Work Demands . Advice Please.

[The Roofer]

I am in a situation at the moment where I have work coming out my ears, So to speak. My problem is I am only a small firm , Just myself and my apprentice. I am thinking on taking on another tradesman and a labourer and putting another van on the road to get through my work load. My worry is getting the right men and not a couple of cowboys. I have had tradesmen work for me in the past but now am thinking its probably time to take a squad books in to ease my workload. I don't want to damage my companies reputation by letting a squad leave untidy jobs in my name. But if I don't act quick am going to lose work due to not having the time to carry out all the jobs I have quoted for. Should I call some of my customers and tell them am just to busy or should I bite the bullet and place an advert for a qualified roofing squad starting ASAP ?

There must be people on this forum that has been in my position before. A couple of pointers would be appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[noseall]

i will only take on enough work that i can carry out within the time parameters agreed by both the customer and myself.

if the customer wants it doing within say the next six weeks, then i will politely turn it down.

if they are prepared to wait, so be it.

if, like me your reputation has been built upon work carried out by yourself, then finding other contractors to maintain that standard can be difficult and troublesome.

i have considered going down the road you have talked about, but always my thoughts are the same. will the quality be the same? will the time keeping be as good? will they work as efficiently?

if you do take on other contractors then safety in numbers is your best bet. rake in a load of cash then wait for the phone to ring. at least you will have the money as a safety net.

 

[heatingman]

Is your apprentice capable of working on own yet?. Perhaps sending him/her out with a mate and you get another mate. At least they will know whats expected in quality/standard dept. Its a real diificult one, but we have all been there at some point.

 

[^woody^]

Jig the jobs around if possible to do the profitable/easiest ones first. Put the ones who can wait off until later.

Offer a discount for waiting?

Don't you know anyone who you have worked with previously who can either help out or recommend someone who can?

Why can't you get some guys in to do all the work, and you just nip between jobs to supervise and manage them while the work is in progress? Getting the work and managing is the way to do it and be successful, and come off the tools if possible

 

[JohnD]

Too much work? your prices are too low.

 

[WoodYouLike]

i have considered going down the road you have talked about, but always my thoughts are the same. will the quality be the same? will the time keeping be as good? will they work as efficiently?

Same here - reputations can be destroyed very quickly and easy with not up to the expected standards the client has come to expect from you (either from earlier jobs or from Word-of-Mouth).

The apprentice idea is a better option - if you have trained them not only on skills but also on best-practise - of which I have not doubt you've done - that is the simplest, easiest and less expensive (in the long run) route to go.

Too much work? your prices are too low.

Agree with that too.

 

[Thermo]

we are in exactly the same position at the moment. STill early february and we are inundated with work, before we even hit our busiest time for enquiries.

Last year i was lucky enough to find a self employed guy who worked as a subcontractor on small paving and bricklaying jobs for me, that otherwise i would have lost. He worked alongside me on a few jobs so i could check him out first and he was a real gem. Still took time running around organising stuff and keeping an eye on him though, which meant other jobs took longer. Unfortunatley he has gone back to working full time for someone else now!
The downside was it was very easy to keep throwing work his way and lose track of the time and money spent on the work, so you end up not making a great deal of money.

This year i am trying to keep it all in house. My apprentice is now at the point where i can let him loose on small jobs on his own, which we otherwise wouldnt fit in, and will make a bit of extra money. I also have another older, and newer apprentice who has a fair bit to learn, but in time i hope to build things up and let them both go on their own, with me doing less hands on work. They both know what i expect and how we work, so there are advantages in that, but they are only capable of a certain level of work.

Finding any subcontractor is a nightmare and i would suggest you look carefully and give them small amounts of work first of all. Makle it clear what you expect from them. Be prepared to lose time yourself on what you are doing, running around sorting out problems/materials etc. The guy that worked for me, wore our t-shirts etc so he appeared to be directly employed, which is the image i wanted to give. Private customers can be very funny about asking you to do the work, and then guys from another company turning up to do the work.

I always make it clear to customers that i work on a one job at a time basis. If its a small job i will take it on, on the agreement that i can fit it in, otherwise they have to wait until the next booked slot. It is difficult, but it is better to risk losing the odd job through being busy, rather than jobs through a damaged reputation. I know that i am going to have to be patient and consolidate things with the guys i have already, but in time the payback will come.

 

[Mw Roofline]

There must be people on this forum that has been in my position before. A couple of pointers would be appreciated.

Cheers.

In a nutshell, 10 years ago it was just me, now I have 7 full time blokes working for me. I don't think there is ever a night before I go to bed where I'm thinking about things. Even though the money is good, I'm ageing faster than a decomposing banana in the sahara desert.

My advice is, start quoting higher prices and earning more money before you start empolying anyone. Don't forget, an experienced roofer might not do it 'your way'. Why not train a new apprentice exactly the way you want things doing? Then when he is experienced enough, he can have his own apprentice just like you had him. takes time but its the best way IMO.

Glad you've got loads of work and hope it all carries on going well

 

[Thermo]

a nice problem to have really!

Do you ever stop worrying about the amount of work you have or havent got coming in????!!!

 

[WoodYouLike]

a nice problem to have really!

Do you ever stop worrying about the amount of work you have or havent got coming in????!!!

That's the 'curse' of running your own business

 

[craig melvin]

I am also in a similar situation - just working on my own.

You would be frightened to let others do your work, If you do it yourself, at least you know its done right!

Put the prices up a little and pass the rubbish jobs on to either family or a good friend....

Also I have had upto 2 months and its so difficult to keep all happy.

Keep that good reputation!


Craig

 

[datarebal]

tell them the way it is , your busy and there's a que.. If they want you to do it and their house is not getting flooded out they are very likely going to wait. (except new builds )
I am surprised that you are not on good enough terms with an established local roofer who is happy to help out for even few days and vice versa..

 

[corrie]

Lots of good points and advice. Funny thing is I would advise you not to do what I would have done many years ago myself You must suit yourself. As for losing work ..you can`t lose what you didn`t have in the first place

Yes you can think of the money or you can think of the stress. Roofing and building is tough. The money doesn`t come easy does it with weather and what not? A lot of the time More equals Less. It`s sometimes best to be ruthless with yourself in knocking work back than being ruthless in trying to acheive and do too much. Just a few thoughts.

Alex

 

[Sylvan Tieger]

Too much work? your prices are too low.

When I had weeks scheduled ahead I just added 50% to my pricing Work less make more

 

[spice]

Am pleased you are doing well with your business, but, you have worked hard to keep your good name, just be careful who you give the work too, as one bad job can set you back months.