NEWS & PUBLICITY

“Declaration of Independents” Celebrates America’s Contract Workers, Offers Better Alternative to Traditional 1099 Employer Relationships
BOTH’s Revolutionary Concept Gives "solopreneur"s the Support They Need to Succeed in Business Now

June 30, 2010 03:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--In honor of Independence Day, BOTH USA (BOTH) is inviting all self-employed professionals, freelancers, locum tenens, independent contractors, flex workers, staffing employees, "solopreneur"s and contract talent to sign its Declaration of Independents and liberate themselves from the second class status they have under current 1099 or “pseudo” W-2 arrangements with employers. In return, BOTH pledges to support these professionals every step of the way as they transform themselves into “companies of one,” providing every support and mentoring function they will need to start and run a successful company.

“Let’s face it – the nature of work in the 21st century economy has changed, and we will never return to the days when an employee had one job for life”
.“Good-bye 1099, so long pseudo W-2,” said Erik Vonk, founder and CEO of BOTH. “Time has come to break from the limitations of conventional employment. Today, more companies are seeking contract workers in order to stay lean or add specific skill sets on an as-needed basis. But having large numbers of contractors can be an HR headache for them, and a less-than-satisfactory arrangement for the independent contractors. BOTH changes the relationship between these two parties from employer and contract employee to vendor and client, simplifying the terms of their engagement for their mutual benefit.”

Vonk’s decades of experience in the HR industry and his resulting dissatisfaction with the way work works prompted him to devise an innovative alternative to the current employment model. As founder and CEO of global staffing giant Randstad and former CEO of GevityHR, a national HR outsourcing corporation, Vonk saw the disadvantages that 1099 relationships created for both companies and contractors. He and his team created a solution that levels the playing field for independent workers by making them all Limited Liability Companies, entities that are much easier for corporations to do business with. But for many independents, setting up an LLC is not enough to ensure that the business will succeed. They need professional advisors to guide them. They need freedom from time consuming, “back of the house” tasks such as tech support, billing, collections, benefits, accounting so that they can focus on revenue producing activities and servicing their clients. Vonk’s solution to this challenge was to create an organization that would provide “companies of one” with the kind of support services routinely found in Fortune 500 companies. Hence, BOTH was born.

“Let’s face it – the nature of work in the 21st century economy has changed, and we will never return to the days when an employee had one job for life,” Vonk continued. “People under 30 will change jobs an average of 29 times in their careers, according to recent studies. It looks like health care reform will place the burden of insuring workers on companies large and small, a trend that may make them reluctant to hire. We clearly need a new model that better serves the present needs of American companies and the independent professionals contracting with them. We envision a future where every professional becomes a ‘Company of One,’ well supported and completely in charge of his or her own career.”

About BOTH

BOTH, an acronym for Back of the House, is a one-stop resource for every support function an independent business owner needs to start and run a successful solo enterprise. BOTH’s turnkey ‘Company of One’ package consists of an LLC for which all back office services are handled by a dedicated personal advisor, and includes I.T. hosting, online banking, bookkeeping, billing, collections, liability insurance and health & retirement benefits. For more information, please visit www.bothpro.com.

Contacts
For BOTH, St. Petersburg
Michelle Bauer, 727-510-2524
michelle@common-language.com