[Sparkkadian]

Hi all, im at the point now where im thinking seriously about taking someone on. Im just undecided whether to pay someone by the hour, by the day, percentage of whatever they earn, pay one guy working on his own, or two together, get them to use my van or invest in another.

What have you guys found most efficient and profitable? Bearing in mind i want my guys to work hard, but keep them happy and be fair. Any advice from what has worked for you would be appreciated thanks. 

[bobby p]

this is how i do it - i pay by the hour and paytime  only starts from the arrival at the 1st job. i dont pay any travelling time  at either end of the day
  iv been doing it this way a little over a year now and no probs apart from picking a few duff workers - on the forum others say you go thru 10 duffers till you find a good one and thats seems to be true 

 i only have parttime workers and always will. the benefits of partime are many, any slacker can be got rid of without upsetting the routine if you have a secondary worker 

 i went online and registered as an employer with HMRC  they then send you a disc  and they have a good helpline if you get stuck .iv used that quite a bit .  then  get your employee liability insurance before you kick things off . the price for insurance for 2 workers isnt much higher than 1.

taking on helpers its all a leap of faith but iv never once regretted doing it -but be sure you have work rolling in at a decent rate to fuel it all .

i would promise your new worker only a few hours at first  . dont pay high rates, theres no need to and it wont make them anymore loyal in my experience . 

[Window Washers]

What us your stick rate of workers bobby ?
From my point of view is look after your workers pay a fair wage set down terms that you want be firm but fair

[bobby p]

What us your stick rate of workers bobby ?
From my point of view is look after your workers pay a fair wage set down terms that you want be firm but fair

7 quid an hour from the start. i pay the same rate for leafletters,squeegee"ers. there are no tips ,no bonuses, but i do often round up the hours if we finish 30 minutes early
i was considering giving my workers a free slap up meal every 3 months for their close family at a local double- deck bus cafe,but the cafe cook has been taking the mick lately so iv put that idea "on the back burner"

[Sparkkadian]

Thanks Bobby. Sounds like a good set up. What do you think about paying them a percentage of what they earn?

[bobby p]

Thanks Bobby. Sounds like a good set up. What do you think about paying them a percentage of what they earn?

how would you work that out? say you took £200 on paper but a few didnt pay till later ,or not pay . 

[Dean Taberner]

I personally wouldn't reccommend it,

I've found myself in the position where I need 6 guys to get our work done and the headache I'm getting is pheonominal...

If I could go back to the days of going out with my ladder and cleaning 80quid a day a probably would.

There's no great future in working on your own though so it depends where you want to end up in years to come.

I am making a decent living out of my business but it it litterally driving me insane at the moment.

Its your call,

Dean.

[britishwill]

£50 a day. But for the first month £45 until they prove them selves to be a good WC after me training them up to a workable standard. If they muck about I tell them I will just sack them. I do not suffer fools, but we do have a laugh. Work hard play hard. I have had too many jokers. Choose right cos for the training up period you will earn less because you have to teach em!

[bobby p]

I personally wouldn't reccommend it,

I've found myself in the position where I need 6 guys to get our work done and the headache I'm getting is pheonominal...

If I could go back to the days of going out with my ladder and cleaning 80quid a day a probably would.

There's no great future in working on your own though so it depends where you want to end up in years to come.

I am making a decent living out of my business but it it litterally driving me insane at the moment.

Its your call,

Dean.

trouble is,if you work on your own with a full round you will likely burn yourself out-i know as i almost burnt out trying to cope alone with a full round. one slip ,one twisted shoulder etc and your rounds down the swanney as you will bog down  .  of course once you employ you have the headaches of staff but as long as you get rid of wasters before they drag you down it all flows along quite happily in my experience.
 at this minute iv 1 excellent worker and 1 so-so worker and 2 that i havent made my mind up about who have yet to be proven in proper long days on the street

iv had a lot more laughs since iv had workers , when i worked on my own not so many laughs and some customers used to bully me but not now !
 
 
  

[Sparkkadian]

Thanks guys some great advice there. There is definitely 2 sides to this coin. The peace of mind and simplicity of working on my own feels priceless sometimes. But im thinking that i dont want to have to turn work down just because i cant keep up with it, and do i want to be doing it all myself for years to come? It is a tough decision!