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Self Employment SUCKS

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

steve schweitzer

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Hello Everyone, what I am referring to when I say self employment sucks is owning a small one or two person business where you are responsible to all the work performed.

This is NOT being in business, this is just a job you have created for yourself, and it sucks!

I do agree that in the beginning phases of your business you will have to do this type of work but my point is that you should look to hire people to replace yourself in these roles as soon as possible and work yourself in the position of the OWNER, not employee.

I am in this phase currently.

A couple years ago my vintage auto parts business, which I have over 500K invested in, not including over 1 million of my lost time, totally fell apart (due to me relying on ebay as my primary sales channel, very very stupid on my part). I was basically forced to go back to restoring and repairing classic cars (musclecars and hot rods), go get a job, or go bankrupt.

I had been in this industry most of my life and owned a large shop where I was the owner and had people doing all the work years ago. I sold that business in 2004. Thankfully I kept all my personal tools so I could restore my own classic cars as a hobby but ended up needing them to eat.

I will be 56 next month and I can tell you busting a$$ 6 - 7 days a week doing this very physical, dirty, dusty work SUCKS more that words can describe. I go home covered in sanding dust and exhausted physically (I am in good shape and not overweight or sick, just getting older).

My point is: do you want to be in your 50's - 60's, work 6 - 7 days a week only just to get by, come home sore with bloody hands all while totally wrecking your body? This is what self employment will get you.

Having to work like this is just a temporary, emergency type situation for me. I have a good business built up and will be working myself out of this role very soon.

Thanks for listening.
 
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Hello Everyone, what I am referring to when I say self employment sucks is owing a small one or two person business where you are responsible to all the work performed.

This is NOT being in business, this is just a job you have created for yourself, and it sucks!

I do agree that in the beginning phases of your business you will have to do this type of work but my point is that you should look to hire people to replace yourself in these roles as soon as possible and work yourself in the position of the OWNER, not employee.

I am in this phase currently.

A couple years ago my vintage auto parts business, which I have over 500K invested in, not including over 1 million of my lost time, totally fell apart (due to me relying on ebay as my primary sales channel, very very stupid on my part). I was basically forced to go back to restoring and repairing classic cars (musclecars and hot rods), go get a job, or go bankrupt.

I had been in this industry most of my life and owned a large shop where I was the owner and had people doing all the work years ago. I sold that business in 2004. Thankfully I kept all my personal tools so I could restore my own classic cars as a hobby but ended up needing them to eat.

I will be 56 next month and I can tell you busting a$$ 6 - 7 days a week doing this very physical, dirty, dusty work SUCKS more that words can describe. I go home covered in sanding dust and exhausted physically (I am in good shape and not overweight or sick, just getting older).

My point is: do you want to be in your 50's - 60's, work 6 - 7 days a week only just to get by, come home sore with bloody hands all while totally wrecking your body? This is what self employment will get you.

Having to work like this is just a temporary, emergency type situation for me. I have a good business built up and will be working myself out of this role very soon.

Thanks for listening.
Sorry to hear you’re in that position, and feel that way too Steve.

I’d say it’s less about being self-employed than about the work you’re doing?

I’m 50, have a full-time developer, and do all the sales, consulting, content creation, account management, etc myself. And I love it.

I’ve some MRR that is reasonably passive, and lots of projects on the go to increase it slowly.

What can you do to divorce your earnings from your time?
 

steve schweitzer

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Sorry to hear you’re in that position, and feel that way too Steve.

I’d say it’s less about being self-employed than about the work you’re doing?

I’m 50, have a full-time developer, and do all the sales, consulting, content creation, account management, etc myself. And I love it.

I’ve some MRR that is reasonably passive, and lots of projects on the go to increase it slowly.

What can you do to divorce your earnings from your time?
Hello Andy,

I agree about the type of work being physical and demanding.

My main point is that you do not want to be in the position of having to do the work in your business when you should be working ON your business growing it.

My plan is to build up a large classic car restoration and repair business where I hire bodymen, painters, mechanics, upholstery techs, helpers and managers.

