First Year Out Problems

AHS

My company is about 3 months old now & i'm starting to expierence a few problems. I've been so caught up in my marketing & sales that I've come to realize, I don't have the right guys on the production side of things to get the jobs done.

I made my brother a lead guy, bought him a work van, gave him a nice wage & its totally burned me. He shows up late every day & always has excuses why he can't work. The whole thing of it is, he begged me to believe in him & give him a job. He has had a troubled past & was looking for a fresh start on life, he seemed so sincere about wanting to work hard everyday & making a life change. I should have gave him less responsibility & not depend on him so much, it was just that he has more skill than the rest of the crew combined. Man...I make too many decisions with my heart & not enough with my gut...oh well lesson learned..Just got to face the fact I'm booked out 6 weeks without a crew.

Thanks for listening to me vent..

Mike Finley

Sounds like you know what the problem is and what the solution is so that's a good thing. Hey, things could be worse, you could have a great crew and no work! I think you'll work out the crew and your brother, and then when you do things will get much better. I think keeping the jobs rolling in even if you have to deal with the labor issues is good thing, at least you can work and make some money while you sort out the problems you have. That's always been my philosophy, as long as I can make the phone ring the rest will sort itself out.

AtlanticWBConst

Abolutely ... We Find this true too.....

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IHI

AHS, I feel for ya since I was in your shoes with the brother thing. Try to give a guy a break and then they fock ya with specaled shades Fire his azz and move on.

Like mike stated, better to have too much work and no labor than vise versa.

Dont stress too much since the situation will work itself out

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go dart

i too am my brothers keeper. ( totally different set of problems ) sales have to be your priority. try dedicating the 8 to 10 morning slot every day for production issues. you'll stay connected to your jobs. sales start at 10:30

Grumpy

Ok so you just learned alot of business rules real quick. Don't hire family and dont grow too big too soon.

I have the answer to your labor problems.
::cough cough::subcontractors::cough cough::

N.E.Bldg&Rest.LLC

My motto is don't hire family or Friends, they just don't treat you the same way as a stranger does.
A stranger tries to prove him/her self where as a family member or a Friend has to much of a personal connection to you and doesn't take you serious as a business owner.

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Grumpy

That's damned true, but it is only one side of the coin. The other side is that when it comes to disciplining them or releasing them from employment, YOU the employer have too much of a personal connection with them.

When I started my business, I told my family flat out that I don't hire family, period. When my brother wanted to move back to town his wife asked if i would give him a job. I responded only if he can't find a job and he has to keep looking while he works for me. He ended up finding a job right away, which was a huge boulder lifted from my shoulders.

AHS

Thanks for the advise guys.

I would definatly rather be dealing with this than no work at all...I might sub out a few jobs to take the heat off & in the mean time find some expierenced workers.

Right now, I need to be too many places at once & there is not enough hours in the day to get everything done. I suppose the 70-80 hour weeks are unavoidable as I put together all the pieces of the puzzle.

copusbuilder

I had a (now ex) brother in law work with me around 5 years. He was always a pain in the a$$.
In the end he hated me and showed me by quitting and working for Lowes. He took a 9 dollar an hour paycut but showed me?
Was and still is a freekin jerk.

Not trying to play the pro here but you may consider slowing it down and working on the job yourself for a while. When the guys learn how you like to do it you can spend more time away. May have to do Saturday bid days and long nights but you'll coast one day.

Just be sure you can physically and mentally handle the load? A younger age will help also....Just don't forget family if you have it

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