[VSP Home Care]

Hi Bob, how about chatting to him or rather both of them and be honest with him.  Ask what their expectations are for the future.  Then see how you can all help each other, you need them as much as they need you at the moment.

If the guy has aspirations to earn more money don't knock it, help him and yourself at the same time.  He could certainly use your experience if he's looking to setup a round of his own, I would suggest that you see if he would like to manage some of the customers on his own or rather new customers that "he" brings to the round.

Grow the new business  together whilst retaining your own round, take a small percentage of the money from the new customers he brings in but work with the guy.  If he buggers off with a new bird and a new idea, you have extra customers to pick up :-)

Don't forget to look after the other bloke though, if he's picking up his mates work on your old round then reward him for the extra effort, it's a good lesson in life for the three of you  

[Paul Coleman]

ive only been in the game 3 yrs and trad only. im not sure why but i feel the WFP  wouldnt go down too well on the council estates where i mostly focus the work

 spose its obvious,as said above,  any lad with a bit of nous will be off on his own soon as. paying 10 pound an hour wouldnt make the difference i feel  ,theyd know they could earn more on their own .


  but you guys with YEARS  under your belt who employ , what type of lad sticks with it long term ? ?

  im starting to think maybe best  look for a DUNDERHEAD lad,no  not a psycho, just mentally challenged .  i  have seen this sort about

  

You've probably summed it up there.  If you employ someone who's any good, they will leave and go self-employed eventually (no prob so long as he doesn't take your work or do his own work in your time).  OR, employ a numpty and always have to chase him and get on his case.  One of the reasons I've stayed a sole trader.
There probably are good window cleaners out there who are content to be employees but you've as much chance of finding them as you have of finding someone to clean s**t out of cuckoo clocks.

[G Griffin]

but im now thinking he could well be canvassing  my own patch.

Like all the other window cleaners who haven't got the right to canvass your customers?

That`s exactly what I thought.

[poleman]

I tell my employees if they get any work out side of them working in the day, I give them the first cleans price! but as long as the job isnt a one off...

[G Griffin]

ive only been in the game 3 yrs and trad only. im not sure why but i feel the WFP  wouldnt go down too well on the council estates where i mostly focus the work

 spose its obvious,as said above,  any lad with a bit of nous will be off on his own soon as. paying 10 pound an hour wouldnt make the difference i feel  ,theyd know they could earn more on their own .


  but you guys with YEARS  under your belt who employ , what type of lad sticks with it long term ? ?

  im starting to think maybe best  look for a DUNDERHEAD lad,no  not a psycho, just mentally challenged .  i  have seen this sort about

  

After reading this, I think you should give employing some serious consideration, Bobby. Unless you`re going to employ mates or people you know.
I mean, how would you word the ad for the job?
I remember another post of yours and weren`t you going to ask a deaf lad, to hop on one leg to test his balance.
I`m not having a go, but you can get yourself into trouble for things like that these days.
Good luck anyway and if you do advertise, put it up on here first and let us have a look  .

[bobby p]

ive only been in the game 3 yrs and trad only. im not sure why but i feel the WFP  wouldnt go down too well on the council estates where i mostly focus the work

 spose its obvious,as said above,  any lad with a bit of nous will be off on his own soon as. paying 10 pound an hour wouldnt make the difference i feel  ,theyd know they could earn more on their own .


  but you guys with YEARS  under your belt who employ , what type of lad sticks with it long term ? ?

  im starting to think maybe best  look for a DUNDERHEAD lad,no  not a psycho, just mentally challenged .  i  have seen this sort about

  

After reading this, I think you should give employing some serious consideration, Bobby. Unless you`re going to employ mates or people you know.
I mean, how would you word the ad for the job?
I remember another post of yours and weren`t you going to ask a deaf lad, to hop on one leg to test his balance.
I`m not having a go, but you can get yourself into trouble for things like that these days.
Good luck anyway and if you do advertise, put it up on here first and let us have a look  .

  i did employ a deaf lad ,for a fortnight, but he never got up even the first ladder rung as  he started not answering my texts to him,then getting shirty ( by text) because i  texted him 5 minutes early and all other sorts of nonsense  ( text or pencil scribbling gets very tiring by day 14 , but how else can u communicate ?)

  i wont be Advertizing for my next worker,the type im after wont be reading for starters.  im sure ive seen a good candidate when im on my round,laying idle in a bed ,with a normal mum downstairs who i can suggest  my idea to 