I have 40 years in this industry and know it inside and out. While I had the vintage salve yard and parts business I always maintained a presence in this industry and and still fairly well known as an expert regarding this field.

It is not scalable, like say a software company, but can still be somewhat fastlane.

My goal is to have this business where within a year I am totally out of the shop and only focusing on the business side of things. This is how I built my last repair shop and sold it.

Thanks for the reply
 
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hexelbyte

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I'm not 100% sure about the automobile industry.
But I have some minor experience with my father's hobby in repairing vehicles.

You can definitely branch from vintage to used cars.
Many people want a trustworthy mechanic to repair 5+ year old automobiles.

Just an idea and a view that 'not scalable' is just how you view the business.
Thanks!
 

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Hello Everyone, what I am referring to when I say self employment sucks is owing a small one or two person business where you are responsible to all the work performed.

This is NOT being in business, this is just a job you have created for yourself, and it sucks!

I do agree that in the beginning phases of your business you will have to do this type of work but my point is that you should look to hire people to replace yourself in these roles as soon as possible and work yourself in the position of the OWNER, not employee.

I am in this phase currently.

A couple years ago my vintage auto parts business, which I have over 500K invested in, not including over 1 million of my lost time, totally fell apart (due to me relying on ebay as my primary sales channel, very very stupid on my part). I was basically forced to go back to restoring and repairing classic cars (musclecars and hot rods), go get a job, or go bankrupt.

I had been in this industry most of my life and owned a large shop where I was the owner and had people doing all the work years ago. I sold that business in 2004. Thankfully I kept all my personal tools so I could restore my own classic cars as a hobby but ended up needing them to eat.

I will be 56 next month and I can tell you busting a$$ 6 - 7 days a week doing this very physical, dirty, dusty work SUCKS more that words can describe. I go home covered in sanding dust and exhausted physically (I am in good shape and not overweight or sick, just getting older).

My point is: do you want to be in your 50's - 60's, work 6 - 7 days a week only just to get by, come home sore with bloody hands all while totally wrecking your body? This is what self employment will get you.

Having to work like this is just a temporary, emergency type situation for me. I have a good business built up and will be working myself out of this role very soon.

Thanks for listening.
Growing up, I remember really liking a local sandwich franchise, Blimpie.

I remember vividly that the owners, a really nice couple, whom I got to know, were there Monday through Monday every single week, every single year. They had ZERO vacations. They couldn’t. They would have to shut the entire place down. It was open every day.

The best they got was one of them would take the day off, but they didn’t get to be with the other. Unreal way to live. Eventually their little kids would hang out there after school, because where else would they go?

I remember thinking how trapped they were. They couldn’t afford to hire anyone else at the time and they couldn’t afford not to be open. It was my first taste of thinking business should be built larger than just you and your effort or… why bother?

Great post.
 

steve schweitzer

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I'm not 100% sure about the automobile industry.
But I have some minor experience with my father's hobby in repairing vehicles.

You can definitely branch from vintage to used cars.
Many people want a trustworthy mechanic to repair 5+ year old automobiles.

Just an idea and a view that 'not scalable' is just how you view the business.
Thanks!
Yes part of what I do in the classic car business is to have a couple cars of our own that we have for sale.
 
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MTF

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You need to read The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber. It was written for people exactly like you.
 

steve schweitzer

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Growing up, I remember really liking a local sandwich franchise, Blimpie.

I remember vividly that the owners, a really nice couple, whom I got to know, were there Monday through Monday every single week, every single year. They had ZERO vacations. They couldn’t. They would have to shut the entire place down. It was open every day.

The best they got was one of them would take the day off, but they didn’t get to be with the other. Unreal way to live. Eventually their little kids would hang out there after school, because where else would they go?

I remember thinking how trapped they were. They couldn’t afford to hire anyone else at the time and they couldn’t afford not to be open. It was my first taste of thinking business should be built larger than just you and your effort or… why bother?

Great post.
Yes I agree and refuse to end up like that.

The VAST majority of shops in my industry are run by mechanics or bodymen that went out on their own and now just turn wrenches or sand cars for themselves. These guys end up old, bitter with broken bodies when they no longer can do this physical work.

