Employees are useless

[DUNBAR]

I've spent the first 5 years in my plumbing business, doing things for myself, relying on myself to bring it where it is today.


I start a second business...where I "have" to rely on others and it has been nothing but empty promises, more colorful excuses than even I could manage and their work ethic is about as useless as it gets.

The american worker is to where I'm pointing a finger at.


I've thrown good money into bad, I've had nothing but errors coming from this venture and it doesn't discriminate from one person to another.

This work when you want to attitude is ludacris. Somebody always has someone to lay back on and that's why you get a little money in your hands, you're okay.


I couldn't be this lucky to find out the week of my grand entrance of my product to have my guy pull a no show for 3 days in a row, no call, no nothing and I advanced him money this weekend which was as stupid as it gets on my end.


I've been too nice, paid for gas, meals because the hourly is so low ($15/hour) to come 44 miles each way every day. Constant mistakes that is nearing thousands at this point in "I should of known" theory.


I cannot believe I was so naive that I could trust anyone to follow the same ethic I drive so hard to fulfill daily. Now I know why the intent is to follow immigration and its benefits, even if they don't speek a leek of emguish, they show up, they work, they don't complain with a million reasons why they can't do something in repetition more than 4 times in a row.

There's something really wrong with this.....and all my business friends chuckle,

welcome to the club.

[stxrus]

i totally disagree. employees are not useless. they can always server as a bad example.

as much as i want to expand i just can't see hiring some of the lazy jamokes here. those that profess to wanting to work really don't.

i've asked one dude to send me a resume. he calls every couple of weeks wanting to know if i have something. ne resume, no references, nada, zilch, zip. and he wants me to hire him!! even on a PT basis. i don't think so.

good luck, brother. i feel your pain

steve

[cpw]

I've had some limited experience hiring people. The biggest thing I've learned is nothing will ever get better than those first few days; so if you aren't completely satisfied cut them loose right away and move on to the next.

[stxrus]

years ago i had a small electronics firm. we installed and maintaned broadcast type video equipment. the 1st expansion was to take on a business partner. Terry prefered bench work and i prefered field. we both worked well together and seperately. then we needed to hire a couple more bench techs. i went to local TV stations and interviewed some possible candidates. the deal i offered was simple: i'd pay $35/hr for bench work/installs. no guarantee of 40 hours BUT if they brought a company into the business they got 5% of everything billed to that client. whether or not they did the work. i also demanded perfection. no funny billing and no screwups or out the door.

took on 2 guys and the business flourished. needed another and found him. talked a good game and had tons of talent. unfortunately he spent more time trying not to work than working and got the boot. the next guy hired was pure talent, unfortunately he needed a structured job and could not handle the freedom i offered and went back to a TVstation and did well for himself.

i paid well, treated everyone fairly, and expected superior customer service. when i sold the company to Terry we had 2 full time employees that were dependable, honest, and driven.

one moved to California and has a very lucrative editing/post production house and the other went to Miami and ran a technical services shop for TV production.

i've seen the best and worst of employees. it's also good to see the ones you hire do good for themselves ... in another market :clapping:

steve

[Frankiarmz]

As a Union man all I can say is there's good and bad in everything and managing employees requires skill beyond being nice and generous. Some managers and business owners are lucky enough to take classes on how to properly manage workers while others learn as they go. My best advice to you would be get some background on the people you hire, tell them it is temporary and see how they work out. Evaluate them on getting to the job on time, effort, level of skill, attitude and so forth. Let them know they are being judged and don't keep a bum! There are great workers out there who appreciate the job, any benefits and money. You need to communicate your thoughts to the people you are bringing into your business and instead of getting upset, accept these things as part of being a boss/business owner. Employees are not machines and they do have personal problems at times, let them know as new workers you cannot pay them for time not worked and if they don't show up and don't call the job is lost! Of course if a person has been with you for a certain amount of time and done a good job it is customary to offer some sick time, or personal time off without getting upset and thinking they are taking advantage of the situation. Good employees can grow your business and do well for both you and themselves. Best of luck.

[FINER9998]

productively managing employees is a skill. usually,its best left to a profesional who knows what they are doing. assuming that someone who knows how to do a technical job well will also be a skillful and productive manager is usually an erroneous assumption. if you want employees managed productively, hire an experienced manager to get the job done right the first time.