[Pope vader]

go wfp and sod them all off

[G Griffin]

ive only been in the game 3 yrs and trad only. im not sure why but i feel the WFP  wouldnt go down too well on the council estates where i mostly focus the work

 spose its obvious,as said above,  any lad with a bit of nous will be off on his own soon as. paying 10 pound an hour wouldnt make the difference i feel  ,theyd know they could earn more on their own .


  but you guys with YEARS  under your belt who employ , what type of lad sticks with it long term ? ?

  im starting to think maybe best  look for a DUNDERHEAD lad,no  not a psycho, just mentally challenged .  i  have seen this sort about

  

After reading this, I think you should give employing some serious consideration, Bobby. Unless you`re going to employ mates or people you know.
I mean, how would you word the ad for the job?
I remember another post of yours and weren`t you going to ask a deaf lad, to hop on one leg to test his balance.
I`m not having a go, but you can get yourself into trouble for things like that these days.
Good luck anyway and if you do advertise, put it up on here first and let us have a look  .

  i did employ a deaf lad ,for a fortnight, but he never got up even the first ladder rung as  he started not answering my texts to him,then getting shirty ( by text) because i  texted him 5 minutes early and all other sorts of nonsense  ( text or pencil scribbling gets very tiring by day 14 , but how else can u communicate ?)

  i wont be Advertizing for my next worker,the type im after wont be reading for starters.  im sure ive seen a good candidate when im on my round,laying idle in a bed ,with a normal mum downstairs who i can suggest  my idea to 

He/she sounds great. And mums are not always the best judges.
Just be careful; some of your ideas could be seen as discriminatory. And you may need to look at your attitude towards employees. Rightly or wrongly, all sorts of people have rights these days.

[Smudger]

Well i think you have a great lad already ! - ambitious and as your not complaining about anything else - does a good job and is reliable...

it sounds like he needs/wants more hours - offer them to him and at a decent rate (£10) this will make a
big difference - yes he could earn more SE but it's a lot of effort if he's earning £360 pw  he might just
plump for the easier life....

Darran

[CLEANCARE WC]

Think of it this way, if a customer, or anyone for that matter approached him whilst he was doing a days work for you and asked him if he did large jobs or even schools, do you think he would tell you? or do you think he would keep quiet and do them for himself?

It's a conflict of interests that may well end in tears IMHO.

dito

[mikecam]

bobby have you ever thought of going wfp for most of your work and getting rid of any part timer helpers?

Listen Daz, Bobby found his workers climbing trees and gave them a job, and he's precocious over buying rubber blades and washing scrims if they use them outside work, can you see him really shelling out for WFP stuff? I could be wrong but thats the conclusion i get reading his posts !!! Shelling out for rubbers after using your expensive squeegee !!!! WOW !!!!

[bobby p]

mikecam- Youve got me all wrong,im a generous guy, in fact i bought this lad new shoes when he started . and that sausage roll when he was out leafletting and the energy bars and other stuff ive forgotten
 he has previously done a course in  tree surgery and i had started tipping him the wink when anybody asked me about trimming their hedge ,a job he could probably do on his own if he wanted ,  for his own money. 

 thats me,ive done too much !

[mikecam]

mikecam- Youve got me all wrong,im a generous guy, in fact i bought this lad new shoes when he started . and that sausage roll when he was out leafletting and the energy bars and other stuff ive forgotten
 he has previously done a course in  tree surgery and i had started tipping him the wink when anybody asked me about trimming their hedge ,a job he could probably do on his own if he wanted ,  for his own money. 

 thats me,ive done too much !

Hey !! i was only saying how it come across !! I take it back, i dont know all the facts.

[G Griffin]

bobby, it seems with that sausage roll, you`ve created a monster and it`s biting the hand that fed it.
You really need to think about employing. They are not there to help you get your work done or make you a few quid; you responsibilties and have to be careful these days.
You are leaving yourself vulnerable with some of your thoughts.

[Blue Frog Systems]

If your that worried / bothered then make the other lad full time.

[James Leet]

Been paying 7 quid an hour, 16 hours a week so they stay under the tax threshold . this is on the books all legal ,and  my idea of them being partime is so that they can do other work elsewhere 

He is doing work elsewhere

it was your idea that they could

( it wasnt the cost value of just loaning him a squeegee but its joe muggins here end up buying the rubber and washing the scrim isnt it. )

cost of buying the rubber and washing the scrim


you are a star, it is a DULL star, but still a star

[bobby p]

think i will up his hours ,see if that works first - cheers for the opinions

 my long term plan is for me to be doing less time on the squeegee anyway, maybe i can let both lads loose doing a few jobs together alone (just a thought at the minute)

[SunShineCleaning]

Your paying him £112 per week to make your life easier with tax. Can you really see anyone being happy with that?