question for you Art Kelly types

[Mikey P]

The loan wolfs, no helper types...


If you snap your ankle today out on the lake or on a hike, how do you handle the next six weeks?

Do you speed train the annoying unemployed neighbor? A family member steps in? The five grand in cash under the mattress should cover us, disability insurance? The wife's income can get us through?

Happened to me in 03 and I've never gone solo since.


Seeing how more than half the industry is one guy and one truck, it's a worthy discussion.

 

[FB7777]

Yea this ought to be good...

It's an interesting journey for lone wolves

With 99% of the stories ending with .......

" the number you have reached has been disconnected, no further information is available"

 

[Art Kelley]

I just take the financial hit. It happened to me twice, once in a February 25 years ago when I broke my fibula playing soccer and again three years ago when I amputated my finger and was off all of that July. Lost 10-12 G income that time, had to call and cancel and reschedule dozens of jobs. A lot of customers waited for me to heal and those that didn't want to wait I told to call Hagopians.
It really is an incentive to always be careful to not get a foolish injury and to keep yourself healthy and strong.
If I was worried about it I would get disability insurance. Getting seriously sick or injured sucks whether you are a lone operator or run a multi truck operation like Ken Snow did.

 

[bob vawter]

heck i thought Art was gonna snap sumthin' out in my shop.....

 

[joey895]

I could survive a week or two down but I'd probably be screwed anything longer than that.

I do have a friend that helps occasionally that may would be willing to do some jobs and could possibly get my fireman brother in law to help some but they both have full time jobs and neither like pushing a wand very much.

That being said, I do hope to someday at the very least have a helper. I'm just a terrible business guy so it's taking me a while to get there.

I've been kicking around the idea of a business coach for a while now and will probably go that way in the near future.

I called a guy about coaching a few years ago when I was really getting desperate and thought I might have to shut down and he basically said he couldn't help me unless/until I doubled my sales. I have managed to survive and have doubled my sales since then but that conversation has me a little apprehensive about contacting someone else for coaching.

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Tapatalk.

 

[Derek]

been there, in the past 10 years i've had a broken collarbone and then a few years later i broke my hand. rescheduled work mostly, every1 was understanding. a local friend is a CC'er, Kevin did 1 large restaurant for us. my pop did another small job (bank) with my wife. 2 friends helped my wife on a small job (empty apartment.) did several jobs myself while in a cast and delirious on Vicodin. rescheduled everything else. if we were CC'ed mostly resi, it would be tough!

before the hand break we got a relatively cheap disability insurance. that actually helped a lot. we are fortunate that most of our Clients are very understanding, we have a great relationship with them.

our goal is to never have to hire any1. we certainly don't have the work (yet) to support any1 else!

 

[hogjowl]

You took a month off because you cut your finger off?

Pussy.

 

[truckmount girl]

This is one of the reasons you befriend your local competition. You can help each other out when one of you is down. I have known of people who were injured or ill who's competitors not only covered their jobs but brought them all or a large portion of the money for it AND helped them with things that needed done at home.

What comes around, goes around.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[Doug Cox]

I broke my leg about 7 years ago in a motorcycle accident. Was off 6 weeks and it was fine. I had a van setup I was selling that was paid off, so that helped. I have enough available cash to handle such an occurrence.

 

[ruff]

It is a worthy discussion indeed.

Most O/O that have been around and were smart enough to invest in creating good will with their clients will survive. I did.

Had two operations (most clients were willing to wait). Used to go to good old Israel once a year for about three weeks (again, most clients were willing to wait.)

Did I lose some money?- You bet.
Did it kill my business?- Nope.

However, for those that don't run an Hagopian size operation say 1 to 3 vans, let us expand the discussion (don't hesitate to join Fred B.) to:

1. What happens when you train someone that gives you notice when the real busy time starts?
2. What happens when your employee dilutes the quality you've worked so hard to create.

And yes, I know, you all trained your employees to be super great. Dream on.

Every boat has rocking issues, including yours.

P.S. And somewhat tied to the issue of creating good will: #3) And why is it with some businesses that if they can't do the cleaning within 48 hours, their clients move on? Talk about running scared

 

[bob vawter]

other than an occasional trip to stalk a Piggly Wiggly basket cart boy....
i was very lucky....i kept one guy 17 years..another about 16 years and the LAST one was dumb enough
to BUY my bidness...so it worked out jus perfect!

 

[Mikey P]

Unfortunately far too many won't participate in this thread due to throw ugly truth.


Guys like Art and Doug are smart and able enough to stash cash. Both also live in low cost of living areas.

 

[FB7777]

It's difficult to have your discussion Ofer,

They are entirely different animals for entirely different types of people

Frankly there isn't enough money in being a lone wolf for me

By week three in 1988 , I hired my first employee and never looked back

Your " what if " questions are just barriers to growth

Everyone with employees have issues, but frankly I can't handle all the work my company generates by myself

And I could never envision a career of working on a van by myself day in and day out

Nothing wrong with being a lone wolf, but it ain't for me

 

[ruff]

Fair enough, Fred.
That's a good answer.

 

[bob vawter]

if ya don't set up somekinna framework for your company to go on...
the last words in your business profile will be:

Dearly beloved.......

 

[dgardner]

As most of you know, I clean part time, and have a day job with a largish corporation. There, if I'm laid up for a while it's barely a ripple in the pond, because the work is spread over many employees. So, what's the critical mass for the CC operation to carry on, albeit with the remaining people having to pitch in to get everything done? Just a helper or a helper and a qualified cleaner? One truck? Two?

