Subcontractors

climbingmonkey24

climbingmonkey24

Carpal tunnel level member
Location
United States
Just wondering if any of you guys have had any "bad" experiences with subcontractors. Contractors bailing on you, jacking up prices, etc. I've learned a few lessons in my day from running my business, and one of the most important is that most people are not going to care like you care because it's not their business. That doesn't mean there isn't honest and good people out there, but I think as business owners we have to also recognize the people that maybe aren't reliable, or may try to get more money out of you then originally agreed upon, and the list can go on.

Any experiences anyone would like to share, and how you handled it and lessons learned?
 
Our irrigation guy quit so we started the year with a sub. It was an utter disaster so the old guy was brought back with a substantial pay bump.
 
I've never considered having subcontractors. We currently have such a great team that I fear it would mess with that. Plus I would rather give them all the extra hours at this time.


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Problems with contractors.... no way that would never happen!
Log truck - dropped a log on a shrub at a very good clients property. I got chewed out for it... skinned the side of a maple tree on another property. I got chewed out for it... pealed poison ivy off some logs and left in the middle of the yard. Cost me a bunch to be able to push it off in the woods behind a forsythia. He’s been fired!
Climbers - alarm clock woes, “wow what a mess, it’s 3 I’m out”, straight up topping a mature tree in a prominent location, knocking headstones over, on the phone constantly, and of course my favorite “it’s not broke, it’s customized”.
I pretty much don’t use these two guys anymore, unless I feel I have forgotten how it is.
I have been working with a great guy for a little over a year now, and in normal conditions the two of us can keep up with and complete everything we need to. Every now and again we hire a truck and trailer to haul but it had to be a special case.
You have to remember (except for the price increase) all the problems you can see with a contractor can also be felt with an employee. And to be completely honest our pricing is set up well in advance in most cases. That’s just good communication with the contractor, everyone knows what to expect going in.
 
I strictly use subcontractors; however, I am a fairly new business. I've found a network of about 6 guys that I can trust and have not had an issue with any of them.
 
My issue is I have no means of getting rid of brush. No truck or chipper. I'm a climber, and I have the capability to get a lot of work but I always have to hire someone to clean it up if cleanup is part of the job.

I've ran into issues with subcontractors bailing, etc. which then makes me look bad.
 
climbingmonkey24 said:
My issue is I have no means of getting rid of brush. No truck or chipper. I'm a climber, and I have the capability to get a lot of work but I always have to hire someone to clean it up if cleanup is part of the job.

I've ran into issues with subcontractors bailing, etc. which then makes me look bad.
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That’s tough because your clean up contractors have got you over a barrel. You are competing for the same jobs, and all they get is the tail end of the job. If they want to not “compete” so much making you look bad may be in their best interest. It might be worth finding a nice little truck and chipper combo to work with for a few years until you can build the capital to go all in on a nice rig. Just build it slow and conservatively and you’ll be fine. The sub will realize what poor service does when you start really going after the work!
 
flyingsquirrel25 said:
That’s tough because your clean up contractors have got you over a barrel. You are competing for the same jobs, and all they get is the tail end of the job. If they want to not “compete” so much making you look bad may be in their best interest. It might be worth finding a nice little truck and chipper combo to work with for a few years until you can build the capital to go all in on a nice rig. Just build it slow and conservatively and you’ll be fine. The sub will realize what poor service does when you start really going after the work!
Click to expand...

I was thinking more of a pickup truck and a hydraulic dump trailer. I've fit whole trees in a dump trailer when cut up properly so that would be more ideal without breaking the bank. But I would need to get a business loan I think.
 
climbingmonkey24 said:
I was thinking more of a pickup truck and a hydraulic dump trailer. I've fit whole trees in a dump trailer when cut up properly so that would be more ideal without breaking the bank. But I would need to get a business loan I think.
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I know banking has changed a ton since my first large purchase but we bought our first chipper on an unsecured personal loan. 15k over 5 years was very reasonable (we paid it off much sooner). Being new a business, loans are extremely difficult to get, but after a few years of running as a sole proprietor (under your ssn) you can build a track record (tax/paper trail) and it makes it a little easier to transition into an LLC or S Corp and get loans.
Another option (less capital) pickup w/dump insert, but you will probably only run that for a year or so before you look at a chipper... but you will be set, just build a box. Also leaves the window open for rental chippers.
 
I started out with a trailer for years, once I purchased a chipper I realized that I should have done that right off the hop. No mattter how you load your trailer a chipper will make it smaller, I second the dump insert/small chipper set up. I occasionally chip for one man outfits now that my business has grown but it's strictly on an "if it works for me" basis. Unless you chipper sub only chips you are really asking some one else to come do the boring part of the job that you possibly got because your low overhead allowed you to undercut them. This could be contributing to your troubles. Good luck and much success! @climbingmonkey24
 
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