hired a helper for cash today....didnt go well

[billbenson]

I think if you want to grow, you will need to hire someone. Hiring someone will also create a dip in your income for a while but it strikes me as a when not if issue. It free's you to do things to grow your business. I would say the time to hire someone is when you can afford it rather than when you can keep them busy. If you at it the way you are now, you may never hire someone and grow. Thats ok if you want to stay a one man show, but I get the feeling you would like to grow.

[huggytree]

i keep gaining more builders/remodelers and also my homeowner sales are now up 70 percent for 2010

things are gaining steam...if it keeps going at this pace ill have no choice.....growing will just happen at this point....unless i stop accepting new customers my business is going to grow...

my goal is a 6 man shop....

[Harold Mansfield]

You say that you are also doing 30-40 hours of office work? Maybe you could start there and hire someone part time to do that aspect of the businesses, eventually freeing up more time.

[Spider]

I expect anyone who wants to grow their business will want to manage the business - otherwise, stay self-employed, where no management is required. If you want to own a 6-person business but not manage it, then hire a proper manager, not someone part-time to "help in the office."

If you are going to grow your business and be the manager, you must replace yourself in the field, not in the office. IOW, hire a fully-qualified full-time plumber and spend more time in the office yourself getting more work. Then when you have enough work for him and your own p/t field work, hire another plumber and spend even more time in the office getting more work. Do this until you are a full-time manager getting work for your six employees.

[Steve B]

Dave - I really admire your systematic approach to finding a trigger for your hiring decision. But, I don't think that decision lends itself to a strict formula. Your question shouldn't be how much work do I need before I can justify hiring someone else. Your question should be how much more work will I have if I can devote more time to marketing, networking, and managing the business. You've grown your business very quickly - but, in the beginning you had a lot of time to do the marketing. Now, because your marketing has been effective - you are so busy plumbing that you dont' have time to do the marketing. Your business also grew because of your quality work. This can continue - as long as you hold your employees to the "Dave" standard. This takes a lot of management skill - but, it certainly can be done. It's done all the time. There are lots of companies that keep up a quality product/service even after the founders are no longer doing operations.

As successful as your business is - you are only a broken ankle away from financial turmoil. Anything more serious and you will likely be in financial ruin. You owe it to your family to be in a more secure position than that. The only way around that is to build your business so it can carry forward without your direct involvement in day to day work.

I'm nowhere near where I want to be, BUT, I was able to take a week long vacation this year while my customers still got taken care of and I still made money. My customers didn't even know I was gone.

[huggytree]

ive made the final decision...im hiring part time when i get back from my vacation...

any work days that i have full day + projects ill have my part timer help me on....i want to go back to 6 hour work days in the field....ive been spending 8-10 in the field and 2-3 at night in the office....its effecting my family life...i dont see my kids much...having a steady part timer is a great 1st step...im up 30 percent this year....so i give a bit of that back...i make enough....im going to be ordering the hand tools and an extra ladder tomorrow....the interviews start in 2 weeks..i want to get a guy up to my speed while the work is steady and not busy....its hard to part with me making all the $$

alot of my office time is bidding....i have to have full control of that....quickbooks time is only about 1-2 hours a week or less.. 2 of the 3 kids are now in school at least 1/2 days...i should get the wife to take over the bills....i have to handle the billing of customers, but she can pay the supplier bills and type in the checks received.

my networking and my flier marketing hasnt been working very well lately...im considering getting out of my BNI group, my flier didnt get me 1 call this last time(it used to get me 5-20)....i have been skipping a few builder association meetings and long term those do get me about 1 builder a year...i was kinda looking forward to sitting back and letting the work come to me...its been whats happening....i dont know with extra free time if it would gain me many extra customers...

that business phone # i bought from that plumber who retired....i paid $750....now its up to $30,000...whats it been ..4 months?....i think it will be $50,000 this year...phone calls on that line are almost 0 now....but the contacts i made are good ones who keep referring me and using me