How Do You Let Go Of Control?

Melissa

This is related to Grumpy and Copus's post. My husband has a big problem with letting go of control, like mentioned in the post. On one hand I admire him for taking so much pride in his work, but on the other, I just want him to work less and for us to make more profit- we need it! He's afraid the guys will make mistakes and cost us big dough and we really can't afford any mistakes right now. It's sort of a catch-22. And a lot of what we do doesn't come up often enough for them to be trainned well (custom kitchs and baths). However, even if they were, I'm not sure if my husband would give up the control. Like tomorrow (Sat ) he just needs to shave an exterior door down. I would think the guys could handle that???

So, for those of you that have done it, how do you do it? And how did it go at first?

ProWallGuy

I have learned that I will NEVER find someone who can do the job as good as I can. At least I think that way. But, the thing is, average customers have NO IDEA what the difference is between a good job and a great job. Take Suzy Homeowner, and show her a job I did, and it looks freakin' fabulous. Then show her a job done by someone else that is pretty good. She will think they both look good. Point is, the customer can't tell the difference between a good job and a great job. Let go of trying to do a great job, and hire someone who can do a good job.

George Z can tell you more on this as he recently let go of the reins, and is loving/profiting from it.

And yes, at first its hard to let go. But, if you put systems in place where the employees do all the tasks they way you have set up the systems (per Michael Gerber's teachings, and Michaels Stone's teachings), then the jobs will be done as YOU would have done them. Think Ray Kroc had a hard time letting go of the reins when he built the McDonalds Empire? If he had no systems in place, their product would have been all across the board, and the business model would have failed. But by having systems in place for the way things were done, all his empire was/is churning out the exact same product everywhere you find them, and they are an obvious huge success.

This isn't saying you want/have to grow to McD's proportions, but you see what I'm getting at.

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DaveH

Mel,
I can call you Mel can't I?
I came from a family business. It was my Dad, three brothers, and myself. We had a home building comany, a drywall/interiors company, and a chain of material supply yards. My Dad hated deligating. As soon as he saw someone doing something that wasn't exactly the way he'd do it, he was up the ladder, across the room, etc. to do it himself. We stayed relatively small because of it for years. One day while complaining to my Mom about how it all has to be done by him, she said "why?". He said "so it gets done right!" She said "we build 8 houses a year, and sell them all, Barry (one of my Dad's builder friends) Builds 20 a year, and hardly touches a piece of wood, and they all sell too" She went on to say "If he can do it so can you" My Dad replied "what if someone screws up?" She said "Yes they will screw up some things, but they'll get fixed, but with you out making sales, and furthering our brand name we will more than compensate" He let loose of the reigns just a little and finally saw the difference. If you want to grow you have to deligate. I was given the task of running the supply chain. Multiple locations, and I couldn't be at all at the same time. I identified the couple of guys who ahd the company first mindset I needed. I trained them, I was there for any questions they had, and let them get to it. They made many mistakes, but they learned from them and rarely repeated them. I took good care of them as far as pay, and benifits, and they cared as much about the business as I did. Why did they?
Because I gave them a sense of ownership. I rewarded them for making good descisions. In this world there are two mindsets. The owners, and the employees. The owner says "work harder and I'll give you more". The employee says "I'll work harder when you give me more". As the owner you have to bridge this gap. The employees can't because they don't call the shots, you do. Identify a great employee you have. They may not be the greatest now, but look for potential. The guy who is always on time. The guy who doesn't call in sick. Take this person and give them a little bit more pay, and responsibility. Tell them what you have in mind for them 1st and ask if they are up to the task. Then give them a shot. True leaders are hard to find, and you might have to go thru a few people before you find the one, but they are out there. The true masters of business aren't the guys working in the field, working the assembly line, etc. They are the one's making the deals to keep these guys busy. Hopefully you can be the voice of wisdom in you husbands ear to help him see this. Some people will never deligate NEVER! They stay as Mom and Pop operations dealing with the little things all day while the big things pass them by....
Good luck

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Grumpy

Do what you do best and hire those to do what you don't do well or have time to do. If he wants to be a hands on guy supervising every job, Kudos to him! However wearing too many hats, as most of us do, means you can't focus on just one thing. If he wants to be on the job site as much as possible perhaps you should consider hiring a salesman to generate more work at higher prices. This will leave him free to spend more time on site, and still keep work coming in.

pwrpapa

There's plenty of good help that can do the job better then you can.
The thing is, nobody wants to pay these people what they are worth.
If people were smart, they would hire these over qualified tradesman an pay them a decent salary. If I remember correctly it worked for Henry Ford. But all construction people think they are god's gift to the industry. An they are the only ones that can think an pound nails at the same time. I never had a problem letting my people take control of a project, they might surprise you with their talent! The first thing you have to let go of is your bid ego, that would be a start.
Are you affaid that they will make you look bad if they do the job better than you can?

pwrpapa

Grumpy,
I admire your way of thinking. I'm sure you will do very well with your biz if you practice what you are preachin.

