Blues reply in another thread made me think of it…what is your worst weakness in business?
I am a great scheduler, know the technical aspects like the best, am a people person, know the building code and know the legal aspects but….I STINK at being tough or telling folks NO! Not great st “selling” either.
I am terrible at collecting money and worse at being a hard-nose. I know what I need to be better at, just reluctant to do it.
How about you? What areas do you know you need to improve at to make your biz better?
Replies
Paperwork
Book-keeping
Hate it
I sell well, and organize/schedule and can roll with the punches, get along with the guys as long as they do well.
This thread has to GO someplace tho, not just be a true confessions listing.
So whaddya do about that weakness?
Get somebody else to handle what you are not good at or what you dislike doing
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
OK good point Piffin. We need to address the weakness as well.
I know what they are so now I have to find out how to improve on them. Maybe if someone has ideas they can follow that in their reply?
Well, I really love collecting money, don't know how to convince you that it's fun.;)As for being a hardass, my Dad was one. I follow, so I have always worked to be mellow and reason with people. Life is better that way.Saying NO was hard for me for a long time but I don't really know how I got over that. I think part of it was just getting so busy I could not do it all. maybe some was when I got sick and it gave me a sort of an excuse to fall bak on
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I need to quit giving my time away. I chalk it up to the "cost" of doing business............but that's an item we need to cover to STAY in business.
Perhaps I rationalize it as a form of good will advertising.
And you know, I'm not changing that at all. I'll fine tune it a bit so on the job there's minimal giveaways.
But the occasional N/C .........well, no charge.
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I need to quit giving my time away
#### Calvin, we gonna be dead by the time we change that!!!
"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." — Sherlock Holmes, 1896
Oh great, the young guy comes up with that tid bit of "make me feel older already" information.
thanks for nuttin.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
lol, the young guy.
you should have woke up in my feet this morning.
"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." — Sherlock Holmes, 1896
You've got an imagination.
Think about the multiplier that it'll be a few yrs down the road.
Rid'n hard,
and put away wet, will have new meaning.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Cal, when I was remodeling, I seemed to alway find myself in the situation like I felt that I had to give something away. It was always annoying to me. One thing that helped me was including more options on my original proposal. During the initial interview, I'd make notes about possible options. Then, I'd list them all and put a number on them. During my presentation, I'd specifically ask about the options. When they told me no...they couldn't really expect later to ask for them free. So, for me, more options early in the game led to less freebee requests later.
Jim, it's not a case of them asking. But I do understand your line of thought and to tag an option with a cost is good thinking.
You also know in remodeling that there are consistant "could ya's". It is here that I can fall off the wagon. I'm not talking something that takes a day-more like an hour. 1 hr on a hundred hour job is only a percent.
BUT, at the end of the yr that percent adds up to a sizable number.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I understand about those "could yas".I also became proactive about them. As the job started, I'd notice small things that needed attention and I'd offer to fix them at a price...tweak a door for $35 or repaint that trim for $55 etc. It just make is much easier to toss out the small price when the "could ya" showed up.
Man am I with you on that. My subs charge and get paid for all that they do, yet I find myself "giving" her and there.
The problem is a question of self worth or perhaps uncertainty or maybe evern fear of losing a job over a few small items.
The cure?
At least for me is that i'm getting fed up with alot of the grief we get in this type of economy. I'm just tired of doing anything for free anymore. I provide very good service and I deserve to get paid for it.
I must stop giving the store away just to try to sell a discounted job.
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
I tend to "give away" too much stuff.
I received payment on a bill today. I noticed when I pulled invoice to mark paid that I hadn't charged him for Rubber that was in the shop that we used on his job. I gave away about a 10 x 10 piece. It won't break me but I do this often.
Lisa says to make inventory of shop...I told her go ahead.October 17th, 2009
Jeremy and Lisa
Was there ever any doubt?
Good idea. We have an inventory. We also have supplies. We have Inventory Purchase Orders and Supply Purchase Orders. When something is taken from Inventory, it gets noted in the file folder. I write the IPO or the SPO and later on the job gets billed for it. Create the system and then follow the money LOL! It's actually pretty simple once you get it started.