I REFUSE to be one of them.

I reiterate that the ONLY reason I am doing this physical work is was an emergency type situation where it was my best option.

Also, I have been listening to your podcasts on youtube and this has been really good to inspire me to build a business that I need to be financially independent. Thank you so much for your insight.
 
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Andy Black

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What are you doing to divorce your income from your time? Anything we can help you with?
 

steve schweitzer

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What are you doing to divorce your income from your time? Anything we can help you with
At the moment I am having to work as a self employed restoration technician but do have one helper who does tear down and cleanup as well as getting the cars prepped for paint for me.

Like I stated I have a LOT of experience in this industry (master certifications, etc ) and have well over 100K of work sitting here at the shop currently and a couple hundred thousand of work lined up.

My next step is to hire a good bodyman, mechanic, painter and move into a much larger facility. I currently have a 1600SF shop but will need one closer to 10K SF when I get all setup.

I have attached a couple pictures to show what kind of work I am currently doing as well as one I finished last year.

These will all be high end showcars and the paint jobs alone run in the 25 - 40K range.

I am sure I will have a ton of questions here in the process of growing this into a 7 figure business.
 

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Danny V.

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Not the most ideal situation based on your background but that’s the past and your cooking with gas now.

Would adding some admin or back of house help to your business? Such as adding to your list of positions to fill you want to bring on; Sourcing cars and selling them, answering calls, part orders, accounting, etc…
 
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Andy Black

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At the moment I am having to work as a self employed restoration technician but do have one helper who does tear down and cleanup as well as getting the cars prepped for paint for me.

Like I stated I have a LOT of experience in this industry (master certifications, etc ) and have well over 100K of work sitting here at the shop currently and a couple hundred thousand of work lined up.

My next step is to hire a good bodyman, mechanic, painter and move into a much larger facility. I currently have a 1600SF shop but will need one closer to 10K SF when I get all setup.

I have attached a couple pictures to show what kind of work I am currently doing as well as one I finished last year.

These will all be high end showcars and the paint jobs alone run in the 25 - 40K range.

I am sure I will have a ton of questions here in the process of growing this into a 7 figure business.
Wow. Love the pictures.

Who in your industry is where you want to be (lifestyle and business wise)?
 

steve schweitzer

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Wow. Love the pictures.

Who in your industry is where you want to be (lifestyle and business wise)?
There are several really high end restoration shops around the country.

Here are a few:


These are just a couple of the premier shops in the country. These shops all have really big operations and do strong 7 figure sales per year.

None of the owners at these shops do any of the day to day stuff they all have professional general managers.

All these shops have at least a year long waiting list and usually more.

These are shops in the top 20 % and I will be among that figure soon.

Thanks for your input
 

steve schweitzer

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Not the most ideal situation based on your background but that’s the past and your cooking with gas now.

Would adding some admin or back of house help to your business? Such as adding to your list of positions to fill you want to bring on; Sourcing cars and selling them, answering calls, part orders, accounting, etc…
I absolutely will hire a full time admin person as soon as I get into a bigger shop. Right now I am totally maxed out on space.
 
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steve schweitzer

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Something else to consider about being self employed.

I tripped and fell in my shop last week and very well could have broken my hip or leg. I seriously bruised myself and have been working sore all week.

If I would have broken anything that would have put me out of commission and income would totally stop!

Not a good position to be in
 

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What other revenue streams can make use of your skills, experience, and other assets?
 

Johnny boy

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You should've gotten out of that phase 2 years after you started.

Businesses everywhere are plagued by flawed thinking and lazy systems which make the owners falsely believe they HAVE to stay small.

"I can't find good help"

"It's not profitable enough for me to stop doing the work yet"

"It became too much of a headache"

"Growing has become a nightmare. Better to stay small"

Those things are not the problem. The problems are other things.

The below problems are the case for most businesses.

1. The business says yes to the wrong types of work.
2. The business has shit marketing and sales.
3. The business has too high of a standard for their employees to reasonably perform.

I'll use my home services company as an example since I know it the best.