[stxrus]

sometimes in a small company hiring a professional manager, as you called it, is a luxury few can afford. my management skill was to show respect, lay down the rules up front, demand excellence, and lead by example.

whether running a small company or supervising a dive staff, supervising a beach staff, or anything this is what i did and it's always worked. granted, i've never managed over 8 individuals at one time, but i've had bosses/managers that were impossible to work for and knew nothing about the job at hand, but they sure could pass blame and make themselves look good.

just my $.02 before taxes

steve

[bestline3]

You are right about checking on the employees.

If you really want to have employees you must read Michael Gerber's E-Myth for contractors. This book will be the beginning of chaning your entire life.
Michael Gerber gives free two hour seminars throughout the country.

You can read the entire book in less than 2 hours but you have to make it your bible until you see clearly what he is saying.

Business can be a lot of fun when you know how to deal with the challenges.

[plumberscrack]

Dunbar, where the hell have you been for the past 10 years? :scratchhead:

The whole American labor force is in the toilet and you are just finding this out?

Sounds like you may have a tweaker on your hands

Advance in pay then a no show when you need him the most. That's a classic manuever of a tweaker :loser:

He'll show up with some half-a$$ excuse about how his kid was sick or he had to leave town last minute to help his mother who's coming home from the hospital. Lies...all lies

I even had one tell me after being MIA for 4 days; he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident :eek: but the doctors did such a great job of reattaching it he was able come come back to work next week. First he needed an advance to get his bike fixed :smack-head:

I guess they think I'm as stupid as them :withstupid:

You should have better luck with the immigrant thing as long as you can get past the language barrier. I'd hire more but customers just don't want a non-english speaker in their house. Communication is a large part of what we do in plumbing service.

Feelin' your pain brother

[Bob D.]

"I even had one tell me after being MIA for 4 days; he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident :eek: but the doctors did such a great job of reattaching it he was able come come back to work next week. First he needed an advance to get his bike fixed :smack-head:"

PCrack, that is a classic.

[woodenstickers]

The best/worst excuse I ever heard for being late was in a coffee shop one morning. The employee was explaining to her boss that her roommates alarm clock went off before hers, but because she can only wake up to the sound of her OWN alarm clock, the sound of which was drown out by her roommates louder alarm clock, she didn't wake up. Thus she was late. Her boss just nodded.


Eli

[bestline3]

I see posts that some people hate hiring employees. To you, my posts are long-winded. I think I type 80 to 100 words per minute so no problem. I rarely edit. I added some bad humor as requested.



DO YOU HATE HIRING EMPLOYEES HELP AND AM I GAY?

There are many terrible that have bad employees and an equal number of terrible bosses. It is ironic that both employees and bosses hate each other. Sort of a 'love-hate' relationship

You must read Michael Gerber's book E-Myth For Contractors. The 'E' stands for entrepreneurial. I love this statement, you quit working for one a.... ho... to work for another a...h...le." Get it? You are now the' a...h...le' boss. No insult intended to any specific boss.

The days of buying slaves and indentured servants are gone. Employees have too many choices today and these choices don't always fit into your business model. Employees don't have to work hard like in the old days. Too many 'would-be employees get along fine and never work one day in their entire life.

Many great employees work only because they enjoy working and they may enjoy working only three days a week.

Some of my best employees like to work only four hours a day.

Some of my best employees like to earn $250,000 per year.

One of my best employees refuses to get his hands dirty.

The best employee I ever had never worked more than four hours a day and he didn't even care if I paid him a penny.

One of my best employees was so damn lazy I had to go to his house, every day an noon, to wake him up?

Boss: Me Tarzan. You employee. Me hire you. You go work now.

Employee: Me employee! Me no like work today. Me stay home want football.

Boss: You no work, you never get more banana.

Employee: Me tell you where put banana today.

This is the way it really is. I am the boss. I am the only person who knows what is right. I will tell you exactly what I want from you. Otherwise, you are an a....ho.... and I'll do the damn job myself. All you employees are exactly the same and when I worked for the my last bosss, who also was was an a.....ho...., I was perfect employee. I knew everything the first day I started and I made my last boss tons of money. Now, it is your turn to make me tons of money.

