Should I work for company with non-compete contract or give it a try on my own ?

P.S. You can get insurance for $20 a month from State Farm. They treat it as a cosmetology business. Talk to them and they can work with you.

Metina and everyone- Thanks again.

This forum is great!!!! I had an event on Saturday at a craft fair and it was great! I made about $80 for 4 hours and it was pretty dead. I have an event coming up Saturday for Special Olympics with Darrel Dawkins of the 76ers! His daughter is on our team! yeah! Can't wait. I've been practicing some new designs and I'm really impressing my self with what I can do. I was having a lot of trouble with tear drops but it looks like I'm really getting a handle on them now.

And... Tanya I can't wait to meeting up Thursday. I just read your posts here! Thanks for all the info. This forum is really great and I'm so glad to have people close by!

I saw your message on the board...I know of a girl in your area whom I think has the excact same story...She did not sign a non-compete contract and said the same thing to her..paid her 10.00 an hour and sent her almost two hrs away form her house...then only paid her the milieage from the owners house to the event which was less than half the distance away from Sam's house. Sam also was fustrated since she was a beginner at the time..lots of great one stroke experience..actually a great artist in general. When asked about using one stroke cakes she was told thats not how we do it...I know she got this company into a month long event and was asked to leave the venue during the middle of the day to drive 45 minutes away to do a birthday party that was over booked..she declined of course...said she was under the impression they were contracted with the event for 5 weekends. They told Sam that they had booked this party before Sam even got them in to this event...so I looked at it like...OK SO you over booked yourself????? Now you want Sam to bail you out. I was surprised when Sam called and told me this..I was more angry than she was....well the good side of this story ....the owner of the event loved her and asked if she would come back next year..and do the event plus events in Dec and March. She is on her way to a lovely business and everyone loves her....the owner "had the personality of an empty box" and I am glad Sam went out on her own. She has almost half her year booked...I am soo jealous...I do some clowning around but not at all artistic...you guys here are all very awesome.

Like eeveryone says...when you teach someone they are bound to strike out on their own.

I have a staff of five artists currently all staff. No outside artists on a non compete clause. However, I have had such artists and think folks here are overlooking many perks working for someone else brings. Many face painters talk like they are just making free money, as if all jobs are paid in cash and some do not really take into account the many overhead expenses. Some of these are clear to see other costs are not.

Most small businesses - if indeed one runs their face painting as a business should be looking at about 30% overhead costs. Less as you get more established and more profitable. But the smaller one stays the larger the overhead percentage can be.

If you are working for a established business it may be a big plus to ride with them. Advertising is a huge expense, and working under someones good reputation can be invaluable.

So before one poo-poos $10 an hour ask what else are you getting from from them? Personally, this is a great way for a new artist to get established and learn when you do not want to bear the full expense of a bona fide legal business.

Advertising, phonebook ads, flyers, web sites, market web sites, time to post, business cards, follow-up post cards, feeler/reminder postcards, memberships, training, supplies, insurance, phone lines, booking times, banking, accountants/taxes, equipment, set-ups, supplies.........

There is no clear cut it is good or bad. Each contract someone makes should suit each parties needs and be a win-win. I think you should be asking more questions - which might allow you to see the hidden costs and benefits, And might even allow you to work a deal for more pr hr or have a build in rate increase.

New businesses flush a lot of money down the drain in trial and error, it takes a good while to establish oneself. Some of the top artists in the country work for others, or have or as some of us do work for others from time to time.

And just to clarify - a non compete clause can be something you work under all the time or it could be a one time contract i.e one that says don't contact the client for a year.

If I'd say I'd never sign one - well I'd have missed some great gigs and working for some of the biggest names in the industry. In turn some top artists call me and would never dream of asking me to sign such a contract - but we all have our ways of CYAing.

Is there more than training and $10 pr hr is offered? Just be clear on all the details.