How Long Is To Long Of A Backlog.

ruskent

Right now, with running 1 3 man crew (not counting myself) i am almost booked until labor day. Acctually i am booked until aug 15 but i know i will have some snags along the way and rain delays.

How long should i let this backlog go before i think about hiring another crew?

mahlere

depends...when we were running full service, a 2 day backlog was enough to look for another tech.

for us, i want and need to have at least 1 truck free everyday for service/emergencies/scheduling snafus.

how many leads are you turning away? how many jobs are you losing because the people don't want to wait that long?

when the volume of lost work is enough to bring on another crew.

ruskent

I am not turning away leads because of the backlog. The only leads i have turned away are leads i would of turned away anyway.

Back log really has not been to big of a proablem yet. But it was just this weekend that i went from 1 month out to 3 months out.

PressurePros

Depends on what you do. I started getting six and seven weeks out and had to strap on my boots and go out to help get things caught up. While I take pride in knowing we do the best possible work, I am not doing high end remodels where craftsmanship comes into play. I started getting "no's" when I told people they would have to wait 6 weeks to have their deck restored. With every painter and landscaper out there offering my service (no offense to anyone) I cannot have people rejecting my bids based upon time time so I bought another truck on Sunday and added a third crew.

I think your market will dictate to you when you need to expand. After you have taken your price to the point of not winning 50% of your bids (based upon my business model) and then people saying they are not willing to wait for you to get them in rotation, it may be time to grow.

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Tscarborough

If your backlog is too large/long, then you are too cheap. Adjust pricing accordingly.

Second Look

Have you thought about hiring a temp, and have them do some of the work that doesn't need much explaining?

That way you can get caught up without feeling committed to a certain volume of work. One big danger of over-hiring is you'll be tempted to take jobs you'd rather not, just to keep the employees busy.

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Mike Finley

I would say you are right at the point where it's time to start thinking about it. A 3 month back log was about the breaking point for me, so it forced me to start making changes faster than I had planned.

It's probably a point for you where you have to make a committment to be able to land more jobs if you hire the second crew. This is where it gets interesting.

ruskent

Yea, this is where it gets interesting. I am 21 years old and really do not want to work in the feild anymore. I want to be a business man now .

I know if i add another crew i am going to have to sell alot more work, so basically i will be out of the feild entirely. Which is exactly what i want to see happen.

Second Look

It's cute how you young guys wear your youth like a badge. I'm over 30, worked desk jobs for Fortune 500 companies and whatnot... really enjoying that I dropped 10 lbs since getting into the biz about 8 months ago.

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ProWallGuy

Ditto. Start raising your prices, and the backlog will thin out, but profit will go up.

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ruskent

Its not like i have a ton of jobs booked. I am on a big job now, and then i have 2) 2 week jobs, and a 2.5 day job booked.

SeanATL

I like how you're thinking here.

dirt diggler

that's pretty similar to my "backlog"

When you're at one place and making money - you're losing money somewhere else because you can't be there

that's one of those good/bad problems. It's nice to have the work. But it sucks when you start realizing just how limited in capacity you really are.

ruskent

Things might start to get complicated real fast. I am finally getting the specs for a job i orginally looked at 2 months ago. If i get that, i am going to need to do some major hiring fast. Proably atleast 6 solid months of work if i get this job.

parkerfairfield

Wow... that's a strong generalization. I'd agree with the sentiment ... but I know roofing contractors which are EXCELLENT, charge at the absolute TOP of the scale, and are right now (in the worst market in my area for at least 10 yrs) 8 (eight) weeks out... (Most guys I'm talking to are only 1 week out).

Anywhohow.

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nadonailer

I guess my 1st question would be what kind of work are you doing? If it is large remodels, then being booked even 1 - 2 years would be acceptable in our area (even at $300-$400k per sq) So I guess it depends on your location and specific area of work. I would say that the 'ripe' old age of 21 is waaaay too early to get out of the field. Even if you started out at age 15, thats only 6 years hands on experience, and you'll be competing with guys with 20 - 30 years experience. I would just slow down and pay your dues a little more before you get too big, seen too many guys like you go down. Just my .02, take it for whats its worth....

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ruskent

Most of the work i do are bigger projects. Being 3 months out really is not a big deal since most projects take a minimum of 2 months from the time people call me until me break ground.

Its the small 1 week projects that are hard to put off for 3 months. People just do not want to wait.


I am being very cautious about getting to big to fast. This is year 3 in business. I having grown a ton since year 1. I am watching every dollar that leaves my check book very carefully. I do not want to go down like many contractors do.