Hiring Summer Help?

02 LTZ

02 LTZ

New member
Hey all,

I operate a fixed location detail shop in Kentucky...and since it has started to get warm...business is really picking up.
Here is what I am thinking........
I do "pickup and delivery", and I am thinking that if I hire someone I could pick the car up before my hired help gets here of a morning and they could start on the car first thing...I could then help them get started...then I could go pickup another car while they are finishing up on the first one...then when I get back with the other car...they can start on it while I return the car they were working on....this way I don't have any lost time in between picking up and delivering.

Therefore, I am thinking about hiring summer help.

Anyone know how I should go about this...and also what should I pay someone.
The person I hire would need to know a little about detailing, have a sense of what really goes into detailing a vehicle, and also be able to work by themselves...because I do not want to have to stand over them and tell them what to do.

I would be able to help them a little in between vehicles.
Any help would be appreciated.
 
I'm in NO CA and the local detail shops pay about 10 to 15 bucks depending on their level of knowledge. I like your style thought I have wanted to do this fr some time, but I'm not busy enough to do that yet. My biz is way up from last year but I think that I've got one more year.
 
02 LTZ,
I used to pay by the hour $8 and paid for everything associated with having employees. In Feb, I started paying by the job, i.e $40 for a full detail, $15 for carpet shampooing, etc. I have set prices that I pay for work performed. It has worked out really well for me. What used to take my guys 5 hours is now done in 3.5. I still sign off on or ok the work they have done so they don't rush through and half ass a job. This has worked out great for them as well. Now one guy can do 2 full details and be done in 7-8 hours and make $80 instead of before me paying them $8 an hour for 10 hours. My employees seem to love it. As we all know, some cars take 3 hours some take 6. They take the good with the bad and feel like they've made out when they get an easy one. Sometimes I'll throw them an exta $10 if the vehicle is trashed. This method has also enabled me to free up time to take on more jobs too. As a final note...Paying my peeps this way also lets me claim them as subcontractors thus avoiding unemployment insurance and tax withholdings. The IRS says that if a persons income is based solely on the work given to them by a single employer, they cannot be considered as an independant contractor and the employer's relationship must be one of employer and employee. Paying someone by the hour is a dead givaway to this definition. Though my situation fits the definition as well, if I get audited, I can claim that I didn't know they weren't performing their services elsewhere. This saves me money and time not dealing with all of the regulatory agencies.
denverdetail
 
02 LTZ,
And one more note. In my experience, don't concentrate on finding someone with detailing experience. Look for the right person first. Anyone can learn detailing. I've hired experienced detailers and guys who didn't know crap but seemed smart, reliable, and willing to work hard. The experienced detailers have never lasted. The other guys are still working for me and do a great job day in and day out. If you can find someone experienced who seems to fit the bill, by all means, don't pass them up. Likewise, don't get hung up on looking for someone experienced. Your not hiring a surgeon!
 
Thanks denverdetail,

I didn't know the part about the subcontracting...but I do now.
I would be willing to hire someone who I wouldn't have to stand over top of and tell how to do something. That means alot there, for them to be trainable.
Some people wouldn't work in a pie factory...and then there are others that would break their back to make a buck
I hope that I find the right person soon...before I have a heart attack trying to do it all myself.
 
I hear you brother. Its hard to do all the work yourself. I've been taking alot of time off because of my back being overworked. I pretty much have my guys doing most of the work. Though I'm still working 50 hours a week, most of my time is not spent detailing. There is only so much you can do before your body says that's enough.
 
A good customer of mine once owned five pizza stores. He would travel from shop to shop making sure that everything was running okay. Of course, when it was necessary he would concentrate on one store when he needed to make sure new employees were trained properly and so on. He commented to me one day about how the pizza store where he spent the most time usually took in the most money for the week compared to his other stores. He slowly began to realize that when he was present everything ran according to plan, however as soon as he was not on site he began losing money. Today he only owns one pizza store and he makes much more money with the one store than he ever did with the five stores. Simply because he is almost always there to make sure things are done right and that all of the money made each day actually makes its way into the cash register.

Sometimes, when you are growing a business, having too much work can create just as many problems as not having enough work.
 
Mirrorfinishman has a great point. I've learned this lesson myself. When I started in this business, I wanted to be able to benefit from my hard work as well as that of my employees and eventually have them make a majority of my income for me. Easier said than done. I learned early on that employees are not the asset that some think. In many ways, they make things more difficult. In order to reach my goal (still not there yet) I've gone through 6 employees and have finally found two guys that I can truly trust to do things right. In the interem, how many customers went unsatisfied and will never use my business again? Now that things are going well, I keep wondering what I'll do if one of them leaves. Its a never ending battle.
 
I don't own a detailing business but I do have some experience as to managing employees ect so I thought I would toss up my $.02!

Putting money aside. Your going to pay your employees what you can afford to pay them.

However working on an insentive(sp) basis does work the only problem here is that Quality counts no quantity! So this is not always your best choice!

I have found whenever hiring a new employee the best thing to do is to start them off initially a little lower than you even expected to pay them! And then give a raise or two once they have learned the ropes.

Also another thing that you might want to try and look for is a kid thats either a Junior or senior in high school or a freshman in college reason for this is .. if you treat them well they are bound to come home every summer so you won't have to Re-teach someone else!

Finnally Teach them! don't direct them, Don't yell at them show them the tricks of the trade. Make them part of your team and I have found its impmortant to give them continous feed back and pats on the back!

Ie. That Ford Windstar turned out great but I think you should try and concentrate on (insert problem here) that way they take it as constructive instead of you always correcting them.

And constantly tell them they are doing a great job (unless obviously they are not.)

If you teach them they will want to learn ... Also if you have an opening in your schedual and don't have anything else for him to do that day .... toss the suggestion of ... why don't you bring your parents/girlfriends car in on friday(or whatever day) and we will clean it up for them (it will help business as well because of referals)

Just some helpful tips i thought i would toss your way
 
Thanks,
I found someone who is doing a pretty decent job...she has been on the job for 2 days.
The first day she was here...I went slow and showed her...well...I let her do all the work but I showed her the correct way to do everything. I think the "hands on" approach works better than trying to tell someone how things should be done.

When I first talked to her...I told her she would be making $7 an hour...she was really excited.
She has been working as a cashier at a gas station for $5.15...so she jumped at the offer.
I told her that after she had been on the job for awhile and learned the ropes that she could receive a raise. I am willing to pay her $10 an hour, but I didn't tell her that.

I try not to be mean when she does something wrong...I try to correct her in a good way.
Like by saying, "I think it might work better if you try it this way".
I think she will do ok after she learns all the ropes.

I want to train her so that if she has to...she will be able to do everything by herself...because somedays something might happen and I will have to leave to do something else...then I won't have to worry because I know that she will know what to do.
 
Great to hear!

There is nothing worse than being "that boss" the one that we all hate and always talk about behind their back!


I go by the saying treat my employees as I want them to treat me! And espessially when you have the opertunity to be on a one to one basis 9x out of 10 it works out to your advantage!

Good luck...

Let us know how she works out ! It will be intresting to see how well she progresses!
 
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