In many occupations there isn't much capital in the equation, though. And even where it is, it might be provided by the client still! For example, I know some people running a boutique metallurgy consulting firm. They do not own any metallurgy equipment: all such capital goods are owned by the client. They are just metallurgists working for an employer, in a sense, except instead of a little union of metallurgists working on W2, they're a little union of metallurgists billing on a 1099.