Can I do this without employees...

[Farmboy]

That's the question I keep asking myself. This is my 13th year in business, I've had up to 7 people working here at once. Right now there's myself and 3 others, my gf/fiancée, one "whatever needs to be done guy" (shows up whenever he rolls out of bed, but works his butt off while he's here) and our graphics guy. Our graphic guy has been here for a year this month and just approached me for a raise, now let me say, he does great work...but, it takes him forever to complete a design. Everything, right down to a simple yard sign becomes a major undertaking. I don't know how many times I've walked past his desk and said, "That looks great, we can run with that." and then walk by half and hour or 45 mins later and he's still dicking with it. Yes, I've spoken to him about it. Getting to the point, he's not going to be happy with what I tell him come Monday. I've run this place by myself before, it's not fun. The cash I got to keep was sweet, but the hours I was working drained me. Seems like no matter how many years I've been in business, I'm always at a crossroads.

 

[Gino]

That's the question I keep asking myself. This is my 13th year in business, I've had up to 7 people working here at once. Right now there's myself and 3 others, my gf/fiancée, one "whatever needs to be done guy" (shows up whenever he rolls out of bed, but works his butt off while he's here) and our graphics guy. Our graphic guy has been here for a year this month and just approached me for a raise, now let me say, he does great work...but, it takes him forever to complete a design. Everything, right down to a simple yard sign becomes a major undertaking. I don't know how many times I've walked past his desk and said, "That looks great, we can run with that." and then walk by half and hour or 45 mins later and he's still dicking with it. Yes, I've spoken to him about it. Getting to the point, he's not going to be happy with what I tell him come Monday. I've run this place by myself before, it's not fun. The cash I got to keep was sweet, but the hours I was working drained me. Seems like no matter how many years I've been in business, I'm always at a crossroads.

Ya can always do it going solo, but why not have people around who can do the work and get more done at a time ?? I'm spoiled. I have a few good people around me and some are just a pain at times, but that's just another part of the equation.

To address your designer person, I think after a year, he/she deserves a raise, if only a dollar an hour more. That's only 40 bucks a week more, plus taxes. Big whoop. However, rather than just a raise, make it a review and explain they need to follow your requests and stop milking things. They need to become familiar with the company as a whole.... making money, so it can go on paying everyones wages and stay in business.

 

[OldPaint]

i have a few friends in this business..............and the problem you have with the design guy......is the same reason the people i know..WORK FOR others.......no let tell you......these people are SUPREME DESIGNERS.... but from a $$$$ point of view.......you cant spend more time on these then YOUR GETTING PAID FOR!!!!!!!!!
i been self employed since 86. 1 man shop for most of it. when i had the store front i partnered up with another sign painter. we still work together on projects. its more of a his work/my work for payment. he gets the job, i do layout. pounce or vinyl he pays me for my part. my job....i pay him for his work. we both are happy.

 

[ddarlak]

go solo, raise your prices. this will eliminate the overtime and keep the quality good paying jobs in your pocket

going on 18 years without employees....

never work Saturdays unless i'm making $150 an hour.....which is maybe twice a year, leave before 5 - 98% of the time...

 

[player]

What is your overhead?

If you have loans and expenses that cannot be covered by the output of 1, you will not be happy.

You really should not work day in and day out without getting a wage PLUS a chunk of cash for owning and running the business. Otherwise you just work for yourself, and the boss is crazy... Have set work hours and be sure to have a life after work.

 

[phototec]

You say he's not going to be Happy on Monday, does that mean you have made up you mind to let him go?

If not, then he deserves a raise if he is doing the job for you, because if he is not doing the job (making you money), then you should have let him go long before a year.

And yes, you should sit down with an employee once or twice a year and have a performance review, in my previous life working for Dell and Texas Instruments (know I'm self employed), I was given a performance review (evaluation) every 6 months, letting me know how I was doing and if there were any areas I needed to improve on etc., and of course there was ALWAYS a raise to accompany the review. Sometimes it was only a little more than the cost of living for that period (the cost of living always goes up, as you know), and other times it was a significant raise, even a few large bonuses for pulling an all-nighter to finish the trade show booth for MacWorld trade show in Boston.

So at least, you owe your graphics guy a cost of living raise for working for you for one year! IMHO

 

[visual800]

go solo, raise your prices. this will eliminate the overtime and keep the quality good paying jobs in your pocket

going on 18 years without employees....

never work Saturdays unless i'm making $150 an hour.....which is maybe twice a year, leave before 5 - 98% of the time...

This right here. Best advice. Make yourself take off. It will be there when you return. Stop promising unrealistic due dates, if you are doing that. If you need help, find a guy to help and pay cash. You can make this simple and make it a damn good living

26 years here

 

[Techman]

So at least, you owe your graphics guy a cost of living raise for working for you for one year! IMHO

No one OWES anyone anything.
An employees lower pay is his payment for getting some training.

