Looking into next year

[ballandco]

Thinking about next year and looking at taking the next step and getting some help , just after a bit of advice from people who have , trying to work out how much of a mark up I need to put on each plumber in order to pay there wage and still make it worth while for me without pricing myself out of jobs . I've got a tiler at the moment subby and make about £60 a day out of him , not a lot I know but he turns up knows what he's doing and I don't get any grief , I've heard before that in order for you to come off the tools (eventual goal ) you need around 5 plumbers to make it work ?? Any thoughts ??

 

[Chalked]

£60 a day is good going.
Normally after costs about £5 an hour.

 

[ballandco]

£5 an hour , what money is that based on paying a day ?

 

[tomplumb83]

Depends how much he's costing you??

Not answering your question but I agree, 60 is good going

 

[Chalked]

That's on an employee, not a subby.

 

[ballandco]

Fair enough , that's what I mean I'm clueless on this that's why I'm asking , so for it to be worth the extra grief you will need a few people really

 

[cr0ft]

The immediate issue you have when you take on your first skilled employee is dealing with all the extra admin that goes with running a second van and finding even more jobs for that.

Ways to grow the business that are tried and tested include: -

1.) Taking on a GOOD apprentice. Phone your local college and ask for the ones that are performing the best in class. Don't be tempted to take on any old apprentice. You need a quick learner really with a good eye for details. It's taken me a while and a few apprentices to realise this one! Once you find a good one, look after them pay wise so they don't leave at the end of their apprenticeship. If you run a kitchen and bathroom fitting business you can register with CITB and claim lots of grants for your apprentices in addition to the £1,500 tax free grant you get for employing one.

2.) Take on another skilled employee and run two vans. Expect to have no life as you spend double the time quoting and invoicing. If you're going to make this step and have enough work for this then I suggest you take on a part time person to deal with a lot of the business admin too. At this stage your time is far better spent on the tools earning the business money than doing admin. Be very aware that (in my experience) 75% of people applying for your job will not be capable of doing it to a standard you are happy with.. Again, look after the ones that are and quickly bin the ones that don't get up to your standards quickly. You can't afford a bad egg for any length of time in a small business.

If you definitely have enough work to keep 2 vans busy then I'd suggest renting a small unit somewhere and getting a proper office setup. When your admin person is in for their hours they deal with all calls. When they are not in they can call forward the landline to your mobile. This also gives you a bit more privacy at the weekend as people don't know your mobile number!

I've just made this move properly in April this year and it's all a bit scary as suddenly you need about 3x as much work coming in. Well worth it though and it's the best thing ever to see staff you've trained up from scratch developing.

Happy to answer any Q's on PM if I can help.

 

[ballandco]

Nice 1 croft really appreciate your comments , so all in all you would say it's worth biting the bullet, I've tryed before but had mates working for me and I don't think they were best for the job just the fact that they were there, but I keep getting to the point of having to much and turning people away , currently booked up on bathrooms alone till April so I know it's there , did you do all of the above this year then , fair play hope it works out for u

 

[cr0ft]

Definitely. Depending on where you are at I'd suggest keeping expansion simple and low risk to start with. Speak to your local college and interview maybe 3 people on the Level 1 plumbing course. Ask them to give you names of the best few on the course only.

When you interview them, get them to do a skills test and also include a basic numbers test in the interview. A plumber doesn't need fantastic English skills but in my limited recruiting experience those without a Grade C in Maths really struggle.

Select maybe two of them and trial the lads for a week each on the tools. Look in particular at their attitude and also their manual dexterity. Can they hold a drill straight? Are they scared of tools? Can they use a set of spanners without fumbling. My experience has been that apprentices either have dexterity or not. It's not something that can be taught sadly.

If you want to chat about available grants etc just let me know. Quite a lot of cash available!