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Thread: speed or quality...which employee is better

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    Default speed or quality...which employee is better

    is it easier to hire a quality minded employee and make him faster

    or

    hire a fast employee and teach him quality

    im still considering hiring someone soon...ive in the research phase now...called my accountant, contacted the union hall...im giving it 4 more weeks to see if this busy period is permanent or temporary.

    most QUALITY minded people are slow

    most FAST workers are sloppy

    which is easiest to modify and teach ?..... it probably depends on the person

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    Quality is a frame of mind - and, I believe harder to teach than speed. With what you charge, I think you should be happy with just quality unless their speed is incredibly slow. One or two extra hours of labor per week is nothing compared to the cost of quality issues.
    Steve B

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    1 or 2 extra hours a week...who cares.....im worried about 3-4 extra hours per day....ive seen plumbers work at 1/2 my speed all the time...no one will be as fast, but id like above average(so would everyone else)

    i think its probably easier to take a fast guy and teach him quality.....i dont think many people who do quality want to go fast... they are almost opposites...i can do it, so its possible

    on small jobs 1/2 speed would mean losing money...i dont get small jobs done in 1/2 the time....sometimes its right on the hours bid....id have to raise my prices on small jobs or do them myself...people already consider me expensive for 3-4 hour jobs as it is....

    the larger jobs where i make all my money i typically get done in 1/2 to 3/4 the hours bid....so there's alot of wiggle room for labor....when i do a task i make journeymans + profit....it ends up being $50 per hour...when i have an employee i will only be making $15 per hour on him...if im not working 40 hours in the field ill be making alot less money with an employee...it has to happen, but until i get back to 40 ill be making less for a year or 2...or 10.....

    When i get a job done in 1/2 the time then in making $150 per hour..thats where i make my real money....if someone is 1/2 my speed ive lost all that profit...which is huge....

    im starting to think i can make more by myself then i could with 3-4 employees.....if i find someone as good as me or close then it would be great....if they are 1/2 my speed then i may as well stay a 1 man shop

    im going to try it for sure....everything is worth a try....maybe try a few times if i need to......hiring an employee is now going to be my next workaholic project to think about all day for a month or 2....if i hire a retired guy all im out is a bucket of tools... if i hire a full time journeyman im out $40k in powertools, stock, and a van.....im wondering how many employee's i may have to hire/fire to find someone who has speed and quality....

    i dont think anyone likes to be told to go faster...ive always been fast...when people told me to go faster i always got pissed off and didnt do it...i was the fastest worker at one company and it annoyed me when someone was giving me tips to go faster....they had a chart showing who got the most done...i was #1 and he was #20

    everyone want to do a quality job...i dont think many people 'think' they do a crap job...i think in their heads everyone thinks they are a quality person....teaching them a better way to do a higher quality job may be easier than teaching speed.

    maybe its just my personality and how i perceive things, but i think im looking for speed in the first few weeks when i hire someone new...then start giving suggestions on how to improve things....

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    It sounds like you already have your answer.

    In my mind, re-doing some work after the drywall and expensive carpeting is in place will cost you thousands versus the the hundreds it will cost you for a guy or girl that is slower than average. The damage to your reputation on the low quality will potentially cost you tens of thousands.

    If I could make $15 per hour on an employee, I'd be doing it all day long. If I wasn't needed in the "field" for 40 hours per week, that would be a great opportunity to grow the business by marketing and developing sytems and procedures to maintain your quaility in the future as you grow.

    With your current thinking - you have set up a very nice job for yourself, but it falls short of being a real business. If it relies on you to do 100% of the work, it will be harder for you to sell if you ever want to sell it. That may be all that you want - so going beyond that may not make you happy.
    Steve B

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    $15 per hour for 1 employee is $600 a week in profit for me and thats if it goes well....there is also markup on parts and fixtures, so lets say $30 per hour profit..so $1,200 per week

    $4,800 per month....sounding better....57,600 per year....sounding better yet......now if i can work MY 30-40 a week thats great...

    i can make $1,200 myself in a great day......i can also easily lose $1000 a week if the employee gets a 40 hour job done in 50 hours....

    that $1,200 a week doesnt sound as good suddenly.

    i do agree that i want to move to the next level and have an employee...its scary and im trying to wrap my head around the whole idea....i could use that part timer next week for 15 hours.....the union didnt call me back yet.....

    im probably going forward w/ angies list and also now may have a link to a large remodeler who could have a need for 40 hours a week by themselves...if i land them im going all in and hiring full time for sure...i wont pass that one by....i have the $$ for the van and tools tomorrow if i need to.....

    im taking the phone # w/ me for the union hall on Monday.....even if i hire a part timer for a few times ill get the experience of managing someone...ive been a lead person at a printing company 16 years ago........im hoping a 65 year old would be pretty easy to manage...

