Replies

1. 
   Jim_Kastenholz | Apr 06, 2000 08:38pm | #1

   *
   I have done a couple of things.

   I hired an accountant to do the accounting, taxes, payroll etc. We trade hours so each hour she puts in we do an hour of work for her. Pretty good deal since her hourly rate is higher than ours.

   I haved delegated some of the estimating to my lead carpenter/ partner

   I have computerized as much as I can, estimating, accounting, contracts/ sales orders, invoivs, etc. as much as possible into a single application to ease data entry redundancy. Hope this helps

1. 
   Dan_Dear | Apr 07, 2000 02:54am | #2

   *Welcome to the self employment world. First of all, subcontract anything that can be done at a labor rate cheaper than your charged rate. You can hire someone at $8 to $12 per hour to come into your home/office and do the bookeeping, filing, write out checks, etc. You can also hire a company like Staff Leasing. We lease ourselves from them. They charge me only 18% of payroll and that 18% includes workers comp, FICA and state and federal unemployment - not bad for 18% considering it does include workers comp. on my as well. I write out one check each week. They take care of the parerwork, IRS forms and deposits. Deducting what is included in that 18%, I figure tht are only charging me fee of about 1%-2% for their services.Change your overhead to reflect 50 -55 hours of your time in the business but where you only work on jobs 32 hours per week. I my case, with one full time employee, my overhed reflects me working on jobs 20 hours per week. The other 20 plus is spent on sales calls (which I charge $60 for), SCAs (which I get paid for) and related paperwork and phone calls to subs and vendors. That's why my charged rate varies from a minimum of $72 per hour to over $100 depending on the job. I only do small jobs so as such, my peers may not consider me a true "remodeler." However, the remodeling business I sold to my two sons last year "is" a remodeling company, one that will do over $3M this year, and their charged rate is $95 per hour. In addition, I and my sons have not advertised since June of 1991 and they are booked into 2001, so I don't want to hear "It can't be done."Most of us have a "technician" mindset as I had for 20 years. We think in terms of carpenters, remodelers, painters, etc., and only charge for work done on jobs. It's stupid. As business owners, we where many hats: bookkeeping, salesman, estimator, project manager (Yea, even it ours is a one man operation), PR executive, material gopher, file clerk, permit getter, equipment repair man, warehouse man, etc. Consider a large construction corportation. Do you think they do not pay their full time bookkeeper, their full time warehouse man, their full time equipment maintenance person, their ful time gofer?If you do not "reassemble" your business to look and run like a business, charge the rates to do the above, you are only providing yourself with a job, and a lousy one at that. You are certainly not a "business" owner, because no business could find employees to do all of those things - for free.Don't wait 20 years as I did as a really dumb jerk. Learn from other's mistakes. Change now!

1. 
   Rich_Beckman | Apr 07, 2000 04:55pm | #3

   *Sonny,What is an SCA? You charge $60 for sales calls? You mean you charge your own company that much, right?I appreciate your posts.Rich Beckman

1. 
   Dan_Dear | Apr 07, 2000 05:48pm | #4

   *I charge the "prospect" $60.00, for the consultant meeting. An SCA is a Specification and Cost Analysis, which is what we really provide that most contractors and consumers call an "estimate."Go to the site belowto view the discussion I started on SCAs several months ago. It's at the Remodeling Online site, in the "Business" forum. It's time to get the consumer welcomed to reality. Remember, when your refrigerator or washer fails, you get charged by teh service conpany to have the "technician" go to your home just to "evaluate" the problem. Whether or not you decide to have the repair(s) done is irrelevent - the service call is still charged for two things: His time, and his expertise. So what are we - chopped liver? http://www.remodeling.hw.net/talk/list.htm?FID=12&SID=2110&limit=90

1. 
   GACC_DAllas | Apr 08, 2000 05:01am | #5

   *Sorry Bubba,I feel for you........I hope you are making enough money to make it worth your while. The paper work is the "not too much fun" part of our business. Without it, we are out of business. It's a bitch, but you got to do it. I got lucky. My wife took over the majority of our paperwork. The first few years of business, I tried to do it all myself......big mistake.Ed. Williams

2. 
   jim_"crazy_legs"_blodg | Apr 08, 2000 05:26am | #6

   *The funny thing is, it's in the office where I can make the most difference in the bottom line. I can save more by shopping for an hour on the phone than I can driving nails for that same hour. Same can be said for the extra hour you put into a bid or proposal. That's what sets successful folks apart, they WANT to spend that time in the office.

