Nobody home

[MinUph]

Since ginny left the place has died :)

[gene]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQZ0qmf-mk

Hey Paul,

I was sorry to hear that your volume has slowed and you sent folks home on Thursday.

I've been very busy and once again I'm thinking of hiring someone with upholstery skills. I do think there is enough business out there to grow. However, I just don't know if I want to do all the extra work involved in having employees. A big issue is that I haven't had employees before and I'm thinking there's a big learning curve to all the paper work, etc.

Will I be putting enough additional dollars in my pocket for the additional work?

March was nicely booked out and I was asked if I could get 2 sofas re upholstered before April 3 when the homeowners were moving out of town. That really disrupted my peaceful work load. But, that's a better thing to complain about than having no work.

gene

[sofadoc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQZ0qmf-mk

Will I be putting enough additional dollars in my pocket for the additional work?

Hard to say. My gut feeling is that you will plow through about a dozen bad upholsterers before you hit on 1 good one. And that good one will quickly figure out that he/she can make more money working out of their own garage.

My family did it for years with mediocre results. I tried it for a while, with even poorer results.
I never had enough work to keep multiple employees busy full time, and there really wasn't enough profit margin to pay them what they would've been worth had they been any good.

[MinUph]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQZ0qmf-mk

Hey Paul,

I was sorry to hear that your volume has slowed and you sent folks home on Thursday.
It happens from time to time. Feast or Famine. It will change next week I'm sure.

I've been very busy and once again I'm thinking of hiring someone with upholstery skills. I do think there is enough business out there to grow. However, I just don't know if I want to do all the extra work involved in having employees. A big issue is that I haven't had employees before and I'm thinking there's a big learning curve to all the paper work, etc.
I like to employ people. The paper work I leave to the accountant. I put in hours twice a month, online, for payroll and they take care of the rest.

Will I be putting enough additional dollars in my pocket for the additional work?
I can't say I make much more money myself because of it. But I help feed a few families on the way.

March was nicely booked out and I was asked if I could get 2 sofas re upholstered before April 3 when the homeowners were moving out of town. That really disrupted my peaceful work load. But, that's a better thing to complain about than having no work.
If you had someone else you could have done these without a problem.
Finding good help is not easy but when you do it is worthwhile. Right now I'm doing without a stripper as I find myself and my other bench man do a better job in less time. I do miss him for deliveries but that's ok too.

gene

[byhammerandhand]

One of the best managers I ever had left the company and a while later he and his wife started a small business (T-shirt printing in a college town).   We keep in touch and he told me that hiring employee #1 was a giant step.   Payroll, worker's comp, OSHA, unemployment insurance, to say nothing of policies and procedures (employee manual), hiring and firing, performance reviews, raises, complaints, directions and feedback, training, recovery from errors, etc.  Employees 2,3,4,... etc. get easier up until the point where one person cannot manage them all -- then you have intermediate managers/supervisors, etc.  Also, what do you do when business has a lull and now you have a fixed expense.  Lay them off or reduce hours and loose all that time invested in the person?

I am reminded of my first real job where there were 8 engineers in the group and 10 management and two secretaries.  My particular group had three engineers reporting to one supervisor, who was the sole report to one manager.   A couple of "managers" had no direct reports.  It was not much different from where my wife retired (both insurance companies).

...
I've been very busy and once again I'm thinking of hiring someone with upholstery skills. I do think there is enough business out there to grow. However, I just don't know if I want to do all the extra work involved in having employees. A big issue is that I haven't had employees before and I'm thinking there's a big learning curve to all the paper work, etc.

Will I be putting enough additional dollars in my pocket for the additional work?
...
gene

[MinUph]

As a side note to employing people. If you use square as your cc processing they have a pretty good deal for payroll. I forget the exact costs but it pretty much all inclusive. PR, reporting, w2s, WComp etc. I cant use it because I have a 1099 employee and the service doesn't support that at this time. So I go through my accountant and another service which runs about the same per month but I get hit for W2s at the end of the year. Not a biggy but an extra.

[Mojo]

We have been getting slammed and thankfully had a snowbird who we hired as a part timer. Mindy trained her to cut fabric as well as she got us caught up on a lot of little things we had hanging over our heads that we let slide over the last 6 months. She has handled alot of the admin duties for Mindy and I.

When we trained Mindy we were training her for a managerial role. I didn't want a stitcher but rather someone who could run the company. It has worked out well. Mindy now sews twice as fast as I do and the quality of her work is spot on. With Cynthia cutting and feeding her fabric we can now crank out large numbers of orders. At one time back when I was alone we sometimes ran a 5 week back log. Now we are about 1 week out on orders.

If growth continues like it has then probably the wife will retire and go full time with Mindy.

I am still trying to find my place in the company. I handle all technical calls, do the shows around the country and fix machines if need be. I have trained Mindy on basic machine fixing but if one needs retiming or has other issues then I do that work myself. Otherwise, I walk into the shop, look around and see there is nothing for me to do so I walk back out again and leave them alone. I refuse to micro manage an employee. If I have to constantly watch over someone then I would fire them.

We really lucked out hiring Mindy. She has been a rock star, has not missed one day in the last year  and our customers love her. Her dedication to the company and our customers blows me away. I am finding more and more positive responses on social media and other forums because of her. We take very good care of her by giving her bonuses, gifts, etc. We have reached the point now that if I get hit by a bus, she will be able to keep the company going. With my disease, my ticket could get punched at any time. I sleep better knowing this company will carry on.

We feel real blessed because I hear horror stories from buddies who own companies in other trades. Some have constant headaches from employing people.

In regards to the paperwork, it is pretty easy in Florida. There is no income tax and if you employ under 4 people there is no workers comp. Florida is a great place for an employer.

Chris 

It has been a huge help

My wife does the payroll.