Tom R

It's just his personality type, - - I'm the same way . . .

It's not likely to change . . .

Melissa

That's what I'm afraid of Tom.
I can understand to a point, but shaving a friggin door down and change the hinges (they came in wrong color). Come on!! He had to take our 3 y.o. with him, because I had to take the baby somewhere. Our 3 y.o. hunted for bugs in the HO's backyard while he worked! Oh, and we just got the keys to our new shop last night. Ya'd think he had more important things to do and could've delegated the door task?! He drives me nuts!

Dave gives me hope though! I think we just need to have 2 more boys then we can have a construction crew we can count on! NO WAY!

Thanks for the great responses. I think I'll print this out and see if he'll change. If not I'll just hit him over the head with a hammer like someone suggested to me a while back. Think it was Copus. Good idea!

Sparky Joe

Peter is the same way(you know who I'm talking about), but he says the only reason he has so much is because he's out there doing it himself(and the sweet contracts). And he's much more particular than Mike, I think Mike has a hard time taking the time to show someone exactly what he wants done and how to do it. I can relate though, when I'm at my 9-5 I don't really care how long something takes(though I make sure it's done very nice), but when I'm doing work for myself I find myself getting frustrated with stupid things like the drill not drilling holes fast enough, or even having to stop working for five seconds to go use the bathroom.

Melissa

Hey little brother! A major difference between us and Peter was that his business, the cell sites, was systematic and his wife was able to take care of all the business side on her own. Plus once a contract was in place, I don't think there was much business to do anyway nor any odds or ends. It was very cut and dry, each done in 1 day. Another big difference is that it paid a hell of a lot of money- I think around $4k per night!

If customers were willing to pay say, $150+ per hour to do remedial stuff like the doors, and there weren't any other business matters where his skills were needed more, and it wasn't done on a Saturday, then I would have no problem with it at all.

Sparky Joe

Wow, that was a lot of dough he was raking in, lucky

Glasshousebltr

How do I let go of control?.........I think ya have to have it to start with.

Bob

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ApgarNJ

melissa, i'm the same way. i like to be on the job at all times and i don't have a lot of employees either. one big job going at a time with a few small sides jobs while that big one is going. i think what's holding me back right now is finding reliable help. i wouldn't mind being in a foreman type roll and be able to start multiple big jobs at once, but at this time, that's not going to happen. i can understand where your husband is coming from.
I also look at it this way. i can make really good money doing exactly what i'm doing now, so why have the hassle of getting lots of employees and more trucks, just to try and make more money, it's just more payroll, more insurance and more maintaince on trucks. they'll abuse stuff because it's not theirs. and i won't have the high quality that my customers expect from me.
when you have employees doing most of the work, yeah you can do more jobs at one time, but you can't figure your full salary into the job and also pay all the guys doing the work, and expect to get too many jobs, you end up getting the profit% and markups, but less in a salary. therefore, you have to have so many jobs going at one time, to make up for that lack of your own salary figured into the jobs. hope that made sense. didn't mean to ramble.
I've consulted with builders who had many guys working for them, and they are now with one or two employees doing the same type of work, and making good money, but without all the headaches and added stress of running 10 jobs at a time.
customers also like it when you show up almost everyday and do work, rather than pulling off the job and coming back a week or two or more later.

ProWallGuy

I think this is the important part that most of you are missing.
Nobody said he has to let go of control. In fact, he would still be in control. What is done is called delegating. Its not like hiring subs, and letting them loose to do it their way. You hire on employess, and teach them to do it your way.

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Digital Murals Installation

Sparky Joe

You don't even need to rely on all your employees, just a few to run jobs for you and they get the headache of staying on the guys that are working beneath them.

I think this is the key difference between big companys and little ones. I don't know if Mike wants to get into commercial work where there is much bigger money to be made, but I think if he did this situation wouldn't be an issue.

Teetorbilt

Letting go is something that I refuse to do because of the nature of my business.

Most business people do this because they just want to maximize profits, which is what business people do. They deliver an average product at an average price at the lowest cost to them. Everything is delegated and most are held in low esteem and........Most make much more money than I do.

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dayspring

I've attempted to give control over my guys to the best one I had, only to find I'm having to go back myself and straighten up the job(s). When I'm onsite more gets done, higher quality work is produced, and I make more money. I can't seem to find GOOD help. Just a difficult thing to get around here. I have now got myself over-extended, finishing one, doing a small bath job and starting a larger project, all at the same time. I would love to find a man and pay him well to take some of this load.

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Tom R

Great point, - - but one that most people who don't do 'multi-faceted custom work' will never understand . . .

Teetorbilt

I find that I'm in a dying trade. Today, quality is falling off of the list. Fast and cheap seems to be overtaking all of the trades.

Older folks still admire fine work but are going away. The younger ones just want 'the look' ASAP.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

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Tom R

True, - - I try to lean more and more towards 'custom work only' as time goes on, - - let's face it, - - a lot of these 'rip-n-run' artists can't even touch real finish carpentry . . .