Saying yes to the wrong type of work
Our company offers lawn maintenance services. Could I personally do other work such as installing retaining walls, building fountains, installing sprinkler systems, etc? Yes I could learn those skills. But can I easily hire someone for a low wage to perform those services? No.

Those things are one-time jobs, which require someone to give a quote, enter them into our software/system, put them on the schedule, etc. All for a single visit? If I were to scale, my scheduling system would be a shit show. It would be a nightmare. I would need much more administrative support, which cuts into profit margins. It's just not scalable.

Saying yes to that kind of work would create massive headaches for us if we were to try and scale. Yet I have been told hundreds of times by well intentioned idiots to say yes to all sorts of specialized types of services and I always smile and say "someday". (never lol)

Saying yes to these types of things would mean I could never hire anyone good since they would have to be INCREDIBLE at what they do. If your business requires employees to be incredible, you are doomed.

Say yes to easy, small, highly profitable, predictable, regularly scheduled work and you will have 50% profit margins and few headaches. I could manage 10 employees and 400 customers without much problem and my days would be spent going golfing and tanning out on my dock making 40 grand a month. We aren't there yet but it's coming. I wouldn't be able to do that if we were doing one time jobs.

The business has shit marketing and sales
I ask business owners how they find new customers and most of them proudly exclaim "word of mouth". That's why they have a tiny a$$ bush-league business after 15 years.

When you don't have a constant stream of leads and new customers, you have to say yes to more things. You have to charge less money. You have to be at their beck and call for everything. When you have options, you have leverage, options, and profit. Even if you don't need to, upgrade your marketing and sales. It opens up the ability to fix the other problems in your business.

The business has too high of a standard for their employees to reasonably perform
We do basic services only. We keep it simple and all employees have to do is show up and follow the directions on our easy to use dispatching software. Training only needs to take a day or two. The jobs take 25 minutes at a time and I round up their hours if they get done early. Most work days are only 6-7 hours long and they are always paid for 8. We pay an average of $19 an hour to push lawn mowers and the guys love their work. It's low stress, broken up in little short visits, and I'm not breathing down their neck. Their friends hear about the job and try to come work with us. It is always hard to find reliable employees but I have much less of a problem than other companies because I have purposely built positions that are enjoyable and competitive. I have reasonable expectations which is why we do well. I don't expect them to give a fraction of the effort I would give as the owner. If your business requires employees to bust their a$$ and work long hours for $14 an hour, expect them to not give a single F*ck, or they will leave to come work for me. I am nice to them. I ask them for their input. I listen to them and know details about each of them and get to know them. My job as an employer is to create a good experience and a good job for my employees to work at and that's what I have done.

Today, everyone showed up to work. They are out taking care of the jobs and I am getting dressed to go work on my golf swing at the range. I'll answer a call or two and if there's any disasters I will have to take care of them, but things are going well and the hard work I did at first (mental and physical) is paying off.

The entire point is that if you are struggling to grow, you have problems. And those problems are PROBABLY not the problems you THINK you have. You need to have good systems that can scale, say yes to the right kind of work and no to the wrong type of work, charge enough money to hire good employees that enjoy their jobs, market and sell well enough in order to command those high prices, etc. All of those things grouped together equals a happy and profitable business that allows you more freedom and a lot less work.
 
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ProcessPro

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Growing up, I remember really liking a local sandwich franchise, Blimpie.

I remember vividly that the owners, a really nice couple, whom I got to know, were there Monday through Monday every single week, every single year. They had ZERO vacations. They couldn’t. They would have to shut the entire place down. It was open every day.

The best they got was one of them would take the day off, but they didn’t get to be with the other. Unreal way to live. Eventually their little kids would hang out there after school, because where else would they go?

I remember thinking how trapped they were. They couldn’t afford to hire anyone else at the time and they couldn’t afford not to be open. It was my first taste of thinking business should be built larger than just you and your effort or… why bother?

Great post.
Good job learning from your surroundings ;)
 

steve schweitzer

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What other revenue streams can make use of your skills, experience, and other assets?
As far as other streams of income I am going "all in" with this classic car business currently.