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    $15 per hour for 1 employee is $600 a week in profit for me and thats if it goes well....there is also markup on parts and fixtures, so lets say $30 per hour profit..so $1,200 per week

    $4,800 per month....sounding better....57,600 per year....sounding better yet......now if i can work MY 30-40 a week thats great...

    i can make $1,200 myself in a great day......i can also easily lose $1000 a week if the employee gets a 40 hour job done in 50 hours....

    that $1,200 a week doesnt sound as good suddenly.

    i do agree that i want to move to the next level and have an employee...its scary and im trying to wrap my head around the whole idea....i could use that part timer next week for 15 hours.....the union didnt call me back yet.....

    im probably going forward w/ angies list and also now may have a link to a large remodeler who could have a need for 40 hours a week by themselves...if i land them im going all in and hiring full time for sure...i wont pass that one by....i have the $$ for the van and tools tomorrow if i need to.....

    im taking the phone # w/ me for the union hall on Monday.....even if i hire a part timer for a few times ill get the experience of managing someone...ive been a lead person at a printing company 16 years ago........im hoping a 65 year old would be pretty easy to manage...

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    I know what you are going through. My Dad is a plumber out in CA, and he just went through this very same issue. IMO, go with quality. Here is why. If you have to go out on a call back to clean up his mess, you are doing it for free, and thus losing money, and most likely future work from that customer. If you have a quality guy, you pay him by the hour, but you also charge for him by the hour, so you are still making money and he is going to do things right. Your customers will happier to pay more for work that is done right vs. work that is done fast and is sloppy. You market might be different, but my dad pays his guys around 15-20 per hour, and he charges 75-95 per hour for them (less for helpers). After all the red tape, he makes about 20 per hour off each worker. You have a reputation in your area, and it sounds that it is a pretty good one. Don't muddy it up with a sloppy worker...
    tulsa accounting agency providing nationwide payroll services and do-it-yourself online payroll

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    Quality of course! There is an old saying in China:Haste brings no success. Another one is Watched pot never boils. Both of them indict that speed is not always good. I totally agree with it.

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    The assumption through all this is that speed and quality are mutually exclusive. That is not a valid assumption. The successful company is one that encourages their quality employees to work faster without sacrificing quality, and to get their fast employees to be more quality conscious without going slower.

    It can be done -- but not if you always assume that this is an either/or situation. What you think about, you bring about.

    Add to that the "patchwork" nature of this discussion. The question of hiring a first employee, in this case, is the result of greater workload. It is therefore a reaction to circumstances. A sound business does not grow by accident -- it grows by planning for growth. It starts with knowing your market, analysing growth possibilities, planning for expansion, preparing for increased workload and putting resources in place to be ready for the workload, and then going about generating the increased demand. Not by being surprised at a sudden blip in the work and reacting to it.

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    i thought id be slow next week, but i signed 5 jobs on Friday and now am booked up again....im working 10-12 hours in the field a day and 2-3 hours bidding at night....i worked a 1/2 day today (sat)...

    Frederick- im assuming its a blip....but its the largest blip ive had...2 months straight....in the past its only been 3-4 weeks....

    i can see by the amount of bids im doing that it will slow down soon and get back to normal.....by hiring a part time guy i can handle the work load and let the demand grow more before i hire my 1st full time employee...

    union rate package is $56 per hour- worker makes $35....i charge $88 for new homes and $104 for remodels/service...i typically make $15-30 per hour if the hours are exact...

    a good question to keep this conversation going is:

    IF I HIRE A QUALITY GUY Can I teach him speed? ...I want both of course.

    I got a list from the union of 8 guys willing to work part time...most are not retired....some have been laid off for more than 2 years (wow they must be good)

    i talked to one on the phone...his speaking speed was 1/3rd of mine. It was noticeably slower than an average person

    i can give all 8 a phone interview....what should i ask them to gauge speed and quality?

    1. rate your speed 1-10
    2. rate your quality 1-10
    3?
    4?

    if i hire a part time employee he will be next to me all day...if something is poor quality i can point it out and fix it while im there...i look over the whole job when i complete it....i typically spend 15 min examining everything.....so reputation wont be effected right now.....reputation is everything to me!

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