor, you must be willing to develop relationships. Find any independent that is doing well, and I will show you an independent that is not just passionate about what he does but has created and maintained relationships in the community of his success (whether it is a plumber or an IT consultant).