Hey don't feel too bad. a couple of years ago I forgot to bill for the guy who helped me hang sheetrock. I entered his name in my spreadsheet so I wouldn't forget it, but failed to put in the amount after he finally got me a bill.
wasn't so bad until this spring when I pulled that spreadsheet to check it against another estimate I was working on, and discovered I did the same dang thing with the trim package for the same project. (Couple hundred bucks for a master bath and bedroom)
October 17th 2009? Are you posting on BT on your honeymoon?????
Bowz
I knew I forgot something.
We changed the date and scale of the wedding.
No honeymoon when we do get hitched next month.
Maybe just a weekend getaway.Wedding has been moved to November 14th.
Doing a small ceramony now, big party in the spring!
Collecting money.
I was not really fond or good about that either. With roofs, I'm being a bit more proactive. We've developed a separate triplicate payment schedule that spells out the payment. When I talk to the client about the schedule, I make mention of the expected payment. I let them know that I will be picking up the check and I verify that they know the amount.
Being proactive has helped me be much more comfortable about that.
Learning to say no is quite easy. Just start saying it more in smaller areas. For instance...when wifey asks you to take out the garbage, say no. And mean it. Tell her you are practicing so you can say no in business.
Tell me how it works out.
Congratulations!
blue receives the TimMooney 'Now That's Funny Right There' award.
Saaalute!View Image View Image
For instance...when wifey asks you to take out the garbage, say no. And mean it. Tell her you are practicing so you can say no in business.
Tell me how it works out.
Jim.... the man is asking for help on collecting money... not on how to get himself maimed....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Learning to say no is quite easy. Just start saying it more in smaller areas. For instance...when wifey asks you to take out the garbage, say no. And mean it. Tell her you are practicing so you can say no in business.
Tell me how it works out.
ROFL!! Insigator!~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.netSee my work at TedsCarpentry.com
I'm good at getting to work, doing a good job, and getting along with most people. Everything else needs some serious tweeking!~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.netSee my work at TedsCarpentry.com
Books & paperwork.
Staying on top of payment schedules.
I have no problem collecting the money, I just tend to let things go too far. Since almost all of the work I do anymore is only for me, I have become lax on record keeping.
Nothing like the lack of work to get you off your hump and do what needs to be done though!
So. this is what I am doing these days to try and stay on top of paper work.
Write down everything that needs to be done...compile a list.
Then choose one or two items that can be done withing the course of an hour's time and do it. I make it so that I can only do what I "feel" like doing, (gym, guitar, go to a movie, putter in the garage), AFTER that hour is up and the task is totally done. It's starting to work. Then do it again either later in the day or the next day, but keep doing it.
The other thing I'm not so great on is estimates. I tend to wimp out at the last second when I look at the real whopping cost of a project. I've gotten better, but I still struggle with it. It would be great to bounce some numbers (privately) off another local successful carpenter just to see if I'm insane or not.
What kills me is the fact that I have such a feeling of elation after a paperwork task is done and I ask myself, "Why don't I do this more often", or "Gee...That wasn't really that hard now was it?!"
DW is good at telling me both my faults and my pluses, and she's a real creative thinker on solutions.
Most of the things I'm bad at I have also improved on over the years, so I have to at least give myself that when I take a look at how far I have to go.
when I take a look at how far I have to go.
Dude! Yer 55! snorK*
How much farther do you have to go?
Would we all were youthful thinkers
Edited 10/20/2009 11:08 am ET by rez
Mike,
My downfall always was paperwork and the bookeeping. I learned it was cheap to outsource that to a bookeeper. The price was time dependent, so I was very happy. That and using an employee leasing company kept me out of hot water.
As far as collecting money, I just assume once the job is done that customers are just holding onto my money in their accounts, and it does me more good if it is in my bank account!
I just assume once the job is done that customers are just holding onto my money in their accounts, and it does me more good if it is in my bank account!LOL man I love that... I'll adapt it to my tenants late statements..."It has come to our attention that you are holding our money in your account in the amount of $xxxxx as you are aware we can not draw on these funds until they are properly transferred into our account... please take the time to see that these funds are transferred today"p:)
I like that one!!>G<
Glad to help!
DAve
"Dude! Yer 55! snorK*"Well let me tell you a thing er two whipper-snapper...This old dog aims to be around these parts long after most readin' this has had their closets cleaned out!
Top o' that, I 'spect I'll be larnin' a trick er two most every minute right up to the day I die...and fer several weeks thereafter!!!(fumbling for reading glasses) I gotta go. Time for my Metamucil.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdNQt4a6f7g&feature=related
YOU CHILDREN PLAY NICE NOW!!!!
