Expanding to take on employees.

[joe34]

Hi, just wondered if anyone out there has more than one van on the go and employee other people to drive to jobs ?

It's getting to the point where I can't keep up with my work and I'm turning work down.

I have alot a residential and commercial and I also do carpets and upholstery.

How does it work sending someone out to do residential as I have all the normal worries about being ripped off or them nicking work for them selves.

Any experiences you have would be good to hear.

Thanks

 

[Alan Kirwan]

Hi joe just a idea I wouldn't let employees collect any money or know about how much you charge per customer just inform customers before hand that you are only one who will deal with payments and collections if any not employees hopefully that save you being ripped off in my opinion

 

[boarcity]

at risk of sounding racist, dont employ any foreigner unsupervised in a cleaning business . i learnt this the hard way. the thing is,in some cultures they see being treated with trust/kindness as a sort of weakness,its opening the gate for them to go onto steal money or work from you. give them a van or leave unsupervised at your peril

a good test is when a prospective employee makes contact initially is to ask their height and weight . anybody who lies at this simple question [often says im 6feet tall but turns out to be 5ft6/8 when you see them][or replies why do you want to know?] is rubbish and to be avoided . but somebody who says im not sure i dont know is often ok for a cleaning role

 

[Duncs]

Hi joe just a idea I wouldn't let employees collect any money or know about how much you charge per customer just inform customers before hand that you are only one who will deal with payments and collections if any not employees hopefully that save you being ripped off in my opinion

i,ve just taken a guy on recently with no problems, i,ve went another way i,ve asked for fixed amount every day they collect the money,i get my payment end of week.I am busy enough with out doing double collecting.I,M basically leasing the graft to him

 

[joe34]

Hi joe just a idea I wouldn't let employees collect any money or know about how much you charge per customer just inform customers before hand that you are only one who will deal with payments and collections if any not employees hopefully that save you being ripped off in my opinion

Yeah that's a good idea ,what do you think a reasonable wage would be for a day?

 

[joe34]

i,ve just taken a guy on recently with no problems, i,ve went another way i,ve asked for fixed amount every day they collect the money,i get my payment end of week.I am busy enough with out doing double collecting.I,M basically leasing the graft to him

That isn't a bad idea ,do you have any problems ?losing customers, complaints etc?

 

[joe34]

at risk of sounding racist, dont employ any foreigner unsupervised in a cleaning business . i learnt this the hard way. the thing is,in some cultures they see being treated with trust/kindness as a sort of weakness,its opening the gate for them to go onto steal money or work from you. give them a van or leave unsupervised at your peril
a good test is when a prospective employee makes contact initially is to ask their height and weight . anybody who lies at this simple question [often says im 6feet tall but turns out to be 5ft6/8 when you see them][or replies why do you want to know?] is rubbish and to be avoided . but somebody who says im not sure i dont know is often ok for a cleaning role

How many people have you got working for you at the moment?

 

[boarcity]

How many people have you got working for you at the moment?

iv 3 lads right now. iv employed about 7yrs now [parttimers the 1st couple of years] , i then went thru about ten who were no good before finding my current crew. someone on this very forum ages ago wrote you go thru ten before finding good-its really true! you learn a lot about yourself once you start employing . my one pet hate apart from skiving is mindgamers - anyone who plays mind games is sacked on the spot

"hes in a black mood today,hushhh "

hey you,moody boy-- youre finished

 

[joe34]

iv 3 lads right now. iv employed about 7yrs now [parttimers the 1st couple of years] , i then went thru about ten who were no good before finding my current crew. someone on this very forum ages ago wrote you go thru ten before finding good-its really true! you learn a lot about yourself once you start employing . my one pet hate apart from skiving is mindgamers - anyone who plays mind games is sacked on the spot
"hes in a black mood today,hushhh "

hey you,moody boy-- youre finished

Would you say it's definitely worth the extra stress ,you must be doing alright money wise ? It's a big step as I've been toying with the idea for a while now but done nothing about it.but it's the only way I can see to go forward as I'm turning down work now and I can't be in two places at the same time

 

[boarcity]

Would you say it's definitely worth the extra stress ,you must be doing alright money wise ? It's a big step as I've been toying with the idea for a while now but done nothing about it.but it's the only way I can see to go forward as I'm turning down work now and I can't be in two places at the same time

as you say its a big step. but as you also say,ur turning down work and getting burned out . older every year etc

can honestly say its worth the aggro [employing] oh of course at 1st you think its full of bother,payroll etc and family will have their doubts so dont ever ask their opinions ,theyv never employed so how would they know?. my own family was dead agenst it,their advice was "just cut back and trundle on for 20yrs youll be allrite ..."

yeh rite! who needs friends!

after a short while you get to see the real benefits of employing . im still on the squeegee even now BUT its out of choice and im delegating who does what all the time. i mostly do fronts of houses and the chitchat ,not for me climbin the gates,not for me doing the insides . i earn [for myself] a sight more than i did when solo AND i come home feeling happy not deadbeat tired.

what i will say is you want to put in place a marketing campaign now to funnel in a shedload more work at same time as startin on an employee ,to fuel the fire

 

[Duncs]

i,m really surprised lost no work and had no complaints

as soon as i took guy on the stress just lifted with having someone to take the work load of me

lot of the customers was pleased that i,ve got lad giving me a hand

i,m the same as boarcity i do fronts and deal with the customers got guy working with me and my third man is away on his own with another van

as soon as I have enough work my mate will be out also in a van

there is no reason to have teams when your WFP they can work safely on there own

 

[peter rogers]

Don't agree. With the whole not lettin them no what u earn etc . Be up front and pay them fair. If u say go with a 8 hour day 100 be ok as u also give holidays and that on top

 

[Duncs]

peter is right ,if you play the game pay decent wage then you have more chance ofkeeping them