‘Keep your independence, Henry,’ advises our reader Wes Stevenson

Recently we gave you a case study in our What Would You Do series? We talked about handyman Henry Bugden, making $50k a year doing odd jobs, and being offered a $100k job as a property manager by one of his clients, Gunther Zoller. But Zoller wants Henry to work for his wife – doing stuff around the Zoller mansion – as well as at the Zoller head office AND at the Zoller jewelry stores. And Gunther tells Henry he will have to say goodbye to his existing clients. We asked you, would you take that job? Some of you said, sure, with some ground rules. Others said, actually, no way. Here is a reply by Wes Stevenson…

“Let’s look at Henry’s life and career. He has been a handyman for the last 20 years. He is self-employed and the ruler of his own economic domain. He has experience and skill with a variety of jobs. His new customer is paying him $200 dollar an hour – which says he is doing something right. With 20 years and hundreds of good customers Henry is earning more than just money. Being paid based on what you do on a given day gives you a feeling that being on a set wage doesn’t give you. The surest way to suck all the life and fun out of his occupation is to take away his ability to hustle and earn by paying him the same wage no matter what his effort. Throw in the conflict of interest, the travelling to different stores and having to deal with two bosses and you have a recipe for depression. Zoller and his wife are obviously hooked on Henry and he should continue to take advantage of that but stay in control of his business and life. In fact, he should go out and find two more people like Zoller and have them compete for his time. If this was real life, Henry would be declaring $50,000 a year but half the small jobs he does, he actually gets paid in cash. And he reaps many side benefits from having friends that are customers. Finally, maybe he likes that old truck and feels comfortable working out of it.”