ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion Slow Spells

Sorry guys,

I just don't believe in "one size fits all" strategies for anything. Including running a business.

Again,
Different people have different priorities.
I read Stones book, and didn't care for most of it. If his ideals work for some people, so be it.

I, personally, have no aspirations to be more than a 2-3 man shop, and I believe that WITH THE RIGHT PERSON, loyalty is a 2-way street.

Good luck!

[This message has been edited by Redsy (edited 04-03-2006).]

I just don't believe in "one size fits all" strategies for anything. Including running a business. [quote]


Good response Redsy. I am with you. There are to many people on this forum who think their way is best for evrybody and they know everything.

Agree with Redsy also.......


Dnk....

"I just don't believe in "one size fits all" strategies for anything. Including running a business."

For any business, there are no "one size fits all" strategies, this is why business planning is vital to survive, knowing your market, and it's up, and down cycles, preparing ahead of time for shifts in the economy, have plans in place for a down turn, whatever the strategie you use.

I have not checked in on this thread for a while. I am very impressed with the thread, many good points.

Keep in mind I have not and probably never will run my own business. My comments are strictly from employees point of view.

I would think that the reason most of you started your own business was so it could be done your way. That being said there are as many ways to run a business as their are people.

You can certainly run your business strictly by the numbers its your option.

However I find it hard to believe you can keep talented people at your beck and call. Maybe your business can deal with 'green' employees after each slow spell, many businesses can not.

In December we where slow, today there are not enough hours in a week. I am running two jobs in neighboring towns along with preparing for a $450,000 job.

If I was laid off I would have found another job and not looked back. I am a talented valuable employee it would have been the companies loss.

As much as it is well within your rights as the business owner to lay me off it is within my rights to seek a more caring, compassionate company.

I believe you get what you give.

If your gift to me is a layoff we have little more to talk about.

JMO, Bob





[This message has been edited by iwire (edited 04-05-2006).]

I agree with iwire's points. But I would even suggest that caring and compassion don't have to have too much to do with it. I think there are appropriate times to take the loss at a slow time to make sure you are prepared for an upswing. Balance that loss against retraining or the expense of hiring. Ad, interview, wasted time, redoing the recently let go new guy's work.

When making difficult business decisions you need to take into account all costs, both the obvious and not so obvious. I have mentioned in the past about how difficult it can be to quantify productive momentum and the the types of decisions that kill it. I would consider this issue a business momentum issue on a different scale (much like the weak and strong forces in physics)

Odds are if you are panicked and stressed about downtime losses, you should probably let some people go. Doesn't mean the guy that retains his men at a loss doesn't know what he's doing. He probably understands his costs better than you.

Bob, it is interesting...

When your an employee, you believe the grass is always greener on the other side, but is it?

When your an employer, you try to make the grass as green as possible....

Dnk...

[This message has been edited by Dnkldorf (edited 04-05-2006).]

I am not sure what you mean.

I do not think the grass is greener for my employer.

Sure they make more than me, there is a good reason for that, they are the ones that stepped up to the plate and took a risk. Now they are the ones that have to chase the work, the money the IRS etc.

All I have to do is show up and do electric work (for the most part) which is what I like to do.

Bob

Bob, this is what I was trying to convey....

When I was working for someone, yrs ago, I always felt the grass was greener somewhere else....sometimes I was right, sometimes I was wrong.... I used to look at the labor rate the company charged for me and looked at what they paid me, and never really grasped the costs assoc. with employing me, and the other tangible business costs...I was young and nieve...young and dumb if you wish.....

Once I made the leap, I realized what it was really like to keep the grass green. It takes alot of work, and planning and thought...As an employee, I never thought of it the way I do now....

That is what is interesting here. I see how some think and now know why they think that way.....


Dnk...

[This message has been edited by Dnkldorf (edited 04-08-2006).]

The company I work for has over 90 electricians and they do get slow between the start of large jobs. I am in the service department where theres 7 of us. When the new construction side gets slow I do not believe they lay anyone off because they would never get them back or would they be able to hire new QUALIFIED people when the next job started. Theres too much of a demand for us down here and not enough of us to go around.

Weve been trying to hire two more service guys for the last six months and have not been able to hire any. My company pays the most in the area as far as I know and they don't bother you too much so it is a decent company to work for. I believe it makes more sense for a company the size of ours to have the guys do busy work around the shop than not be able to start the next large job due to lack of skilled labor.

I wouldnt expect a small company to go out of business and in debt to keep me employed, there are many opportunities out there so finding another job is not difficult. I would not leave the new company just because the smaller one had work again though.