3. 
   FredB | Apr 08, 2000 07:52pm | #7

   *Decision time for another guy! This is where you decide whether you are a Businessman or a Technician. If you are a Businessman then you get in the mindset that this stuff is important to get your paycheck(profit) where you want it. If you are a Technician you find someone else to work for and you don't mess with the paperwork.I've seen lots of guys in the same fix. The only wrong decision is to do something you aren't really happy with. If you aren't happy then your misery will spill over on everyone else making them miserable and so the circle goes.

4. 
   Dan_Dear | Apr 08, 2000 09:58pm | #8

   *Jim and Fred; you've both got the right idea. It took yers for me to learn that "paparwork" as we call it, is no less valuable to me than a saw during a framing job.Those jobs I lost money on, were jobs I usually was to quick to prepare the estimate, in addition to not costing jobs after completion - actual compared to estimated - by operation. Now I fill out a time sheet for myself and note all daily work as well as all daily travels, including purpose. The time sheet also includes paperwork done during the evening and week ends if I work on any project, or even just researching on the web for general info (information expense, or training expense).Business is about only two things: money and customers. Paperwork is the foundation for documenting both and is what "greases maximizing both. Hire out what you can and only do what you have to, but make sure it's all done, and correctly.

5. 
   Ross_Elliott | Apr 10, 2000 05:19am | #9

   *(Rosco surfaces from the pile of paperwork long enough to take a breath... hey, there's a discussion in the works!)Hi folks, Yes, I know all about the difference between being a businessman and a carpenter (someone once said that a carpenter should run a hairdressing salon and the hairdresser should run the construction business, because if you're too close to the production side of the work then you can't be objective about the business side). I do charge for Specifications & Cost Analysis, 25 cents a square foot, payable by post-dated cheque (if we get the contract to do the job within 45 days, they get the cheque back). That's part of my paperwork pile, doing a proper job on estimates I charge around $1200 to do. Keeps the tire-kickers away. Terrible at doing my own time cards though (will get right on it, what was I doing last Monday??). Been slogging through the bills and accounting with the wife all weekend, she says we've only got a couple of hours to go to finish, I'll believe it when I see it. I guess the gist of my posting is this: does anyone know of a really good system for getting it all done, and still having time for a life? I'm thinking of trying another estimating system, I hear that National Construction Estimator now ties in with Quickbooks Pro, does anyone have any experience with it? Anyone have tips and tricks for making paperwork, especially accounting, fun? (okay, fun is too strong a word... how about bearable?). I used to try to classify every item I bought according to CSI division, so I could do a proper estimated vs. actual comparison at the end of the job, but lately I've just been entering all the bills as "materials" or "subcontractors", just to get them caught up. I want detailed reports, but I don't want to spend all day getting the bills into the computer. Let's hear from all the people out there who have it all together, share your secrets with us paperwork slaves!

6. 
   Ross_Welsh | Apr 16, 2000 02:19am | #10

   *Getting a bookkeeping service 6 years ago was one of the best business moves I ever made. I had 3 employees then and now have 7. You just can't do everything. Think of ways to get help doing everything your business does and believe me there is still a ton of work for you. I try to concentrate on just bidding, scheduling and maybe billing. My bookkeeping service does not do billing (which may change soon) but does everything related to payroll, posting expenses generating checks, workers comp. reports etc. I review reports and sign checks. I still enjoy working with my tools and training young people but I would be foolish to try to work all day with my tools. I guess my advise is to get help where ever you can and you will still be busy running the business.

2. 
   Ross_Elliott | Apr 16, 2000 02:19am | #11

   *
   One thing that never seems to end around here is paperwork. Government stuff (workers comp., employee deductions, GST, etc. etc,), invoices, estimates, contracts, design work, timecards, paycheques, and a steady stream of incoming mail... I'm ready to quit this business altogether, because there doesn't seem to be any other way to get out of the office. Paperwork could be my full-time job, but instead it just consumes all available weekend and evening time with no end in sight. Anyone else feel the same way, or has anyone found a good way to get out from under the paper mountain?