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Boy, you sound a lot like me. I hate telling people bad news. It's my big downfall.
I supervise 7 carpenters. It's all about dealing with their different personalities. At one point in my life, I never thought I'd like such a thing, but now I find it the most gratifying part of my job.
I suck at paperwork. Pieces of paper just don't have get much traction in my brain. I know how important they can be, but I'm just no good at it.
I've concluded that I have Attention Deficit Disorder. It explains a lot.
posibly-what we think we are good at--we aren't so good at?--and what we think we are bad at -we aren't so bad at/
by far---- what I DISLIKE the most--- is employees-period
I like:-- paper work, organizing, selling, ordering materials, arranging things, dealing with subs,-and increasingly meeting prospective customers, diagnosing the problem, offering and designing a solution-----and for the most part- i like the physical nature of the production end of my trade
but I hate having employees
also-- I have some outside/non work interests that are very physical---and production work cut's into my time and energy for those pursuits--so I am scaling back on my personal production-and amping up the sub end of things.
stephen
I hate what we now call "Free Willikers" which is a spinoff of "Gee Willikers". We have our own inside language so we can communicate with ourselves without the builder/homeowner knowing what's going on. We have determined the less customers know, the better for everyone.
We call useless ####-kissing banter with customers: "Gee Willikers".
So a "Free Williker" is when the customer says "hey while you're here can you do such and such?" And when they ask it's usually something small, like add a step off the new deck we just built, or install the handle on their bedroom door upstairs. A "Free Williker" is a job the paying customer asks you to do for them but it's usually something small and easy that they know you wouldn't bother charging them extra for - usually something that'll take someone 15 minutes to an hour to do.
So in translation, a free williker is "Free? gosh, ok..."
Another thing that helps with the free willikers is a clause in the original paperwork that charges $35 or $50 or whatever for writing up change orders. That amount isn't critical but the clause is. The most important aspect of this clause is that it gives you a chance, during the presentation/signing, to educate the clients about how costly these small "free willikers" really are. You get to explain that invariably, every homeowner will find two or three small "fifteen minute" projects and want them done. You get to say that you are happy to provide those services for them because it's actually very inexpensive once you have all the tools out. You also get to explain that it's also expensive too because all those minutes spent discussing the small jobs eventually end up being a relatively large number. After all the educating, I mention that if they are going to want to make these small job requests, that they probably should lump two or three of them together on one change order so they aren't getting hit with the paperwork charge along with the fifteen minute charge. This approach helped me when I was doing more general remodeling.
The last few jobs i just told the people i needed to be paid, I also told them i have no secretary anymore and dont expect paperwork from me.
I know that sounds bad but everybody understood and paid me, Call me if any problems i WILL be there but if im filling out papers someone is not getting there roof fixed!
>> ... what is your worst weakness in business?
Ambition Deficit Disorder.
And here I thought I was the only one.
Life is Good
I'm terrible at scheduling little stuff. If I have a big project - new house start to finish or gut-out reno - the customer will be living in it on or before the estimate's anticipated completion date.
Give me 4 windows to replace and a simple 10x14 deck to build, however, and it drags and drags and drags.
I need to get rid of the idea that little odds and ends jobs will ever fit into cracks in the schedule. Pick a date to start, do it, wrap it up, bill it, collect it, done.
j
That is very interesting Jeffy T.
What is it about four windows that cause it to drag? Isn't that a one day install?
I think what I said was 4 windows and a 10x14 deck. That makes it a three day job for me. One or three days, the point is that I make the mistake of NOT scheduling these little jobs in like I should. Instead, I tell the customer that if I put them at the end of the line it'll be about 2 months but if they're willing to be open-ended about schedule these little things "sometimes fit in little cracks between other projects". The truth is that they don't. My schedule rarely has cracks and when it does there's way too much stuff waiting for that time. I need to be more honest with myself and the customer and just say, "I'll be happy to do it for you in January." Either that or do what plumbers and electricians that I know do and set aside a certain percentage of time for little short order stuff. What do you do?j
In the past, I used to postpone small jobs like that too. I'd mentally be thinking that I had them in my hip pocket. In some ways, it was a comfort because it represented a little bit of work when the bigger work slowed. I came realize that they were an anchor; just more baggage to weigh me down. At some point in my framing career, I just started saying "no". That was a important step for me and it helped with my mental baggage thing. In remodeling though, samll jobs lead to big jobs so I always treated them just like they were a big job. I promised everyone that I sold that I would put them on the schedule and build them in order. So, a three day job would be treated with the same system as a 3 month job. Those three day jobs should be producing the same income per day as the 3 month job, so, from a financial point of view they aren't much different. They will have a diproportional amount of office time associated with them but that should be reflected in the sales price.