 

[7oaks]

I think you already answered your question as to whether or not you want to work alone.Phototec has the right idea of counseling your associates. However, a performance review
and wage review are not the same thing. Performance review lists his pros first then list
the problems you are having with him and then agree on your expectations. Advise him
of the consequences if he does not meet your expectations up to and including termination.
Meet again in 3 weeks. Have him sign the outline of the meeting.

Wage review encompasses his overall job performance: quality and quantity of work. Punctuality,
ability to meet deadlines. Attitude at work and whatever you deem important.

Your graphic designer either is OCD or doesn't have enough work to do. Once you approve a design,
it must go to the next step. Find out what his problem is.

At end of performance review tell them when to expect their wage review.

 

[Farmboy]

Your graphic designer either is OCD or doesn't have enough work to do. Once you approve a design,
it must go to the next step. Find out what his problem is..

There is never a lack of work.

 

[phototec]

Performance and Salary Review Policy

I think you already answered your question as to whether or not you want to work alone.Phototec has the right idea of counseling your associates. However, a performance review
and wage review are not the same thing. Performance review lists his pros first then list
the problems you are having with him and then agree on your expectations. Advise him
of the consequences if he does not meet your expectations up to and including termination.
Meet again in 3 weeks. Have him sign the outline of the meeting.

Wage review encompasses his overall job performance: quality and quantity of work. Punctuality,
ability to meet deadlines. Attitude at work and whatever you deem important.

Your graphic designer either is OCD or doesn't have enough work to do. Once you approve a design,
it must go to the next step. Find out what his problem is.

At end of performance review tell them when to expect their wage review.

Performance and Salary Review Policy

Purpose
The performance appraisal provides a means for discussing, planning and reviewing the performance of each employee.
Regular performance appraisals:
• Help employees clearly define and understand their responsibilities.
• Provide criteria by which employees’ performance will be evaluated.
• Suggest ways in which employees can improve performance.
• Identify employees with potential for advancement within [Company Name].
• Help managers distribute and achieve departmental goals.
• Provide a fair basis for awarding compensation based on merit.
Performance appraisals influence salaries, promotions and transfers. Therefore, it is critical that supervisors be objective in conducting performance reviews and in assigning overall performance ratings.

Eligibility
All full- and part-time regular employees are eligible for an annual performance review and consideration for a merit pay increase.

Procedures
Performance review schedule
Performance appraisals, with the exception of pay-for-skills-program participants (production assembly) and sales staff on a commission plan, are conducted on an annual focal cycle. Employees will receive a performance review on the established focal date each year. Merit increases are not guaranteed and are based on company performance and financials. When provided, a merit increase may accompany a performance review if the employee’s performance and salary level so warrant. The amount of increase should be consistent with the approved merit budget.

Focal increase planning
Overall merit budget allocations and individual merit increases are planned for and allocated prior to the start of each calendar year. The focal salary increase program is designed to assist [Company Name] management in planning and allocating merit and promotional increases that:
• Reward individual performance.
• Are market competitive.
• Are internally equitable.
• Are comparable with [Company Name]’s operating budget.
• Are equitably allocated among individual employees, taking into consideration all available factors at one point in time.

Performance reviews—salary increases
Each manager is responsible for the timely and equitable assessment of the performance and contribution of subordinate employees. A performance review does not always result in an automatic salary increase. The employee’s overall performance and salary level relative to position responsibilities must be evaluated to determine whether a salary increase is warranted. Out-of-cycle salary increases must be pre-approved by the department manager, human resource (HR) director and [Company Name] president.

Salary equity reviews
A manager may request an analysis of an employee’s salary at any time the manager deems appropriate. This request should be made to the HR director, who will review the employee’s salary in comparison to other employees in comparable positions.

 

[iSign]

I'll read all this copy/paste review stuff later... looks like it might be good stuff, but I read the rest and 7oaks has one way... Perhaps this last post agrees... perhaps it offers another way... in any case, farmboy is free to review anyone in any manner, as am I... so let's not trip over the exhausting gamut of possibilities as there is one right way...

Have help
Don't have help
Review your helper
Remove your helper...

You have choices...
I think a lot of workers don't operate with a profitability mindset, because for them, money comes from how long they sit in that chair... right now, that is probably one of the bigger problems with that designer...

Time IS money, and the designer knows this because you probably pay him hourly... but if you have tolerated him working 30 minutes on layouts that are NOT bringing in the revenues to pay for another half an hours work... THAT was his pay raise... already SPENT on him, repeatedly in his first year...

