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Subject - A leap of faith
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David Hyatt
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I am really getting swamped with work since I got licensed. But I don't know how long it will last. I was thinking about getting another van and hiring an electrician and a helper. I can run service and they can do bigger jobs. I have more than my son and I can do, I have even been turning down work lately, but I don't know if I can maintain enough to keep two more men busy 40 hours per week. I don't want to turn down work, what should I do?????? Also not just having work for them but enough for me to make money off of them. If I can't make a decent profit off another crew, it wouldn't be worth the hassle. Any advice?
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John A. Peters
| No new van, hire another electrician, have him work on the same job with you. After a while see if you can trust him enough to leave him on the job while you bid the next job.
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wilkie
| David,
I would be very careful with this decision. I'm not implying that this is the case, but it is very easy to get swamped with low profit margin work. To add an additional van and employee, the costs are staggering. On the flip side, once done, they pay for themselves. We were extremely nervous when we were in your shoes. It has worked out extremely well for us, but we do nothing but residential service work so I'm not sure about the bigger jobs, you run service stuff. If your service rates are priced appropriately, and your incoming requests for service are high enough, you shouldn't have a problem. And as always, my favorite tip on overcoming a slump or slow period, sell more add-ons at the jobs you are already on. That one thing may put you over the hump of keeping more people busy for 40 hrs. Also, you may want to speak with a CPA about the reduction in your tax liabilities with certain vehicles. It is cheaper for us to buy brand new vans.
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