The odds of having to buy parts is very rare, and only in the case of system breakdown (when the part is immediately needed) or if they want a new system/network branch. I'll be working primarily with auto dealerships who are accustomed to paying up front for these kind of parts rather than billing for them. In any case, however, it would normally be less than a couple hundred a month assuming a lot of failures and if push came to shove I could cover that. Besides, in the case of an independent contractor on a revolving contract, if I invest in their business by using parts that I bought (even if they are going to pay me back) it could be construed that I am more of an employee than a contractor under Idaho contractor laws. If I end up having to be classified by the company as an employee then I will price myself out of the business.
Besides, nobody in the area allows for billing on IT repairs/installations except for one ISP that allows it if they have a service contract with you. The other two sources require up-front payment ... and unless you want to pay $40+/hr extra on top of the repairs, they require you to bring in the machine to be repaired. Field work in this area is a rip-off.
By having my contract on retainer and being immediately on-call for technical services, I would have an edge over the others. Since I will keep my business with only a few select clients, I won't risk being pressured out of the market by the "big dogs" either.
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