What do you pay your Ops Manager?
How many guys do you have on average?
What do you do in the winter time to get guys their hours?
Thanks for the reply.
What do you pay your ops manager? What is your net income after that?
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I guess one of my biggest concerns is that if I do scale back, I am turning my back on what I have built over the years, and if a year down the road I decide I donāt want to keep working in the field I will have to start back over hiring/growing.
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Thank you everyone for your replies/thoughts/wisdom.
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Well, I was considering hiring at least 1 person at some point in the future. This thread is changing my mind.
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Oh good griefā¦ (roll eyes) Iām 50 so cry me a river, man! lol
Iām in a semi-good spot, house is paid for, and Im pretty much zero in debt.
- I buy the occasional new tv or other typical Amazon shit.
- honestly, my biggest gripe is my stupid vices, smoking and a 6pack. Im know Iām probably $50 bucks in the hole every morning. ?
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Three total, was always my sweet spot, mainly because that number was easier to navigate, without hiring someone to watch over things.
- My work ethic may be to my detriment, because Iām āMichael Jordanā in the sense that if there is a shitty move, or something happening when āall eyes are on youā I want to be the one who does it (hope that made sense)
-The trade off is, there was always progress, WHEN those shitty moves were happening.
- My fear of ending up alone, would be the lack of the whole āslight of hand.ā
- That, and the fact that I might not be able to pull off those āclockshot ticking down/all eyes on youā moves laterā¦
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@sambo Good posts, my manā¦
In reading, I actually started to question (not doubt, just reflect) some of the reasons Iāve made decisions over the years.
- I always thought 3 was better than two, but 4 wasnt as good as 3.
- Once I got to 4 and 5 onsite, seems like thats where the headaches (taking time from labor, to find out āwhere the hell is JohnDoe?ā started to happen.
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I am a huge fan of working solo. I started this business in 2003. I work 20 to 25 hours a week on average. This is a 4 day work week. I like to keep things simple and stress free! So each month I can take off a week to travel. I love to travel.
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@sambo I agree Iām not sure if this is standard for everybody or if some have figured out a more profitable margin but my numbers are pretty much right in line with yours. About 50 to 60,000 per tech if theyāre working full-time. We do have a couple part-timers that help.
Our operations/office manager we pay hourly and allow him to set his own schedule and hours as long as everything gets taken care of in the business. A few years ago we paid him $20 an hour which at the time was good for the market. However with income and housing going up rapidly here thatās probably not gonna be enough and will probably bump it up to 25 or 28 an hour.
With me not working in the field I net about $70-80k. Which might not sound like a lot to some when yeah you could work solo and make 100 to 150,000 in a year. But thatās with me only working average five hours a week. So you definitely take a price hit by stepping out of the operations. But if you end up neting about 80,000 working solo itās pretty comparable. Figure you just make the same as if you worked solo but now you just donāt have to work much. And the nice thing is I can always start scheduling myself work if I need cash. Sometimes I schedule myself a nice profitable job for the day if I wanna buy myself a new toy or some outdoor gear.
Also it helps that I do have a simple life and not a lot of expenses. I have no debt and everything is paid off in my company. We were able to find a small two bedroom house for a very reasonable rent. Also my wife works as an insurance agent and her income covers most of our bills.
So all the thought of not having employees and not dealing with all the hassle as well as higher profit marginās and knowing everything is going to get done the way you want it still just doesnāt trade off in my eyes. Iād much rather deal with that and I donāt have the physical toll on my body and know that if I break my leg I still make the same income as every other month. My business also is more valuable when selling since it doesnāt depend on me to operate anymore. Someone only needs to be able to manage people to operate it. So if I ever decide to just up and sell and move to some island town thatās a option.
A hobby of mine is back country hunting in Idaho. For the months of September- November Iāll have spent 25 days out in the woods. To me thatās why itās worth having employees and a bigger business. Get it to the point that itās operating smoothly without you and take the pay hit so that way you can live your life and spend time with your family and do the things you enjoy while still making a reasonable income.
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Huge factor
youāre in a good spot, thanks for sharing Dean
Thatās where I wanna get to.
So you have one office person which is the ops & office manager?
And he manages all the office stuff and the techs I assume?
If so how many techs do you guys have.
Edit: Oh you mentioned 6 techs.
Cool setup Dean.
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Exactly where I am. Not too much stress. I canāt complain. Iāll do it as long as I can. There are times it would be nice to have a reliable helper. Keyword RELIABLEā¦
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Deans got it figured out.
In your mind you want to āmake as much money as possibleā which starts at 50k, then 75k, then 100k, then 125k etc. and thatās with you working full time at 50-60hrs a week. Cool. Thatās great.
I currently own an automotive repair shop and I am in the process of selling it to my Manager. What I learned was that I was busting ass day in and day out to make as much as I can. I got burnt out and tired after 5 years. I made good income for sure. But I moved one of my guys to Manager so I can take a step back. And man what a difference mentally! But I took a pay cut and it was so worth it. I figured, do I want to bust my ass 50hrs a week for 80k? Or do I want to relax more and only make a few executive decisions and phone calls a week for 55k?
I wasnāt as stressed, I didnāt bring attitude home, we had a baby and I got to stay home for 2 weeks when we brought her home. That to me is what letting your business work for itself is all about. You might LOVE working in the field and thatās completely cool with me. But when you experience freedom during the week and still get paid? Thatās when you start to change.
We are about to start hiring employees with the window cleaning and hopefully in the next 1-2 years I will be back in this position.
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Been there, and done all of that. Had 7 people in the field at one point. I finally just scaled down to 3 of the best. The stress was too much, and window cleaning wasn't fun at all. With 3 decent experienced window cleaners you can do just about anything. Including those big jobs. I finally went to a subcontractor relationship with a 65 to 70 % percent split. With bonus jobs, and a 401k investment plan if they wish. However, they tend to get jaded. When you need to schedule those big jobs, they mysteriously have a full schedule.
What you donāt want to do is get your reputation destroyed by employees, or sub contractors who just donāt care. Bad, and lazy attitudes, poor quality work, and those notorious no shows will ruin you faster than anything else.
I actually really need another person. You just reminded me of the pain. Thanks!
When you run a small business, your employees are everything. One bad apple truly spoils the bunch. Every small business goes through this. Your not alone. Actually Iām making only a little less, but not near the stress.
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Solo is glorious. I accept clients I want and fire the rest.
No holding hands, or putting out fires.
Movement is good for keeping you young.
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To an extent. But repetitive strain injuries are no joke. Doing the same thing day in, day out, will wear on you eventually.
I mix it up
lol. Im betting your āincoming call etiquetteā differs from what you are boasting here.
I think most of our āincoming call etiquetteā differs significantly from what we say on hereā¦
Just saying 
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