I think he needs to realize that every task you are satisfied with, and then he keeps fussing with it, THERE'S NO MONEY FOR THAT OCD BS... and you tolerating it this long is DIRECTLY RELATED to your profitability, and your ability to offer anyone a wage increase! (or any potential lack of ability to offer pay increases)

I'm just being opinionated because this is a charged issue for me and one a lot of us may find ourselves dealing with before we ever seek or acquire any business training to deal with.

For me, I decided that I'm a far better sign maker than "employer"...and I enjoy making signs more then employing people...

...sure, there were good years where 2 or 3 people making ME extra money for every hour they worked was a good thing, and profitable without much employer effort...
...but in the end I've had to face that I just don't like dealing with employees!

There's a lot of ways to make money! Having to deal with employees is just one way, and you can choose to play that angle... or not!

I agree with techman though, you never owe someone a cost of living pay increase. There are too many variables for any armchair quarterbacks to know who you owe what... but any employee of yours owes it to himself to do what he's told! If he's consistently investing and extra 15 minutes of YOUR time, on every hour he works.. that's an annual 3 month vacation he's wasting on being a control freak instead of leaving his OCD issues at the door, and managing his time as if you are paying for it... since you are! (or were)

 

[Farmboy]

iSign,
For me, you hit this right on the head. I'll admit freely that I'm not great "boss" material, I work, that's my thing. I'm not a good "teacher", I lose my patience with people that can't even pick up on the obvious. I learn everything by just doing it and figure others should be able to do the same, but I realize that others don't have the same stake in it as I do. At this point in my business I have all the equipment I need to be able to do the work easily by myself, so maybe that's the route I should explore.

 

[iSign]

iSign,
For me, you hit this right on the head. I'll admit freely that I'm not great "boss" material, I work, that's my thing. I'm not a good "teacher", I lose my patience with people that can't even pick up on the obvious. I learn everything by just doing it and figure others should be able to do the same, but I realize that others don't have the same stake in it as I do. At this point in my business I have all the equipment I need to be able to do the work easily by myself, so maybe that's the route I should explore.

funny thing, I was visiting a guitarist this morning, and checked back on this thread when he had to take a call...

He was overdubbing a bass track with some guitar when I walked in, and looked like he was having a great day, just like when he rolled the tape back & played it for me... but the call turned out to be a bass player canceling a rehearsal for the second time in a row...
...so he tells me what a pain it always is to pull anything together when you have to deal with other people... as I was leaving he asked me about work... if I had enough work, and I realized that my concerns have shifted in the last 6 or 8 months that I've worked alone... with one less mouth to feed, my over head without payroll has gone down enough that I can be picky about jobs I take again... and I can pick & choose the more profitable, or the most fun... but I just have to remember that I will be the one doing all the labor, so things that used to make sense, might not make sense anymore... like labor intensive demands that keep you too busy to answer the phone or get quotes out will no longer be appropriate jobs anymore, where they might have been easy money before ...

I remember years ago when I had been a solo operation for 8 years, and was reading these forums where people said "beware the growing of your business... you will miss these days, but you can't go back"...

They were right that I missed them after awhile... and there were right that's it's not always easy to go back... but the jury is out on the "can't go back" part... so far it feels like I can make it profitable as a solo journey again... the question is do I really want it still? ...& that's a question I find myself asking a lot still, which bring's up another memory of advice I'd read here 10 years ago... "Beware of the burnout factor!"

 

[klemgraphics]

I ask myself this same question almost daily anymore, BUT.....I'm on the other side. Been doing this for 14 years now, transitioned from part time to full time about 4 years ago. I worked I'm my family's body shop prior to going full time with the sign shop so it was a pretty flexible arrangement. I find myself busier and busier every year.

It's to a point now that it's becoming hard to manage. I have a part time production worker that is pretty good and I can trust but declined coming on full time. I've been trying to consistently raise prices and cut services that were least profitable. I have great clients that would be greatly missed if I lost them so I do whatever I can to keep them happy and they are reasonable with their needs and timelines for the most part, and never question my pricing.

For instance, this week I have probably close to 2 weeks worth of work that should get done. So what will end up happening is that I will work 14+hrs a day and will be pushing all day every day to get where I need to be. There will be things that do not get finished that I wanted to, but if I get anywhere close I will have made a pile of cash.....and be a little more burned out than I was the week before.

Seems easy enough, just hire someone, right? But I hear all to often from others that they wish they were a one man show again and just did what they could. And I fear also that I am a better sign maker than employer, I feel like there is so much that I view as common sense yet even my part time help that does really good over all I have to explain things to over and over again. Maybe I just need to find the right person??

