Owner/operators...balancing time ???

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It is very difficult to get good employees here, you need to invest time and money in them to turn them into a decent employee at which stage they leave anyway LOL Prehaps you should have a written contract Eric with work times set down in.

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No way would I let my guys leave early if I didn't say they could !


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Is this an ego thing here? Are you wanting to lord it over folks or have a successfull business?

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I'd like to employee subbies more but in alot of cases the job wouldn't be viable :(

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Jeeez, you have hit on the exact trouble that ekka has.

Let me back up a moment.
Ekka talks about employee problems and backs it up with statistics. He says nothing about his management style.

You talk about:
"you need to invest time and money in them to turn them into a decent employee".

You are missing the point.
So a guy can live easily on the 'dole' as the british say.
But what about making some real cash money?

So you have a $400 dollar job. Do you have many of those jobs?
the normal profit on those types of jobs is 1/4 of the gross. Small potatoes.
How about if you concentrated on getting many of those small jobs and took a bigger hit than 3/4 on each job?
It would be worth it in my opinion if you had folks who could do those jobs. The trick is to not schedule too many in a row. Dont want to tire out those folks who are not used to a regular work week.

EVERYONE WANTS TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK!

Hey I am trying to re-vamp a business here that I personally see as a failure in management.

Work IS AVAILABLE or the entire Austalian continent would just sink into the sea. We would be getting news reports on CNN!

Your problems are unique to you, not to the general business world. If you do not believe me, just look for a company that is doing o.k., then ask yourself why you are not!
 
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You are missing the point.
what about making some real cash money?


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This is the most sensible thing anyone has said on this post so far.
 
I have to disagree Frans, most arb business's here have the same problems i outlined. The bigger ones have bigger commercial contracts which better hide the inadequacies of the staff. It's a cultural issue much more than a business managerial one.
 
I personally have had many employee reliabily problems. But some of that is partly my fault. Only in that I hired someone that I knew had a shady back ground, and somewhat porr work ethics. To give them a second chance on life, good pay, hard work, and to learn a trade so to speak. Most of them lasted long enough to have them decently trained (none lasted a yr). And then one day they never show up for work, and I dont hear from them for several days. Meanwhile I stuck with no employee, trying to figure out how to do jobs I have scheduled (At that time it was just me and one employee). One even had the gall to go after me for unemployment (even though I fired him for missing work, doing drunks etc).

My current guy...that been work for me for a yr, and is a greet novice climber, is leaving now too. But least he gave me a months notice. His excuse is he got founf a girl in NJ, and wants to move closer to her. lol i guess i can't blame him.

Ps- I must say this thread IMO has gotten way off from my orginal question.
 
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I have to disagree Frans, most arb business's here have the same problems i outlined. The bigger ones have bigger commercial contracts which better hide the inadequacies of the staff. It's a cultural issue much more than a business managerial one.

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What exactly are you trying to say Matt?

It has nothing whatsoever to do with cultural issues, the u.s.a. has some of the biggest arb companies in the world with easily some of the worst employees.
Anyway......Big or small is not the issue.

When you start a business you decide what market you are aiming at.
If you are a small company you should concentrate on the high end residential market, the affluent suburbs or towns, promote a personal service - people love that. Most homeowners want a friendly trustworthy knowledable person they can deal with time and again. This is case no matter were you are in the world. Very few big companies can provide this. Stay well away from big commercial contracts - let the big companys and their so called inadequate staff deal with them. How many times do you hear people complaning about big companies and the feeling that they just dont care?
A small well organised tree company, which is efficient/professional/caring and polite kicks the a** off the big company everytime.
If you have problems getting good staff your looking in the wrong places.
 
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If you have problems getting good staff your looking in the wrong places.

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It's a well known fact that the tree care industry has a tough time getting and retaining good employees.
 
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I have to disagree Frans, most arb business's here have the same problems i outlined. The bigger ones have bigger commercial contracts which better hide the inadequacies of the staff. It's a cultural issue much more than a business managerial one.

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A big business can hide the immediate profit losses by 'juggling the books'. Often those bigger businesses WANT to make a 'loss' so they can drive out competitors, or present their business as doing o.k. for the short term to the IRS, or to banks, but over time, that catches up and you have to 'pay the piper'.
But the bottom line is, if you operate at a loss, you are not making money. No money, no viable business. Many big businessess are NOT in the business of making money but simply using the structure to create a huge tax write off.
Too bad us small businesses get pushed to the side in this process.

Frans
 
Cultural issues = youngs lads can goto Tesco's (walmart etc) spend all day in the dry texting their mates and get paid more than i can offer. Youngsters don't want to work hard anymore period. There are exceptions but not many :(
 
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Cultural issues = youngs lads can goto Tesco's (walmart etc) spend all day in the dry texting their mates and get paid more than i can offer. Youngsters don't want to work hard anymore period.

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That's why you should use other pro arborists than are in the same situation as you!

Sub contract in a professional you can trust - the quality of the work is better, the job gets done more efficiently, and you make more money.

All the best arborist/climbers start their own company eventually because it makes so much sense! and most of them combine their own work with a bit of sub contracting at the beginning.

Try networking(arb shows/tree associations/woodland commitees etc) in your area - there must be some good climbers/arborists around.

Pay the money and you'll see the difference.
Its about peace of mind.

Try to be more positive my friend!
 
even if you sub out and make less money, who cares.....you've near on eliminated all the stress from the job.

As matt well knows
grin.gif
 
Me, i've been in business 6 or so years, have 2 more or less full time guys and tend to work in the field 3 days a week. the crew runs 4 days a week, and i do bids/paperwork/computer stuff/taxes/payroll/phone work etc etc on monday and tuesday if i haven't finished on monday.

all told it feels like i work 60 hrs a week, but i don't keep track being a sole proprietor so i don't know. i do know after 6 yrs it's starting to feel like i don't have a life outside my business. money's good, time thing kinda sucks.

anyone else?
thanks,
k.
 
Self employed small business man or woman does not have a job, they have a lifestyle, pretty much consumed by their business. This year has been exceptionally challenging, some have called me a workaholic in the past, and I was very productive, working dawn till dusk for the most part. My wife and I had a daughter last Feb. and it has been really hard reigning in my work habits for my family's sake.
 
mangoes...i have the same prob, constantly feeling guilty about not spending enough time with the little 'un, now i have another on the way to add to things! but i think its unavoidable when setting up a business to work every hour you can. i think the people with this mentality are the people whose business's are most likely to succeed.
7 years down the road i oughta have more time for me, at least thats what im hoping!
 
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