working 0n business - vs - working in business

R

ryanlee

New member
I will be in business 1yr this coming March 1st. I would like to get to a point where I can have some employees so I can work on the business instead of in the business but I am having a few issues that I do not know how to deal with which is the reason I am posting in this forum. Some of the issues I am having are:
1. Finding and keeping enough jobs to pay myself and employees.

2. Finding an employee that has a vehicle to tow a trailer.

3. Finding an employee that I can trust with $6000.00 worth of
equipment and also someone I can trust to represent my business
correctly.

I know there are many other issues but I am not going to make this to long these are just some of the basics. I do have some ideas on the issues but I was hoping someone out there who has dealt with these problems before could give me some advice.
 
I got much the same issues here so I know i'm not much help.... All i can add is i deal wiyh alot of mom and popo places at this time. The big corp. chain stores ...seem to be high and mighty to deal with the small guy (me). but none the less best of luck to you...
 
ryanlee said:
I will be in business 1yr this coming March 1st. I would like to get to a point where I can have some employees so I can work on the business instead of in the business but I am having a few issues that I do not know how to deal with which is the reason I am posting in this forum. Some of the issues I am having are:
1. Finding and keeping enough jobs to pay myself and employees.

2. Finding an employee that has a vehicle to tow a trailer.

3. Finding an employee that I can trust with $6000.00 worth of
equipment and also someone I can trust to represent my business
correctly.

I know there are many other issues but I am not going to make this to long these are just some of the basics. I do have some ideas on the issues but I was hoping someone out there who has dealt with these problems before could give me some advice.
Click to expand...

1. This is a huge problem starting out. You just ahve to keep at it and build reguilar recurring accounts. If you are specializing in Residential, then you need to advertise a lot, and if you are slow advertise even more.
2. We made the decision that it was our responsibility to provide a work truck for our employees. There is a lot of liability that comes with an employee using their own vehicle for work. You might want to check into it with your insurance agent.
3. Finding good employees is tough, and once you think that you are there, something will happen that will bring you crashing back down to earth.
 
This is just another experience, not advise, so take it for what it is worth. We tried the employee thing in our first year and found it was a huge mistake! We (as in me and Roger) had to work 10 times as hard to keep our folks busy and the sheer stress and responsibility made our decision to become self-employed very questionable. Our solution - get rid of the work that required us having employees and focus on what we enjoyed doing and what actually made us more money! We stopped chasing small dollar jobs that gave us the lovely 98% close rate and focused on larger jobs that required only our attention and abilities. Our close rate is not 98% anymore but somehow 50% closing on 4-5 figure jobs with less manhours seems much more appealing than 98% closing on jobs worth $200. This also eliminated the "fear of the lowballer", another stress point for new companies.

Celeste
 
Scott Stone said:
3. Finding good employees is tough, and once you think that you are there, something will happen that will bring you crashing back down to earth.
Click to expand...
This is what happened to me........not fun at all. Thanks for the input...
 
Right now I have a 5 x 7 trailer with only 1 machine. If it is to difficult to have employees working by theirselves then another option I am looking into is getting a bigger trailer with 2 machines and have an employee ride around with me and do the jobs with me. That way I can still deal with all of the customers during the job and I can also supervise the employee more closely. There is still the problem about having enough work to maintain 2 people I guess that can come with time though. Thanks everyone for the advise.
 
I have had lots of ups and downs with employees. The back of my truck lives to tell about it........as they jack-knifed my trailer against a curb and it cracked into the side of the truck. That is nothing compared to the liability nightmare of asking them to use their own vehicles. I'm pretty sure that is something you want to stay away from at all costs, unless you are sub contracting.

What worked the best for me was when I had a two machine trailer and an extended cab pickup truck to haul everyone around in. I was on most jobs, sometimes I would drop a crew off at one job with a portable machine......then bring the trailer to another job. My trailer had two 5.5 GPM machines side by side, both with hose reels. It was very efficient, and we could clean a house very fast.

That was the best way I could come up with to expand.........by keeping a watchful eye on them.
 
I was like Mike ,at one time i had 6 guys and 3 trucks and one of my trucks came home with damage to the rear end and suprise suprise no one knew what happened except the white paint was all over the jack on the trailer,then what about the days after you pay them?YOU MIGHT AS WELL GET READY,THEY AINT COMING!!!Anyway,now its just me and dad and we are busy enough.I work full time and he is part time until june 1st when he retires from Regions Bank.So,I am a lot happier and less stressed when im on the job plus i know i wont take short cuts,its done right the first time too!!
Like they say in A.A. "keep it simple"
 
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