How long can I do this and keep my sanity? I constantly upgrade to make every process more efficient so i can get more done in less time and it just isn't enough anymore. Guess I need to make up my mind and go one way or the other.

 

[Gino]

I believe the mindset is, when you are working by yourself, you and you alone are responsible for everything that takes place or doesn't take place. Kinda obvious, huh ?? So, when a mistake is made, you can't blame anyone else, you know you fugged up. When someone calls you and says, you sure are hard to get a hold of...... you probably know why. Also, there will be much less waste and more production as you know what everything is worth and won't waste a single minute or drop of ink. Payroll, overhead and taxes will be less of a burden, huh ?? You can downsize, get rid of stuff and choose your customers. Raise your prices and become a little more independent. Name your price and hours........ and custom's.

Funny part is, if one knows how to delegate, you can do it on a larger scale and still make more money overall, then also please a larger amount of a customer base.

Some..... are cut out to be mechanics, workers, post hole diggers and so forth, while others are meant to be organizers, movers & shakers. Be honest with yourself and you can make a good decision on which way you want to go, or should go. Seven people producing in an 8 hour day is gonna be a lot more than one person who is chief cook and bottle washer, not to mention phone operator, waiter and hat check person. Then, go home and do the books. Yep, that's the way to create a business. Keep your well oiled machine sleek and lean by cutting out all unnecessary things. Cut it so lean, it has to run 99% perfect or it will fail.

It's really all about if you set yourself up to fail or not. Sure, many people are going solo and very happy, but they are probably very disciplined. Don't procrastinate, don't ever show up late for meetings, always have the work done on time and most of all, have no outstanding invoices.... or bills of their own.

Personally, I was a worker and welcomed as much work as I could take on, but the workload dictated I needed more people to do things, cause I was working about 18 hour days. No time to do anything, but work. Started surrounding myself with good people and although they hafta be replaced of added to from time to time, I never wanted to go back to jut myself. I made good money on my own, but far-r-r more having good people around me. It took time learning to let go of certain aspects of the actual work and delegating more, but with some help form other good business people and friends, along with lessons learned the hard way, it became doable and now profitable.

People owning someone anything is ridiculous. You supply a place to work, a workload, you are the boss....... they must come up to your expectations and deliver or write them up and put them on notice. However, after a year, if you've kept them around without any serious talks, I still think they deserve a raise. If not, you would've fired their butt a long time ago. Your not being able to get them to do what you want, is your problem, not theirs. Again, learn to delegate.

 

[copythat]

Solo

The main reason why I got rid of my graphic person was for the same reason. He would take a half hour on a design for a 18 x 24 sign. I charge $30 for a simple sign set-up, which would take me less than 12 mins. He would be around 35-40 mins. His signs would look dynamite of course. But I would have to charge $90 just for the set up. One sign print & mount on coroplast $46.

Mostly garage sale signs.

Garage Sale
Address
time

That's all that's needed.


Our charges were $35 per side without photos. He would be over an hour + I tried to explain to him that ROI with him was too costly & I had to let him go. No one will do it better than you!



Sign Up!

 

[Rick]

First off, I think if something ticks you off about an employee, it should be addressed.
The designer thing doesn't bug me, but the dude that comes in late would. We all have
things that irritate us... for one boss, twirling my keys used to, for my dad, it's your
hands on your pockets.

What pops up in my head is...
-- Is the designer doing all the work on time?
-- Does he do ALL the design work?
-- Do you have to take a lot of time from your work to direct him?
-- Does the designer have sign shop experience?
-- If the designer is getting paid 10-15 an hour, you might be getting what you pay for
(unless the designer had no experience)

In my opinion, if the designer gets all the work done, on time, and carrying that load
that he's required to do (I'm thinking the designer is designing near 275-300k a year's
worth of work) then he's doing his job.

In other words, he might be slow at chump sign stuff, but way more than makes up for it
on the higher dollar items.

I still think the designer needs to adjust his thinking or be shown the door. But maybe this designer
has never been exposed to a high volume shop, or may not have the experience to design at speed, or
needs to readjust his IOAFS thinking. But if he's doing his job - overall - and has had no raise in a
year, expect him to bail if you don't give him a raise.

I don't know how many sign shops you have worked at, but I've worked at 8. There are times
where I've taken waaaay too much time on some chump sign, usually from the client... but
sometimes, it was me... I more than made up for it, on other jobs. If you do a lot of that quickie
kind of work, you may have the wrong designer.

Working by myself was no picnic, I would consider farming out some of the work, or co-work with
someone. I'm getting too old to be working 12-16 hours days for 6-7 day stretches.

 

[iSign]

(To avoid the gratuitous plug - if you are interested in my services - check my profile.)

I don't think you've managed to avoid that at all

 

[Gino]

^^ :Big Laugh ^^