[supernova77]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned franchising yet!

Andy

[gewindows]

its hard to find good staff that will do a good job, but if you pay well then you have more of a chance of getting good staff.

always a bonus if you know these people - friends, family ......

can make a good profit.... eg £55 a day wages - they get £200 a day done then after costs its still good.

maybe not work so well on just houses tho.

Is this guy saying some bod turns over £200 of work a day and he gets given £55 out of that? Whilst the employer takes £145?

[darren clarke]

think so,

[gewindows]

No wonder he thinks its hard to find good staff, he'll be pi$$ing in the wind all his life if thats what he expects from them.

Its unbelievable the amount on here that want a mans work out of a boys wage.

I call it exploitation.

[darren clarke]

rise and shine,  what would you be looking at for what return  ie   wage v amount of work done

[gewindows]

When I first started out I worked alongside another window cleaner who owned the round, he used to pay his staff 2/3 of turnover. Thats enough to earn you a reasonable wage in this day and age, so after all is said and done that guy will go home with a slightly above average wage and hopefully a far better chance of him coming back to be a reliable, trustworthy and positive member of the business.

I will be working most of next week with a chap who has trad window cleaning experience but it will be on my work.

I will pay him somewhere in the region of £10 per hour. Fair days pay for a fair days work. Treat them like human beings. Treat them how you would like to be treated.

I was earning what some of the guys quote on here 15 years ago on the cards.

No wonder they moan they cant get the staff, hey shouldnt be let loose with a bucket let alone think theyre employers.

[kate1]

Completely agree

Somewhere along the line trust has to come into consideration.

The only way possibly protecting yourself against that, is to offer a long term plan, ie, if we get to this state, Im prepared to give you a percentage in the company - meaning better to work together than against eachother.

My friends a hairdresser, tied into a contract many years ago, that she could not operate within a certain mileage of the shop, if she were to start on her own.

Its just business really, you work for somebody else, and you end up thinking "hang on I can do this myself" it happens in most companies, I ended up going alone because I wasnt going to make 100s of sales calls, for somebody else when I could do it myself.  However mine is nationally dominated, as oppose to area.

Common cause where everybody benefits, rather than "I can do this for myself"

Hope that helps

[Nigel Lee]

I could never make staff pay.  I found a good man would always think, "hang about I could do this myself and earn more money".  If he didn't think this he generally didn't tend to be a "worker".  Everyone I had fell into one group or the other.

[Jonathan Spencer]

When I first started out I worked alongside another window cleaner who owned the round, he used to pay his staff 2/3 of turnover. Thats enough to earn you a reasonable wage in this day and age, so after all is said and done that guy will go home with a slightly above average wage and hopefully a far better chance of him coming back to be a reliable, trustworthy and positive member of the business.

I will be working most of next week with a chap who has trad window cleaning experience but it will be on my work.

I will pay him somewhere in the region of £10 per hour. Fair days pay for a fair days work. Treat them like human beings. Treat them how you would like to be treated.

I was earning what some of the guys quote on here 15 years ago on the cards.

No wonder they moan they cant get the staff, hey shouldnt be let loose with a bucket let alone think theyre employers.

I am at the point now where I am thinking of maybe I shuold take someone on next year as my round is just about full and still getting loads of enquiries (I have a good reputation).

I am just not sure how I go about taking somone on.  IE how do you pay them with bad weather etc.  Just 60% of turnover they do?  And they are classed as self-employed?

[darren clarke]

in what context will these people be employed  ie on there own van or with you on 2 man van.

as i want to employ someone who will work with me on a 2 man van to basically speed up there work so i can ge tmore done in a day,  do i pay a hourly rate or percentage of what is done

[geefree]

Hi,

No, i am not negative, i am being very positive in the fact it is hard to trust someone, given the pitfalls within this industry,...

I know a guy who employs a few lads w/c.... one of them built a near full round behind his employers back,

in effect , he had 2 wages, and he built it all on his emloyers time, van .. equipment, and water.


Then got sacked.

The alternative is to sit with them as a two man outfit and gain the trust that way before sending them off alone,

Yes, trust will then come in to it.....

so i suppose i have to risk being ripped off to progress?

[Window Washers]

Good employees work for good employers

recruitment is everything, thing what you want not who

consider where to find this person

be ready to offer a real job.

DO NOT EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE EMPLOY FAMILY OR FRIENDS

I dont care how many success stories there are for employing family DO NOT DO IT

you must run a business as a business not as a stop gap or as a favour to a friend it is a job someone wants a job they can build their life and family and hopes upon

imagine you are Tesco or Adidas or Apple or the NHS and research and recruit professionally.

It is what you WANT you need to find not WHO. Do not fit a job to the person you must find the person that fits the job and remeber you dont have to like them you just need to be sure they are the best for the job

You are not doing someone a favour YOU ARE EMPLOYING
Good luck

great post that,

[Moderator David@stives]

Some people are just speculating what's good and bad. Most problems stem from the employer. I employ family and none family. I have 100 pc staff retention and so far in 5 years of employing I have not had 1 start up on there own. T
They are all totally honest and I Trust all of them,

I don't care one bit about them leaving to start on there own. I pay them well and we are all 1 big happy family.


Like I said it's all down to how you manage your business

[darren clarke]

what woudl you suggest is best for me to do dave?

some new or some experienced on more money,  pay a hourly rate or % of what we get done