For almost the past 4 years I've been self employed as a independent contractor (in construction which I have 15+ years experience). Next week I start working for another big company. I started my own small business because I was tired of being overworked and underpaid. Every company I worked for would hire me in a position I was overqualified for with promise of my desired position and pay being available soon (desired position is foreman/job lead, a salary office position is negotiable) .They say soon but really they have know idea when. Ultimately this just leads to me doing grunt work then management treats me like the fall guy anytime someone calls in because Im qualified. Essentially being paid $17.50 hr to do a job that's $25 hr. Sometimes I'd refuse without better pay but other times it'd result in me doing the task the harder way, pigeonholing me into doing it.
So I started my own thing and for the first 2 years it worked great. I made more than I ever had. As the price increases and cost of living went up jobs became less common, I'd get calls all the time and bid jobs but my price had to be higher because I can't buy materials in bulk like big companies can. Most the jobs I get know are simply because I'm available sooner, the customer wants to support someone local, or it's just a job nobody wants to do. Also it's way more common for customers to get work done then take months to pay. Slowly my comfortable life of working only when I have to and taking as much time off as I wanted started to fade.
I accepted a job offer from a bigger franchised company. The pay rate is very generous but based on production. I could make around $100k+ a year if they can keep me busy. (Most profit I made by myself was $120k and I had tons of time to slack off.) The same company has a foreman position open for $60k salary but the job I'm taking is a lead position but it also involves operating specialized equipment and they don't have anyone else to run it.
I'm nervous. I'm hesitant to enter a situation that seems promising because I don't want to be taken advantage of.