I wanted to see what the perspective was on a certain position. Heres the situation: Say somebody was coming to your operation, or a large operation that has 3-4 crews including brick/stone work, installation and pruning crew. one crew is maintenance. You want to hire somebody to come in and totally run the maintenance side of the business including managing, getting new accounts and overseeing the whole maintenance side of the business so the boss doesnt even really have to deal with it. You also want that person to expand the mowing to 2 or 3 more crews over a few years. What would you offer somebody like this as starting salary to come in and start up 2 more crews and manage all 3 crews? Besides the yearly salary, would you give them any fringe benefits?
Don't know if flat salary would be best for either side. Where's the incentive for this person to perform, please don't say 'get this accomplished or your fired'. That's SOP. You want this person to be OK with what they are getting paid to start, but you don't want them to be necessarily 'happy' about it. Maybe a starting salary, for 6 months to a year, but that's a long time, might depend on how trained they are. I'd think more on the lines of a percentage of sales, maybe percentage of profits, but too many things effect that. Start with your already at this point in dollar sales volume, new guy gets 'x' to start and understands to get more, sales must be consistently increased. One time jobs are one thing, monthly service is another.
I would offer them health insurance, paid vacation, paid cell phone (which is what I do now) Salary all depends on the location though. Tell us about the geography area, the income level in the area, growth of the business, etc.
ok guys....thanks for the inputs, keep more coming....i was thinking along those lines too rodfather. Im not looking to hire somebody, people are looking to hire me. I just finished college with a 2 year associates degree in Turfgrass science, and I currently have a few offers on the table, and I want to see where I stand and what im worth. Ive been doing landscaping since I was around 14 and have a side business of my own, but I dont feel like I want to go off on my own full time. I figure in 5 or 10 years if i dont like the way things are going, I can go full time at that point if need be. any more comments appreciated.
going off on my own is not what i want to do at this stage......please post your opinions soley on what you would offer.
I don't think I would get involved with such a small maintenance company unless it had a lot of potential, and the right type of clientelle / employees / rates / etc. With such a small amount of their work force presently being driven by mowing, what is really so hard for them to say a couple years down the road that they want to get out of mowing because it doesn't make them any money? Not the same as a company running numerous crews already... they know they are going to be mowing for a while. Somebody who is just really starting to get into mowing may find that they don't like it enough from a $ standpoint / hassle standpoint, etc.
Why not go out on your own? There is nothing like being your own boss, and the money is great. I am convinced that is the way to go.
