The new lesson I learned is if you can go legal, go for it. The attraction of offshore work and informal work relationships are like the siren’s call for people who like to travel around and discover the world, but it’s not risk free.

The question is: are you tough enough?

That is the question you have to ask yourself when joining a possibly illegal business, with a deal made on a handshake, surrounded by words and emails. “Tough” means are you able to protect yourself from scams and arbitrary claims? This doesn’t mean you have to develop the skills of a hitman, but it means indeed take your precautions when dealing with a business where nobody can guarantee legally for you (except for you!). Remember the best recurring villain are polite, smiling and warm.

The first thing is make a contract. Even if the contract is not a standard contract or within a union.  Have both parts agree on a statement, and possibily have it validated from a third neutral party. You can do the same thing going through your records later, (emails or other documentations) to reconstruct the agreement, but that’s a hard job. In a long term work relationship there will be a lot of things taken for granted and spoken agreements that will be hard to document in case of a dispute.

The second thing is trust your instinct. If you feel something weird is going on it probably is. Irregularities can happen but they can’t be the rule. A healthy business finds the way to solve problems quickly. If you notice customers have problems to be reimbursed or your payment is delayed more than once for not clear motivations something bad is going on. Small failures can snowball into a huge mess and without the necessary precautions you can be sucked in.

Third thing is have insurance.

Fourth thing is tell people what’s going on. Having outside opinions about things that involve you very closely is important to open your perspective. If you feel ashamed and isolated that won’t help you anyway. It’s important that you find in your environment people who you can really trust and that can also give precious advice. It helps to have “friends in high places”, and also to have access to specialists who can help you understand your rights and tell you exactly what to do.

Fifth thing stay cool. No matter how it hurts to be attacked and have your self esteem injured, no matter if you feel deceived by people you were counting on for your livelihood, the best thing is to transcend your emotional response and don’t let it drive your actions. Stay cool even if you feel like a dummy that has just been ripped off. Do not react emotionally, it is often the wrong move. Swallow your pride, let people help, and have an audience for your emotions. There will always be time to act wildly later!