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Minimize Your Risk When You Hire Help
I've started my own roofing company and am having difficulty managing my time. I've been too busy installing roofs to provide estimates for potential new customers. Should I hire a qualified crew to handle the physical labor while I focus on marketing and estimates? I'm concerned that my profits will drop. I'll be able to get more jobs than in the past, but will it be worth the risk?
First, think about how it makes you feel to hear this sentence: "Sorry, I can't make it in today, my car broke down." Or- "I quit."
Your concern about your share shrinking is misplaced. If you manage your costs -- the salaries of your employees and the associated overhead -- your personal profits would likely grow from the increased revenue of taking on more jobs. No one builds an empire as a solo operator, after all.
But empire building isn't for everyone. Do you want to contend with questions about payroll, taxes, health benefits and backup for sick employees? Whether or not you should take on more business comes down to your ability to manage employees and cope with their vicissitudes.
Broader economic barometers would seem to cut both ways for you. For starters, demand is likely to remain high for your work. As interest rates remain low, home building and home renovation are attractive to consumers. In September, sales of new single-family homes rose 3.5% from the month before, reports the U.S. Commerce Department, and that was 7% higher than the year-ago numbers. That's a healthy market.
Moreover, your home turf of Detroit was the 14th fastest-growing market for construction activity last year, according to the Commerce Department. Its stock of older homes is likely to keep someone in your line of work busy as well.
All this means that if you're going to roll the dice for expansion, you might be in a good place and time to attract new work. It sounds as if you're already experiencing higher demand than you can meet.
But the other piece of the puzzle is your pool of employees. "One of the most pressing challenges for the home-building industry is the shortage of skilled workers," says Bobby Rayburn, president of the National Association of Home Builders, a trade group in Washington, D.C., and a home builder in Jackson, Miss. The U.S. Labor Department has warned about a looming shortage of skilled workers over the next decade. That means you may not be able to hire and keep the best people. In times of labor shortages in particular industries, employees can afford to be choosy about for whom they work and at what salary and benefits.
If you decide to expand, you might want to try to establish a relationship through a local trade school. Do you have younger relatives who might be interested in an apprenticeship? In exchange for your training and a job, you may have the highest quality and most dependable type of employee. Don't skip the important step of checking references thoroughly.
You'll also have to spend time with a knowledgeable accountant. That person can handle your payroll or explain how to address withholding for taxes and other paperwork. There are private payroll services that also handle this chore.
Instead of recruiting help, you might want to consider partnering with another solo-operating roofer. You could join up and hire a part-timer to take calls and schedule estimates.
There's no shame in staying a solo operator, hammering your shingles into roofs, sending out invoices and enjoying your independence. Many a corporate drone in a cubicle would envy your place in the sun
© 2004 Paulette Thomas Ramsay
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