Once I get this up and running without my day to day involvement then I plan to branch out into other income streams.

I have done quite a bit of classic car inspections and validation so this would be a good would be a great service. Please can fly you out to the major auctions and pay for your expertise before making what usually ends up being a 6 figure purchase.

I can become certified to be a classic car appraiser.

My wife and I are also discussing getting rental properties once we have the money to invest in them.

These are just a couple ideas but I am sure I will have more as we progress.
 

steve schweitzer

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You should've gotten out of that phase 2 years after you started.

Businesses everywhere are plagued by flawed thinking and lazy systems which make the owners falsely believe they HAVE to stay small.

"I can't find good help"

"It's not profitable enough for me to stop doing the work yet"

"It became too much of a headache"

"Growing has become a nightmare. Better to stay small"

Those things are not the problem. The problems are other things.

The below problems are the case for most businesses.

1. The business says yes to the wrong types of work.
2. The business has shit marketing and sales.
3. The business has too high of a standard for their employees to reasonably perform.

I'll use my home services company as an example since I know it the best.

Saying yes to the wrong type of work
Our company offers lawn maintenance services. Could I personally do other work such as installing retaining walls, building fountains, installing sprinkler systems, etc? Yes I could learn those skills. But can I easily hire someone for a low wage to perform those services? No.

Those things are one-time jobs, which require someone to give a quote, enter them into our software/system, put them on the schedule, etc. All for a single visit? If I were to scale, my scheduling system would be a shit show. It would be a nightmare. I would need much more administrative support, which cuts into profit margins. It's just not scalable.

Saying yes to that kind of work would create massive headaches for us if we were to try and scale. Yet I have been told hundreds of times by well intentioned idiots to say yes to all sorts of specialized types of services and I always smile and say "someday". (never lol)

Saying yes to these types of things would mean I could never hire anyone good since they would have to be INCREDIBLE at what they do. If your business requires employees to be incredible, you are doomed.

Say yes to easy, small, highly profitable, predictable, regularly scheduled work and you will have 50% profit margins and few headaches. I could manage 10 employees and 400 customers without much problem and my days would be spent going golfing and tanning out on my dock making 40 grand a month. We aren't there yet but it's coming. I wouldn't be able to do that if we were doing one time jobs.

The business has shit marketing and sales
I ask business owners how they find new customers and most of them proudly exclaim "word of mouth". That's why they have a tiny a$$ bush-league business after 15 years.

When you don't have a constant stream of leads and new customers, you have to say yes to more things. You have to charge less money. You have to be at their beck and call for everything. When you have options, you have leverage, options, and profit. Even if you don't need to, upgrade your marketing and sales. It opens up the ability to fix the other problems in your business.

The business has too high of a standard for their employees to reasonably perform
We do basic services only. We keep it simple and all employees have to do is show up and follow the directions on our easy to use dispatching software. Training only needs to take a day or two. The jobs take 25 minutes at a time and I round up their hours if they get done early. Most work days are only 6-7 hours long and they are always paid for 8. We pay an average of $19 an hour to push lawn mowers and the guys love their work. It's low stress, broken up in little short visits, and I'm not breathing down their neck. Their friends hear about the job and try to come work with us. It is always hard to find reliable employees but I have much less of a problem than other companies because I have purposely built positions that are enjoyable and competitive. I have reasonable expectations which is why we do well. I don't expect them to give a fraction of the effort I would give as the owner. If your business requires employees to bust their a$$ and work long hours for $14 an hour, expect them to not give a single f*ck, or they will leave to come work for me. I am nice to them. I ask them for their input. I listen to them and know details about each of them and get to know them. My job as an employer is to create a good experience and a good job for my employees to work at and that's what I have done.

Today, everyone showed up to work. They are out taking care of the jobs and I am getting dressed to go work on my golf swing at the range. I'll answer a call or two and if there's any disasters I will have to take care of them, but things are going well and the hard work I did at first (mental and physical) is paying off.

