When theres not enough of you to go around

[gibbon]

As our company grows I tend to find more and more of my time is taken up by pricing, consultancy, paper work and trying to take time out for family. Even when I am on the tools I can only be on one of the jobs happening that day. I'm confident my guys are up to the jobs I send them out on (99%of the time!), but I get so many people asking "will it be you on the job". This is often as I have been reccomended or have priced the job and they want me on the tools.

 

I've had 2 customers getting quite funny today that I might not be on site, both jobs were around £150 plus vat which is about the smallist job we tend to take on. How do I explain that you can't do everything? Surely I'm not the only one pricing work then not doing the bulk of it. How do others handle it or do I just have fussy clients?

[Simon Rotheram]

It is a problem, esp if you have been recommended for delicate works. If a client wants you there why not attend site first thing to get the team set up by going through exactly whats going on with the client present and introduce them to your team leader so they have peace of mind. This will then leave you time to continue with your day.

[Stephen Blair]

i ran into the same problem gibbon a few years ago and my head exploded. you have went from climber to manager over night. you know how to cut down trees, but you wont have any managerial skills. i didnt, would you employ a climber to run your own business. probably not..getting organised is the secret, and taking your time to answer your customers questions rather than just saying something isnt easy either. For the meantime make one of your guys a team leader, give him a few more quid an hour and give him responsibilities. if he has a problem then he phones you. if you have to go back and go over a snag, doc them..Oh and ditching crap customers is very good aswell. i have just called 4 customers there, i last spoke to them 3 weeks ago, i told them i would call them when i knew i could give them a date, and it would be a few weeks away. 3 of them were delighted to hear from me and the 4th, a guy who wants me to come and take away some trees for nothing for the firewood, was the only one that was sarcy on the phone, i said hello and introduced myself, he made a comment about 'about time i called you last week' i said nothing, there was a silence, i still said nothing. then he started to be nice. Now out of those 4 customers it isnt surprising that the guy who want something for nothing is the awkward one. guess who is going to get nothing from me for nothing. now 2 of the other customers were told there would be a price increase this year and the only problem they had was on one of the days they wouldnt be there to pay me straight away. but they are re-aranging this so to be there with the money, they realise getting someone honest and hard working to come to them and provide a good service isnt easy. but they are great customers so i always go back

[Tom D]

Its hard... especially when you spend all your time on here.

 

One thing I will say is I take my hat off to all those guys who do everything themselves. I reckon the key to being a good businessman (not saying i am one) is knowing your weaknesses as well as your strengths. If you know you're crap at book keeping, get someone else to do it. I pay £50 a month for a secretary to do my books, invoicing and payroll, she does it from home and we email eachother details and stuff, I wouldn't tell her but for the hassle it saves me I'd pay £500.

[Giles Hill]

I'd tell the client unfortunately you're going to have trouble doing it personally, but your best arborist will be there, explain how great he is and how he'll do an excellent job. I'd also tell them that you've got a lot of consultancy work and that you're having to charge your time at at a higher rate nowadays, you'd be happy to do their job personally, but you'd have to charge £250.00 instead of £150.00.

[Stephen Blair]

i do the exact same tom, get someone to prep the books for the accountant, pay the bills do the cheques and banking. worth their weight in gold..get a climber in on the days you are consulting or sub out your consultancy and stick on a percentage for yourself

[Highland Forestry]

I now pay an accountant to do everything, he has a book keeper who does all of our paperwork... costs me about £700 for the year but that is all the book keeping, personal tax return, company accounts and 4 VAT returns and free business advice and the boy is chartered... used to do it all myself but really cant be bothered now to tell you the truth. I never got my returns in on time, never got the tax done on time and always made mistakes.

Do all my own pricing and site visits etc, but it's just not possible to be on two, three or even four jobs at the same time..

 

I have two guys which are good, and are paid a bit more.. I call them foremen and they are always site safety supervisor also. Their main objective is to liase with me and the client and to make sure everything is done how I want it done.

 

It does work out very handy, and you dont have to pay them that much more than usual, but an extra tenner a day can save you a whole world of hassle and stress.

[Mozza]

If you get recommended by somebody though, Is it not the work your lads do that gets you the recommendation??

[T14EES T14UNK]

Don't sell yourself short there. I hope I would still get recommended even if I was away tossing about... I mean pricing jobs and taking important phone calls.

 

Sorry, misread. What you said!!

Edited October 14, 2009 by T14EES T14UNK

[skyhuck]

Its easy!!

 

Just don't grow your business, stay small, work more efficiently, get the right kit and up your profit!!!

 

I'm always amazed when I read about people with two or three teams going out and no money in the bank??

 

I know some people get off on having a yard full of pickups and lots of men, if thats what makes em happy, great!!

 

But its not for me, if they could make me rich then cool I'd do it!!

 

Its REAL easy to be BIG and busy, make a loss.