Willow CSN: A business opportunity?

Willow CSN provides a way for people who want to work from home the ability to work from home as a customer service agent but instead of an independent contractor status like West and LiveOps you self-employed and, in a sense, own your own call center company. I applied for this company but never completed the process for several reasons that I will mention later. Now I say you own your own call center because you have to become incorporated, decide on a business name, get a business license, and a Tax ID for your business.

What Willow CSN seems to do is contract with companies that want to hire home agents and then Willow CSN finds agents or "business owners", which is you, to do the work for these companies. Most, if not all, of the companies or the type of customer service work that you will be offering as a service to the company is the same type of work that companies like LiveOps and West Corporation has and uses independent contractors. The pay is similar to what other companies pay customer service agents they hire customer to work from home. Willow pays per minute for some clients and per call for other clients. There may be a couple of clients that pay per hour.

Now let me explain the problems I have with Willow CSN. First of all, I believe they offer a good opportunity for those who for whatever reason are unable to find work at home jobs and want to do phone or customer service work. Some people state they make a very good amount of money, anywhere from $12-$17 an hour, with an average of $15 an hour. Keep in mind there are a number of variables involved, including the type of client, the pay and how they pay - per call, minute, or hour. However, if I am a business owner, in business for myself, then why can't I negotiate the pay with the clients? And why doesn't Willow CSN pay more than what you can make being an employee doing customer service work on-site or even with other companies that hire home agents?

The expense of getting a business license, getting incorporated, which can cost more than $100, and just the overall hassle in doing all of this doesn't seem to be worth it to me. Also, there are some of the same issues with Willow CSN as there are with other work at home jobs, in particularly customer service jobs, and that includes call volume or lack of and available hours. The other problem I have with Willow CSN is that as a "business owner" you have a one-year contract with the clients, and if the client no longer needs your service then they don't renew the contract. So you go through all of this work, getting incorporated, for what could be just a one-year stint.

I understand all businesses can be unsteady and you can lose clients but, in my opinion, this type of work should not be run as you being a business owner but as an independent contractor. It should be just like all the other companies that hire phone agents to work from home. There is no need to come up with a business name, get a business license and Tax ID, receive about the same pay, and get incorporated just to work as a customer service agent. Plus, there are other companies that have the same or similar clients that Willow CSN contracts with and you can do the work for these clients without spending money and time setting up your own business. You will also be required to pay a number of upfront expenses before you begin working.