I take outside consulting jobs that interest me...I was in Huntsville, Alabama last week working a proposal I thought was pretty cool and has sub vendor ramifications for my company. Quick pic of the Saturn 5 just off the interstate:
No cars were harmed in the taking of this photo.
I try and stay at the hotel just to the left of the rocket but they were booked!
To the question at hand (and the advice to date has been great, especially Angela).
Without knowing the rules in the countries you may be doing business in, it is hard to say what the best way to protect yourself legally is. I formed an LLC with three other folks who are consultants only (and do very well) to organize the work. We may add some more folks.
A few reasons:
- Some legal protection although that is often questionable.
- Consistent forms for all transactions: We all use the same invoice forms, travel claims, Non-Disclosure agreements, Non-Competes, etc. It really simplifies the process.
- We use Paycheck for remunerating each consultant gig: Taxes, fees, Social Security, etc. is all taken out prior to getting paid. Very, very helpful.
- We issue credit cards for consulting expenses only. This has been a great bonus for all of us.
- Email. We all use the same email host and the cost and convenience is terrific.
- Spreads out the costs of admin, legal (if necessary) and other costs like tax prep, etc. We each pay in a certain percentage of our consulting fees up a a set point to cover the costs...very reasonable and minimal. Our lawyer is our accountant...pretty cool.
- Share work. Happens all the time - our network expands across each members expertise and we share work that is best done by another...I got the Huntsville work based on a referral from one of the guys in the LLC.
The above may not work for you but there are plenty of like minded folks doing consulting that like to team for all the reasons I listed. Best of luck, Captain.