So....how's business?
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6,467 Posts
Pretty darn busy.
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315 Posts
In month four of this year this is already our best year ever.
It's looking good. Between the website and the direct mail campaign I am doing I do about 1 to 3 estimates per day now...
I am thinking of hiring someone to take calls.
It's looking good. Between the website and the direct mail campaign I am doing I do about 1 to 3 estimates per day now...
I am thinking of hiring someone to take calls.
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217 Posts
12 hour day today, have more booked on the coast rebuilding from the hurricanes last year than anything else... COASTAL TRIP!!! WOOOOO!!!
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45 Posts
Im booked till mid July, three man crew. We've been working 7 days a week 10-11 hr days for the last 3 weeks.
Dan
Dan
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9 Posts
Rich, I do believe you are correct, and thanks for your concern!
The weather is still awful, but this weeks forecast looks promising!
The weather is still awful, but this weeks forecast looks promising!
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1,390 Posts
This is a little off topic, but those of you who are booked out 3 or 4 months might want to look into doing things a little differently.
You might consider raising your prices. If your pricing is appropriate, I'd hire more help and spend my time selling and training.
We sell man hours. I typically figure about 1760 hours per man per year. This can be reduced by weather, particularly in the north. A "yankee" painter might have to cram those 1760 hours into 6 or 7 months. But what if you could sell and produce more hours in those months?
I typically sell and produce about 800 hours or so a month. Last year I got a job that was about 1600 hours, and I had 5 weeks to do it (on top of my other work). I wound up subbing most of the work at a very good rate for the subs. I got a small chunk of a large pie, which wound up being a very nice slice of pie. I spent a little more time than usual checking on things, but it was well worth the time. I'm meeting with that customer tomorrow to look at more work for this summer, so they must have been happy as well.
My point is that some of you seem to be able to sell the work, but you have limited productive capacity. If you could expand that capacity and focus on keeping that capacity busy, you might be way ahead.
Just my thoughts, since I've been there and done that.
Brian Phillips
You might consider raising your prices. If your pricing is appropriate, I'd hire more help and spend my time selling and training.
We sell man hours. I typically figure about 1760 hours per man per year. This can be reduced by weather, particularly in the north. A "yankee" painter might have to cram those 1760 hours into 6 or 7 months. But what if you could sell and produce more hours in those months?
I typically sell and produce about 800 hours or so a month. Last year I got a job that was about 1600 hours, and I had 5 weeks to do it (on top of my other work). I wound up subbing most of the work at a very good rate for the subs. I got a small chunk of a large pie, which wound up being a very nice slice of pie. I spent a little more time than usual checking on things, but it was well worth the time. I'm meeting with that customer tomorrow to look at more work for this summer, so they must have been happy as well.
My point is that some of you seem to be able to sell the work, but you have limited productive capacity. If you could expand that capacity and focus on keeping that capacity busy, you might be way ahead.
Just my thoughts, since I've been there and done that.
Brian Phillips
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3,514 Posts
Brian,
I understand you point as I have been this way for years mostly in the exterior season. I have tried to hire out help but can't find one that is worth a damn and the ones who are want 30$ hr.. I can't sustain that rate for ever if I slow down the good ones are gone. I'm trying
I understand you point as I have been this way for years mostly in the exterior season. I have tried to hire out help but can't find one that is worth a damn and the ones who are want 30$ hr.. I can't sustain that rate for ever if I slow down the good ones are gone. I'm trying
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1,390 Posts
Actually you can make money paying $30+ an hour. I do it everyday.I have tried to hire out help but can't find one that is worth a damn and the ones who are want 30$ hr.. I can't sustain that rate for ever if I slow down the good ones are gone. I'm trying
If you get $15 for every man hour sold (your gross profit after paying labor and materials), and you sell 200 man hours, you get $3,000.
If you get $5 per man hour but sell 600 man hours, you make the same money. But if you didn't have to worry about the production side, you'd free up more time to sell more jobs. So you might sell 800 hours or more.
I'm not trying to tell anyone how to run their business. I just see some guys who seem to be good at selling, are sincerely interested in servicing the customer well, but are trapped in the bucket. They wind up getting burned out and don't have much to show for it.
I sell paint jobs for several other contractors. I sell the job, and they worry about the production end. I help them with marketing, and I sell more for them than they could. I also get a better price, so even after my commission they make more per hour. They usually get $32- $35 per hour after my commission.
They have an incentive to do good work because they want the work to keep flowing-- I'll cut them off if they don't do good work. I have an incentive to sell because I don't want the production hassles.
It's a win- win.
Brian Phillips
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17,887 Posts
Been busy here.
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566 Posts
Brian, this is dead on...
If you guys are interested in a really good read... Read this book... I wonder if Brian already has:
Amazon.com: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It (9780887307287): Michael E. Gerber: Books
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1,390 Posts
Yes I've read E-Myth a couple of times. It changed the entire way I look at my business. I also recommend The Millionaire Next Door, as well as the followup up-- The Millionaire Mind.
I'm currently reading Robert Kiyosaki's book Before You Quit Your Job. It deals with the different mind sets between employees and entrepreneurs. Very thought provoking.
Brian Phillips
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