Blue,
"Those three day jobs should be producing the same income per day as the 3 month job"
As much as I like to adhere to this fact, it hardly ever seems to happen on those small jobs as folks think they should be inexpensive.
I understand that the folks might not understand the price...before the presentation. After hearing the presentation, it should be very clear that the job will take skill, experience, quality materials, dedication, organization, proper licensing/insurance, etc. At the end of the half hour presentation, the belief system of the uneducated client should be altered. Small jobs take the same sales effort as big jobs. The belief system of the buyers cannot be a factor on building the estimate or business model.
I agree Blue but its often tough to do that in a small repair job. Some of the folks I talk to don't even want a "presentation". They just tell me they are "too busy so stop by have a look while I am at work and just call me with a number".
And of course I know folks like this are ones you may not want to work for anyway but in this economy, I have to respond to EVERY call.
mike-with regaurds to the "stop by,have a look and call me with a number" type of opportunities. I used to do exactly that for many people for YEARS---- closed a good number of them as well
HOWEVER---- a very high % of people who ask for that arrangement------are not people I want as customers. with very few exceptions now--- If you want me to look at your project-- we are BOTH going to look at it at an appointed time and place-- that way we BOTH have time invested in it. I am not really interested in using that meeting to hard sell someone---- rather it's a screening tool to screen out less than serious consumers. It costs me money to look at projects------- if the prospect can just call 10 contractors and say" stop by,take a look and call me with a number"---- he has NOTHING invested in the situation---why NOT get 10 prices- why not get 30 prices---- they don't cost hime any more effort than a phone call BUT ----if the prospect has to MEET the contractors--- he then has time and effort invested in it.- It screens out less than professional competitors- who can't make appointments--and it screens out customers who aren't serious. too busy to meet with me?- well then I am too busy to look at your project.
stephen
Stephen,
I TOTALLY agree and years ago if someone told me to just stop by and have a look, I would have politley declined.
Now it just seems folks can do this as everyone around here is so hungry they will look at and quote anything.
I looked at a kitchen remodel two weeks ago and the HO told me they were talking to 11 different guys to get the most for their buck. Wow!
I think your statements of small vs large jobs producing the same financial outcome are true in theory, but it is a different time now, much more so than it was two or three years ago, let alone the fatter late 80's.
I am back to taking what comes my way and saying "no" isn't quite in the cards. However, that being said, all the jobs that are coming my way these days are jobs that I would take regardless of fat or lean times.
Medium size and large builders were often golden. As they would feed me the unwanted small jobs that came their way, those jobs would often lead to larger jobs and I in turn would offload the big jobs to them. Then they would often hire me as a sub for some of the the high-end work on those jobs. I would make out better financially, and they would have a guy out in the field doing some of their legwork.
That doesn't happen anymore.I never wanted to grow. I tried, but was not happy and found the hard way that I could make more $$ being happy working alone instead of trying to manage a crew of 5 guys & other subs.
I will still hire subs when the jobs call for it, but am happiest working high-end or restoration alone.
<I'd mentally be thinking that I had them in my hip pocket.>Exactly. That's what I need to get away from. I have no shortage of work but I'm hoarding up little jobs for a rainy day as if I was expecting to be out of customers by next week. As you said, it gets to be like dragging around a big anchor. I think I need to make a change or two. Thanks. j
If I knew what my weaknesses were, I'd fix them. Right now I'm stuck in that place between being a small outfit and a bigger one, so I have to do a lot of office work and a lot of field work too. A year or more ago I thought I was poised to move out of that limbo and stop doing much field work, but the slow economy has put that on hold and now my job every day is to be thankful that I have all these hats to wear rather than none at all.
I can see a small collection action coming up, about $2000. Had a conversation with an architect friend a couple of days ago, he had a similar issue and filed a small claim. The sheriff's deputy serves paper here, in uniform, at the time and place of your choosing. How cool! If need be I'll have my customer served at lunch hour in a restaurant.