There have been posts about fair wages and hours. I have something related I am wondering about.
I do small remodeling jobs, always for the homeowner, and quite often I do parts of a DIY project the DIYer didn’t want to do.
The problem is I am always getting sucked into someone else’s drama. The deadlines appear.
“We want to paint this weekend.”
“I forgot to tell you I have to be out of where I am living now on the 30th.”
“Aunt Mildred will be here in three days.”
I don’t want to seem like I have a bad attitude and I realize carpentry isn’t A 9-5 deal. However, as I get older, it takes longer to recuperate. I pull long days and 7 day weeks to accomodate someone and lose productivity on the next job. I make good money on the long days, but I think in the long run, I would be better off with steady hours.
I freely admit I am a wimp.
Where do you guys draw the line to accomodate someone?
Whatever it takes?
Work your regular hours and their problems are their problems?
Tell them overnight delivery is double regular shipping?
I work by myself and it has occurred to me if I had a crew I would have to pay time and half.
By the way, this is farm country where everyone the good old days when “people weren’t afraid to work.”
Replies
Just my wild azz guess.........sounds like you are forgetting to be forthright and staeadfast from the start of the job.
This is when I start and this will be when I finish (+-) unless you add or delete something from the scope of the work that WE have agreed that I will do.
That's it, period! You need to communicate this upfront and hold steady to it throughout the job.
My contract always stated that work days were from 7:30 ish to 4or 5ish Mon to Fri and that's it unless I want to come in on a Sat with their permission.
Don't be a doormat.
Eric
[email protected]
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
I work slow. And I rarely work over eight hours in a day (not counting paperwork, but I rarely do much of that if I actually "worked" eight hours).
My biggest failing is that I fail to make that clear to the customer. Certainly all of my regular customers know to expect that the job is going to take longer than I think it will!
But I'm getting better about it. When the phone rings, one of the first questions I ask is about time frame. If they are in any hurry at all, I pass.
Having said all that, I recently worked 25 hours straight to finish up a bath tile job that I agreed to do while the owner was on vacation...but the previous job ran long...and I had a couple of problems...and the "deadline" of customers return was looming. So I sucked it up and worked through the night. Still can't believe I pulled that off! Probably never again though!!
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
Fundude,
Don’t you just hate being in positions like yours.
It sounds to me the individuals you are working for are not doing their job. Who is it that has established the plan? The plan has to be known and agreed upon by all parties prior to construction. I think it might be called a schedule? The process might be called construction or project management.
It sound too me like the party you are working with is reactive as apposed to pro active. At the completion of an activity or task that individual realizes the next task needs to be done, it is not until this time is the team that is responsible for the next task notified.
“Who? Does what? & whenâ€
It sounds like they are making their problem your problem.
Let them know:
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
Good luck,
Tom
Working for nothing is not getting any cheaper.
Work your regular hours and their problems are their problems?
One of the BIG reasons I left to go out on my own was so that I could set my own hours.
Because you (the homeowner) are in crisis mode, is not my concern. If my schedule permits, I`ll try and accomodate you, but I promise nothing.
I think it was Rich, who said that one of the first questions regards time frame, and if HO is in a hurry, I too usually pass.
I work to live, not the other way around.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
What you describe is leaving the job of Carpenter to the new, high paying position of "Crisis Managment"
So when customer #1 says " we need such & such done by ..........
you smile and say " Sure! this level of service is at twice my usual rate...........
or just refigure it to compensate your added efforts. After all, as you say, the added effort wears you out. You need to pay yourself so you can take the time to recoup.
5 times outta ten, they'll reconsider how important it is to accelerate the schedual and balk at the higher cost. The other five will gladly pay it...............because it's worth it.
Bill 'em.
I try to avoid working with a deadline that seems even a little bit tight. I also make it clear from the start what my regular hours will be - it varies, but seldom exceeds 40/week. After 8 hours my productivity and creativity drop so dramatically, I'm not worth what I charge so it's a bad deal for the customer. If I work weekends it's for myself, not for money.
Next time you get a call and want to set up a meeting to discuss an upcoming job, propose the meeting time yourself. Make sure the meeting time falls within the 'standard' work week: say 8-5 pm, Mon-Fri. If your potential customers balk and suggest an evening or weekend meeting, then there's a clear indication they don't respect you or your time off. Would they try to get their dentist to work on a weekend? And for damn sure they're going to be spending a lot more on that reno than they would on a filling. You're a professional and you deserve some respect....
(unless your business name is the same as your forum handle!)
Great idea about the meeting!I just realized something terrible about my forum handle. Since I was a little kid my nickname was Fu. It is a long story which doesn't make any sense to tell, but the jist of it is related to my name. A friend of mine calls me Fudude. I was at a loss for what to use as a handle and used it.Up until now I didn't realize it could also be an abbreviation for F###ed up. I have read on this forum of the importance of creating a brand. Only I would blunder into this. I am just glad I didn't have cards printed. FU construction may be descriptive but probably not good advertising.Thanks for saying something.
Fundude, practice this line out loud until you can say it naturally : "Sorry, that won't be possible."
Nothing else needs to be added.
blue
JD probably put it the best.
My take is you haven't learned yet to set a schedule up front for the client and you haven't learned to say no.
I figure the job as we discussed it and with my quote I give a time frame. If I figure the work to take 26 hours I will usually tell the client it will take a week. Then I budget that amount of time into the schedule. This way if I am surprised by something, take a little longer than I thought or they add something (and I will give them a change order to sign for that) then I am ok.
Frankly if we use the example above and they try to add 2 extra days of work and I can't accomodate it I tell them so and offer them my next opening. Simple as that. DanT
Thanks for all the input. It means alot to get a different perspective which is why this forum is great.
It sounds like I need to tune up my management of the job from the outset,commit myself to a schedule and deal with any problems then.