The entire point is that if you are struggling to grow, you have problems. And those problems are PROBABLY not the problems you THINK you have. You need to have good systems that can scale, say yes to the right kind of work and no to the wrong type of work, charge enough money to hire good employees that enjoy their jobs, market and sell well enough in order to command those high prices, etc. All of those things grouped together equals a happy and profitable business that allows you more freedom and a lot less work.
Yes I agree on all these points and followed this basic plan when I grew my other repair shop business and sold it
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Growing up, I remember really liking a local sandwich franchise, Blimpie.

IMO, quite possibly the worst business to own, followed by Quiznos as the margins are so low, they you have no choice but to work there.

I think Subway had the margins to support management and multiple franchises (early on) but now they no longer do. The early adopters (I own 20 franchises!) are the only ones that got rich.

All these shops have at least a year long waiting list and usually more.

I'm guessing they target the high-end niche.

All you need to do is attend a Barret Jackson auction to see how much discretionary cash is in the industry.

This is probably where you need to be.
 

steve schweitzer

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IMO, quite possibly the worst business to own, followed by Quiznos as the margins are so low, they you have no choice but to work there.

I think Subway had the margins to support management and multiple franchises (early on) but now they no longer do. The early adopters (I own 20 franchises!) are the only ones that got rich.



I'm guessing they target the high-end niche.

All you need to do is attend a Barret Jackson auction to see how much discretionary cash is in the industry.

This is probably where you need to be.
Yes the target market for my services are the high end people that enjoy these cars.

It is interesting you mention Barret-Jackson auctions. I currently have a 1970 Cuda here that is in the final stages of a very intense and very expensive restoration.

This car was purchased at one of these auctions a couple years ago and was a total mess, but shiny.

You really need to have an expert look at these cars before purchase (this car was 65K and needed another 90K to be right).

This is a service I intend to offer once I get the larger shop going and do not have to be there for the day to day operations as much.

Thank you for taking the time to reply and I will make sure to post progress reports as I go.
 
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Thrane

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You should've gotten out of that phase 2 years after you started.

Businesses everywhere are plagued by flawed thinking and lazy systems which make the owners falsely believe they HAVE to stay small.

"I can't find good help"

"It's not profitable enough for me to stop doing the work yet"

"It became too much of a headache"

"Growing has become a nightmare. Better to stay small"

Those things are not the problem. The problems are other things.

The below problems are the case for most businesses.

1. The business says yes to the wrong types of work.
2. The business has shit marketing and sales.
3. The business has too high of a standard for their employees to reasonably perform.

I'll use my home services company as an example since I know it the best.

Saying yes to the wrong type of work
Our company offers lawn maintenance services. Could I personally do other work such as installing retaining walls, building fountains, installing sprinkler systems, etc? Yes I could learn those skills. But can I easily hire someone for a low wage to perform those services? No.

Those things are one-time jobs, which require someone to give a quote, enter them into our software/system, put them on the schedule, etc. All for a single visit? If I were to scale, my scheduling system would be a shit show. It would be a nightmare. I would need much more administrative support, which cuts into profit margins. It's just not scalable.

Saying yes to that kind of work would create massive headaches for us if we were to try and scale. Yet I have been told hundreds of times by well intentioned idiots to say yes to all sorts of specialized types of services and I always smile and say "someday". (never lol)

Saying yes to these types of things would mean I could never hire anyone good since they would have to be INCREDIBLE at what they do. If your business requires employees to be incredible, you are doomed.

Say yes to easy, small, highly profitable, predictable, regularly scheduled work and you will have 50% profit margins and few headaches. I could manage 10 employees and 400 customers without much problem and my days would be spent going golfing and tanning out on my dock making 40 grand a month. We aren't there yet but it's coming. I wouldn't be able to do that if we were doing one time jobs.

The business has shit marketing and sales
I ask business owners how they find new customers and most of them proudly exclaim "word of mouth". That's why they have a tiny a$$ bush-league business after 15 years.

When you don't have a constant stream of leads and new customers, you have to say yes to more things. You have to charge less money. You have to be at their beck and call for everything. When you have options, you have leverage, options, and profit. Even if you don't need to, upgrade your marketing and sales. It opens up the ability to fix the other problems in your business.

