human resource question [RE-wrenches]

[Travis Creswell]

Hello Ron,

Do you have a business plan in writing? Contact your regional Small Business
Development Center.  Around here, they usually are housed at the local
college or university and provide lots of great business planning for free
or almost free.  They can help you with quantifying just exactly what your
business is and developing a business plan.  Without one, your business is
ship without a rudder going wherever the wind blows it.  A 5 year plan would
help you attract investors if you need them, get loans from the bank for new
equipment, and parts of it are something you can share with employees to
help them understand just what they are there to do.

>From 15 years of self employment experience I can tell you partners are not
the way to go.

Have you checked with local temp agencies?  A temp laborer is surprisingly
cost effective.  We've used them off an on over the years for various
projects.  You call them with what you want, they send 2,3 or 5 folks over
for you to interview, no obligation to use them.  You pick the one you need
and you pay the temp agency only a few bucks above what they pay the temp.
They take care of the payroll taxes and insurance.  As soon are you are done
or if you don't like the temp you call the agency and they are gone
immediately.  Most of what you need help with is not all that technical,
right?  You just need an eager and willing helper that follow instructions.
A temp could be ideal for that.

If you elect to hire a person and train them you can work up a non-compete
contract for them to sign.  In theory they are agreeing to not take any of
your customers with them when they quit and agree not to compete with you
for some period of time after their employment is terminated.  They are
difficult to legally enforce but at least you've done some due diligence.

We are fine tuning our recently implemented open book accounting system.  It
offer employees profit sharing and bonuses and this is producing fantastic
results for us.  We get motivated employees who take the time to get the job
done right, take care of our equipment and keep the customers happy.  They
get paid above what they could make normally in this region and my life
owner has gotten soooo much easier.  I don't need to micro manage projects
any more.  A set up like this will help you keep that super sharp employee
from setting up his own shop.

Best,

Travis Creswell
Ozark Energy Services



-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Young [mailto:solareagle at solareagle.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:42 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: human resource question [RE-wrenches]


Hello Wrenches,
My business (installer/retailer) is at a point of potential expansion 
and I am trying to crack the nut of human resources, i.e. how do I go 
about bringing on new members of the team. I have considered 
partnership options (active partner), apprenticeship, and outright 
hiring of a person with some electrical/mechanical qualifications. I do 
off grid installations almost exclusively and in my part of the world 
it is a very seasonal business so hiring someone on a full time basis 
is economically impossible. The partnership option holds some interest 
but there are lots of pitfalls and finding the right person is the 
trick.

Many of you have grown your business past the threshold where I am at, 
can you share your experiences and offer suggestions? How did you find 
your human resources, how has it worked out? What would you do 
differently? If I hire & train someone I could be training my 
competition. If I don't do anything I could be inviting competition 
(and killing myself with overwork).

Ron Young
Solareagle


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