In other words, how big does an operation have to be before temporary loss of the principle doesn't threaten the business?

 

[bob vawter]

one

 

[dgardner]

Sorry bawb, I meant doesn't threaten - edited.

 

[Mikey P]

As most of you know, I clean part time, and have a day job with a largish corporation. There, if I'm laid up for a while it's barely a ripple in the pond, because the work is spread over many employees. So, what's the critical mass for the CC operation to carry on, albeit with the remaining people having to pitch in to get everything done? Just a helper or a helper and a qualified cleaner? One truck? Two?

In other words, how big does an operation have to be before temporary loss of the principle doesn't threaten the business?

Well hells bells..


I didn't know that.


Lucky you.

 

[bob vawter]

i had one guy trained to pick up the job slips in the AM...
do the jobs all day
then bring me back the money at the end of the day....
when i was in the hospital those times......it was automatic...but jus my wife would hand him the slips and pick up the money at nite!

 

[dgardner]

I didn't know that.

Yup, in 2009 when the economy crashed I thought I was a goner, so I started to look into other lines of work. CC'ing won. I started to learn the business while waiting to be laid off. I never was, but I like the CC so well I never stopped. I have a select clientel list, and not looking to expand right now. At some point in time I may take the jump. If I ever do, I will be able to hit the ground running, pretty much due to the vast storehouse of knowledge I have been able to tap here on this board.

 

[Hoody]

Funny you should ask - I'm taking a personal finance class for college right now and it's Suze Orman's class. Lots of great info, but currently we are learning about different insurances, living revokable trusts, POA's, wills, etc. All that information really opened my eyes about what am I going to do if something happens to me and I'm laid up, incapacitated, or worse. I've had a few medical scares in the last few years as well.

I would suggest that anyone look into long-term disability insurance, having a revokable living trust with an incapacity clause, and of course a will.

 

[Steve Toburen]

I would suggest that anyone look into long-term disability insurance, having a revokable living trust with an incapacity clause, and of course a will.

Yeah, none of us like to think about this stuff. (I believe the experts call it "being in denial".) But bad things DO happen to good carpet cleaners. Sorry.

Steve

PS I would add to Hoody's list (and ESPECIALLY if you are a "Lone Wolf") to have 6 month's living and business expenses stashed away in savings and to have Strategic Partners you trust that will take care of your clients while you are incapacitated without stealing them. Oh, and also drive and work very safely!

 

[FB7777]

And set up an automatic investment plan for retirement

Money comes out of your business acct every month ,
Put it in the s&p 500 and forget about it ( S&P) outperforms most hot shot money managers after you factor their commissions

I know I bag on the lone wolves but it's just in fun... The beauty of this biz is that there is room and flexibility to run any type of operation in this great industry

 

[Russ T.]

If it was as steady for us all year as it is now, I'd hire someone ASAP. I'm extremely stressed out a lot of the time and I NEED to share the workload.

I think about "what if" I got hurt all the time. We are not far from hiring. I'm not interested in restoration so any employee will know they will go half time (at best) in the Winter. I hope I can find someone who might actually like this. If we hit it hard enough in the busy season, we can make it through a hard Winter...just did.

I'd love to have a 2-3 truck operation that is MANAGEABLE for me. I'm not trying to drive myself even more crazy than I already am. I like being on the truck and plan on being there for a long time to come. The fact that I'm the ONLY one on the truck IS concerning.

I have no other source of income and my wife is our receptionist (PR Guru). She doesn't work outside the house. We began homeschooling our 13 year old in January and Max (4) is a total handful.

I'm almost ready to get some help...or move someplace warm. It would be hard to walk away from what we have built here though. Maybe that's another thread though? I don't know how I will carry GOOD help through our Winters. THAT is what is keeping me from hiring someone right now.


The Clean Machine

 

[Hoody]

I'm almost ready to get some help...or move someplace warm. It would be hard to walk away from what we have built here though. Maybe that's another thread though? I don't know how I will carry GOOD help through our Winters. THAT is what is keeping me from hiring someone right now.


The Clean Machine

Start ramping up your commercial cleaning - sell sell sell for 2,3,4 time a year cleanings. Work it out where you're VLM cleaning in the colder months and flushing it all back out in the summer with the TM. Less expenses with higher profit cleanings during the cold months. A couple of good accounts could make or break whether you get through another bad winter like we had this year, but also really help the bottom line.

 

[Steve Toburen]

... The beauty of this biz is that there is room and flexibility to run any type of operation in this great industry

It is always a bit disconcerting when Boyle turns all warm and reasonable. And yes, I couldn't agree more.

Steve

PS Russ, think seriously about several different part time workers instead of hiring just one full time employee. LOTS of people today want to supplement their income. And many have days off during the week. Plus part time employees to run your commercial accounts is just a no-brainer. With several part time workers all your eggs are not in one basket. And you avoid the crushing mental and emotional pressure of another family depending on you for ALL their needs. Then as you grow you may decide to offer your star part time employee a full time position.

 

[FB7777]

I'd snark back Tooboring, but Mikey put u on the endangered feces list

 

[dgardner]

Am I the only one that finds it hysterical that Tooboring links back to Steve/SFS?

 

[Desk Jockey]

It is always a bit disconcerting when Boyle turns all warm and reasonable. And yes, I couldn't agree more.

Careful, he usually bites right after that!