to expand or not to expand

[parkesy_plumb]

I only started on my own in sept last year and for the last 6 months i been working 6 days a week with no signs of slowing down ..

Its getting to a point now where i could use an extra pair of hands to free up some time. The question is ..

do i take someone on (subbie) and take the strain off a little or do i scale back the work/pass it on?

I dont want to turn down work though. Also i have a problem trusting others using my trading name .. i have built up a great reputation in such a small amount of time i dont want to ruin it ..

whats your guys experiences with expanding?

 

[mfgs]

It all depends on what your long term plans are. If you are happy to stay small and do all the work yourself, then put your prices up and earn as much as you are now but only work 5 days a week. If you want to expand then how about taking on an apprentice to train up over the next year or so. Its a smaller overhead and you will be more likely to be able to trust them to work how you want them to after spending a lot of time training them up.

 

[Radioman]

I agree with that. Home grown is better and you would get some funding maybe. A fact of business is you will lose a third of your customers each year so you must grow or face a reduction in your turnover. Work smart not hard. Get a good pension going

 

[R.Oak]

I agree that an apprentice might be useful to make your day a bit easier. Or perhaps a newly qualified lad who is looking for work, there are plenty of lads that get let go as soon as their employer legally has to give them a raise.

 

[Centralheatking]

Be very carefull when considering expanding parkesy. We have seen a few fellas try this and fail simply because you will need to get to over 4/5 fellas quite quickly. Reason is that you will end up running around while they do the work. So some weeks you might well end up earning less that they do - and unless you are lucky they dont have the same commitment as you. Your customers obviously like YOU. Use a sub-contractor and on new customers who dont expect you. CHK

 

[SimonG]

First thing is to put your prices up.

 

[parkesy_plumb]

i think i can go where i want to go on my own business wise ... problem i have with letting someone else do the work is, like mentioned, commitment and passion for a good job. I know many (myself included) in the past who simply didnt want to work for a company for peanuts and it effected their work. Having an apprentice will only slow me down i need someone to take on bathroom suites etc

Not ruling out having an apprentice though, one day ill take a young lad on but not yet

 

[townfanjon]

the lads above have said it all pal, I defo agree put your prices up. 6 days is sh*ite , we have all done it .
NB NB NB NB Make sure you are keeping up with the paperwork

 

[dave1]

Glad your doing well mate, agree increase prices slightly and look to sub out some work if still too busy and just oversee the jobs they do to make sure standards are met and customers are happy.

 

[Ray Stafford]

It depends on what your ambition is.

If you really want to expand, then you need to accept that you are no longer a plumber yourself - you are a businessman, whose business is plumbing. You need to dedicate time and other resources to setting up the processes of managing other people's work.

This comes into effect the moment that you are running two jobs simultaneously. In my experience, you need to get to make the jump from one-man-and-his-dog to a firm with one supervising and 4 to 5 on the tools, as quickly as you possibly can. Its the in-between stage that boogers you up.

The other thing I would say is - stick to the type of work you know. If you do mostly domestic work, then don't take on sitework just to keep your new labour in work - all types of work have their own tricks and tips, and if you get out of your area of experience there are lots of pitfalls, and having several blokes on the tools just means that a mistake gets magnified several times.

And watch your cashflow. Its not usually lack of profit that bankrupts an expanding business. Its poor cashflow that does the damage.

Good luck though.

 

[cr0ft]

I only started on my own in sept last year and for the last 6 months i been working 6 days a week with no signs of slowing down ..

Its getting to a point now where i could use an extra pair of hands to free up some time. The question is ..

do i take someone on (subbie) and take the strain off a little or do i scale back the work/pass it on?

I dont want to turn down work though. Also i have a problem trusting others using my trading name .. i have built up a great reputation in such a small amount of time i dont want to ruin it ..

whats your guys experiences with expanding?

If you are busy after just 6 months then you are charging well below the others in your area, at least that's my assessment. Put your prices up!!

 

[cr0ft]

I agree with most posts above but I'm not sure I agree about having to get to 4/5 people quickly. We expanded by taking on an apprentice in Sept 2013. Granted he is 22 so a bit older than out of school. He is also really good and ex-military so has a good work ethic.

A year on and he has his own van and earns a good wage. He's also out doing all my smaller jobs. I can leave him on a bathroom project to crack on with a list of things to do knowing he won't bugger anything up.

This year we took on another apprentice, 17 years old straight from school. Next year my first apprentice will be qualified (at least on paper). I'm not planning to take on more staff next year. Our profits are up massively now we have a second van. I will get to 5 people in the business but I think the secret is to get a top quality first staff member in. Someone you can trust and who is reliable and consistent. That is what has helped me to manage the growth of my business.

I don't think you are ready to expand after just 6 months though, you are almost certainly too cheap compared to your competition. I also have never had good experiences with subcontracting to other tradespeople - there are too many problems. Imo proper expansion requires staff and control of their diaries.

 

[basildog]

I have been there and done it in the building trade we became so big my once loved by me firm became a monster I hated along with the customers and staff .
Good luck to you but there really are so many things you have to learn as you become bigger you wear a lot of different hats and to be honest not sure many tradesmen even realise how to project manage , personnel management , finance department , health and safety etc etc
You also find you have massive overheads that you never had before, so you need massive cashflow then your prices go up and you lose the very customers who loved you because you were able to react quickly as a small firm and charge reasonable prices !
Good luck but not a road I will ever go down again have had it all and threw it all away for a quiet life .

 

[parkesy_plumb]

some great advice here cheers guys .. my prices, in my opinion, are quite high compared to others and i never sell myself short .. i do a top quality job and provide a great service in my opinion and thats what keeps my recommended. Expanding for me is scary and after reading what ray has put i dont think i could see myself running 5 guys to be honest .. i like to keep things simple (1 job at a time)

I have a vision of where i want to take it and will inevitably have to take on staff but ill wait a year or 2 first until i really have to

parkesy