Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Steve Weatherley on July 20, 2009, 09:05:03 pm
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I am considering employing somebody to cover my window cleaning rounds as am very busy with the carpet cleaning side of things currently. Those of you who employ people for this purpose....
Do your staff come to your premises to fill up on water ?
How can you trust them not to do lots of jobs on the side with your van / equipment?
Your comments would be really useful
Just for the record I have a static system in my garage so would need to give the employee a key to the garage. I am considering buying an extra van and putting the pump / tank etc into the new van then my new employee can use this.
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I have 2 employees for this very reason,
I trust my main guy as ive known him for nearly 27 years :) :) :)
Im 29 by the way ;D ;D ;D
Dean
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Steve I also do carpet cleaning and was trained by prochem ive got a few carpet jobs on the go but how have gone about getting so much work?
im the other way most of my work is window cleaning.
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I have been doing cc for 6 years now and do a lot of work for local letting agents. Mainly though it's just been word of mouth that has got me so busy. I also did the Prochem courses amongst others
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so can anyone help him out here ::)
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of course they will do jobs on the side if asked its extra cash for them..
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of course they will do jobs on the side if asked its extra cash for them..
i bought a round off someone who employed lads to do it,after a few cleans a few people asked why i didnt do thiers,they wernt on the sellers book the lads picked the customer up and kept it all
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there must be some people out there who employ window cleaners successfully?
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yes thanks ;)
I have trackers fitted on my vans so i know where they are when they are. as for the doing bits on the sly (maybe not moving the van?) then i can't be a 100% sure but i do rotate the staff round so they are never just on one run all the time. also as long as my targets are hit and i'm making my margin then even if they do have the odd house i don't know about so what, i'm still making what i want! the rules are be straight with me and i'll be straight with you! if not theirs the door. i've never caught any of them out yet for having sly ones
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an extra £20 or £30 on top of there wages a day. of course they would do it and not tell you. if you were there its a diffrent story. would you say no if asked and you were in there shoes bet you wouldnt. had it happen to me but they got the new customers so they got first clean cash now they are mine. youve got to be there if you dont want them doing jobs on the side in your time and pocketing the cash.
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so perhaps offer them the value of the first clean for getting a new customer on board - kind of as a bonus?
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so perhaps offer them the value of the first clean for getting a new customer on board - kind of as a bonus?
i do that. they get the first clean of any sign up
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aye thats fair
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But how can people grow rounds and progress, if staff are taking new customers for themselves.
Must be a way around this, but probably not.
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no gazza i know what you mean. i've doubled my turnover in 12 months so no room for growth ;)
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So you have honest staff and treat them well, sippose thats the key.
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yeah i think i am probably am the best boss in the world :P ;)
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GIVE THEM PLENTY OF WORK EACH DAY,NO TIME TO DO EXTRAS.
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maybe it's a new thread but what was your growth pattern steve. One man (you?) flat out, get a helper and then another, leave them together while you get another van to work youself, build this up untill you need help. Repeat etc?
Or was it a bit simpler than that?
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you on msn?
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I am interested, and i think whatever strategy you used it has to be not far off brilliant to have achieved what you have.
However, my wife already thinks i'm gay, so an msn chat would entail an inquest for me.
I have just started with a helper.I am a bit uptight and get stressed when we travel between jobs. Doing the work myself was tiring, with him we do half as much again and after paying him i earn more.
My little 900kg scudo is at the weight limit, and i'm thinking if i had a 1200kg scudo (or bigger van) i could have two helpers and knock nearby at jobs and attend more to admin- while earning slightly less than i do now.
I can't keep my van and just get another because there will be too many vans on my drive. I don't mind buying a new van, it's the loss on the old one that is stopping me.
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But how can people grow rounds and progress, if staff are taking new customers for themselves.
Must be a way around this, but probably not.
tell them its theft, and its a sackable offence with out a warning
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If you dont think you can trust them dont employ them.
I have no trouble with my staff in that way
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i find it hard to trust 100% at first ...it takes a little while but then they will always be with one of the others until i reach the point of giving them 100% trust!!
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If you dont think you can trust them dont employ them.
I have no trouble with my staff in that way
How can you tell they are trustworthy when you don't know them though? I am about at that stage where I could do with help but it concerns me that I may be ripped off.
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If you dont think you can trust them dont employ them.
I have no trouble with my staff in that way
How can you tell they are trustworthy when you don't know them though? I am about at that stage where I could do with help but it concerns me that I may be ripped off.
take them out with you for a few months and build up a rapour
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ok...so you may lose a tenner here or a tenner there to them doing a bit on their own...and they get all the proceeds of a first clean IF they pick it up... ::) I can live with that if they are earning me a good few ££££ a day....
I tell my worker he can keep the money from any first cleans he does....its an insentive for him and a help for me not spending too much time on first cleans... ;D
like was said earlier... as long as im reaching my targets (that i could never reach on my own) im happy ;D ;D ;D
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Its the same in your every day life you get to read people. I always think if they look dodgy they usually are.
Not everyone is out to rip you off, I believe most people are honest.
You will soon get to know if you have a bad one, you will find them out somewhere quite quickly
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Be totally upfront with them. I do things differently, but the 'foreigners' problem is the same.
I provide my chaps with as much work as they want. I tell them (and it's in the agreement) that ALL the work belongs to me and they have to pay me my cut. Then I tell them that I'm not an ogre, and provided they complete all the work I give them, if someone asks for a 'one off' soffit clean or similar, then they don't have to declare it to me.
Any and all repeat work they pick up is mine.
It keeps them sweet and allows the occasional bit of 'back pocket' money.
What they tell the tax man is their business ::)