The business has too high of a standard for their employees to reasonably perform
We do basic services only. We keep it simple and all employees have to do is show up and follow the directions on our easy to use dispatching software. Training only needs to take a day or two. The jobs take 25 minutes at a time and I round up their hours if they get done early. Most work days are only 6-7 hours long and they are always paid for 8. We pay an average of $19 an hour to push lawn mowers and the guys love their work. It's low stress, broken up in little short visits, and I'm not breathing down their neck. Their friends hear about the job and try to come work with us. It is always hard to find reliable employees but I have much less of a problem than other companies because I have purposely built positions that are enjoyable and competitive. I have reasonable expectations which is why we do well. I don't expect them to give a fraction of the effort I would give as the owner. If your business requires employees to bust their a$$ and work long hours for $14 an hour, expect them to not give a single f*ck, or they will leave to come work for me. I am nice to them. I ask them for their input. I listen to them and know details about each of them and get to know them. My job as an employer is to create a good experience and a good job for my employees to work at and that's what I have done.

Today, everyone showed up to work. They are out taking care of the jobs and I am getting dressed to go work on my golf swing at the range. I'll answer a call or two and if there's any disasters I will have to take care of them, but things are going well and the hard work I did at first (mental and physical) is paying off.

The entire point is that if you are struggling to grow, you have problems. And those problems are PROBABLY not the problems you THINK you have. You need to have good systems that can scale, say yes to the right kind of work and no to the wrong type of work, charge enough money to hire good employees that enjoy their jobs, market and sell well enough in order to command those high prices, etc. All of those things grouped together equals a happy and profitable business that allows you more freedom and a lot less work.
This is a great post! Personally i own a mobile car wash business which is quite new, and my main concern is how I can hire staff, that will deliver a quality service. To deal with this i'm creating systems for everything, and simplify those systems as much as possible.
 

Johnny boy

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This is a great post! Personally i own a mobile car wash business which is quite new, and my main concern is how I can hire staff, that will deliver a quality service. To deal with this i'm creating systems for everything, and simplify those systems as much as possible.
Always have extra people. look at it like a baseball team. You have guys on the bench in case someone needs to come in. You wouldn't play a game with only 9 guys because if someone goes down you can't just quit the game. Same thing for employees. Then, make the work stupid simple because employees will always mess up. Make it so the mess ups are few and far between by making very easy systems. Charge high prices to pay for good employees that cause less headaches.
 

NewManRising

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Always have extra people. look at it like a baseball team. You have guys on the bench in case someone needs to come in. You wouldn't play a game with only 9 guys because if someone goes down you can't just quit the game. Same thing for employees. Then, make the work stupid simple because employees will always mess up. Make it so the mess ups are few and far between by making very easy systems. Charge high prices to pay for good employees that cause less headaches.
Do you target residential, commercial, or both? I worked for a commercial landscaping business briefly. I quit because I didn't like the other employees. It may be something I start myself later on.

I realized all you need is a lawnmower, weed whacker, rakes, and a bucket to do most jobs. Then maybe a hard edger and blower down the line.
 
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Johnny boy

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Do you target residential, commercial, or both? I worked for a commercial landscaping business briefly. I quit because I didn't like the other employees. It may be something I start myself later on.

I realized all you need is a lawnmower, weed whacker, rakes, and a bucket to do most jobs. Then maybe a hard edger and blower down the line.
More than a mower or anything you need two things

1. Heavy local demand for the services you’re going to offer
2. A large pool of young and hardworking people willing to work for $17-$20 an hour

Both of those things are discovered by testing. 1. Run ads and see if you can get customers to signup and 2. Hire people and see if you can get them to work.

Those are the real necessities.

We do residential. They sign our contracts. There’s no “send our billing department an invoice”. We have cards on file that get charged automatically on the first of the month before we even perform services. No net 30 bullshit. No giant properties. Just regular residential folks with tiny little lawns paying $1800 a year for us to be there 20 times for 20 minutes a visit. Add that up for 150 customers and we have a 40-50% profit margin.

All of our employees are somewhat conservative, young, hardworking white guys. They all like each other and they enjoy their work.
 

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