This is one point of the story. Employees do not work for you. They work for themselves. Employees do not work for the money. Employees work because they like the job, they like the boss, and they work because they need the money. They are not like you . They don't want tons of money. They only need some to get by and they can get by with just about nothing, if they want.

Second point to the story. You do in life exactly what you want or have to do. Employees do in life exactly what they want or have to do. You may want to make a million dollars every year. An employee may want only $20,000 per year. Does this make him a bad employee?

You may want to work 20 hours a day. Your employee wants to work 4 hours a day. Is he a bad employee?

We are near the end. How do you get good employees and keep them?

THE SECRET - Don't look for employees that want to do what you want them to do. Look for employees want to do what you want to do. Does this make sense? Yes!

Don't tell applicants what you want. As them what they enjoy doing. Ask them about their lifestyle, hobbies, and ask them how may hours they like to work. As them how much they made in the past and whether or not they were satisfied.

NEXT SECRET - Why do we call these secrets? Hire as many employees as required` to get what you want accomplished. You can pay one employee $100,000 per year and you can't find one employee to fill this position. Everyone applicant wants to work only 3 days a week. Then hire two employees and pay each $50,000.

You have an employee who hate to work on week ends and after 3pm during the week.
If you can, accomodate him or her (I must say). See if you can find an employee that would like to work the other shifts, etc, etc.

I have about 30 to 35 employees and I never tell an employee to do a task or work when I even feel he does not want to. I accommodate my employees desires and wishes as much as possible. If I force an employee to something, he will sabotage my operation. If I accommodate him, he is always willing to accommodate me when I have an emergency or when I am sick, out of town, etc.

Respect is not something the boss is entitled to. Respect is something you earn. You need to be a role model. Many many bosses can't do a job better than their employees, yet the boss is always calling the employee stupid and lazy. Earn your respect by treating both the customers and employees with respect. Earn respect by being calm, being in charge (not a boss), and being honest with the customer and employee. Always make the payroll on time and at exactly the same time.
Be dependable, reliable, and a boss the employees can look up to.

Write systems and procedures. Continuously, write a manual describing, to the employee what your policies are, how your payroll system works, and how to deal with problems, how to perform their jobs, and on and on.

You are the boss. You get paid for being the boss. If being the boss is the job you are paid for then you should not get upset about dealing with employees.

As a boss remember that it is you job and every time you get mad, remember that this is what you get paid the bosses pay for. Make a promise to yourself, today, that you will never let employee get you upset because this is what I get paid for.

Get an education to learn how to be a good boss. You need to be organized. This is the link to the free software, plumbing codes PowerPoint, etc. Even if you don't use the software, you may find way to organized and improve your business.

http://www.box.net/shared/i3tbsnzc4o
I like them young! The younger the better! I like to get them young and teach them how to do it before their minds are messed up! The young ones are always the best and they stay with me for many years because nobody has spoiled or ruined their little minds with bad habits? Am I gay or what?


I hop you reallize that I am talking about hiring young employees with no prior experience. The employees I train from scratch are alway the best and most of my employees have been with me for 12 to 30 years. They are all lifers here because I use the principles described above.


Sorry, I promised not to make a long post. Arguments are great. Go ahead and tear me up!

[bestline3]

Your wife-to-be is very charming and beautiful!

[PLUMBER RICK]

leonard you mentioned in an earlier post that you have 8 plumbers. now you mention you have 30-35 employees.

what do the 22-27 non plumbers do?

can i assume that your best employee that makes $250,000 a year is not from the plumbing side of your business:confused:

are you sure you don't know slyvan:D

with only 8 plumbers, why is it i get your flyer's a couple times a year and i'm a good 25 miles from your shop. do you need to travel that far to get work and keep busy?

i drive approx. 120 miles a week. and the closes i get to you is lax. and that's as a favor.

please explain:confused:

rick.

[bestline3]

Hello Rick,

The post about hiring is an example. I do not have plumbers earning $250,000.

There were times when a few of my employees had the potential to earn a little over $150,000, but they had some serious problems and were terminated.

Most of my plumbers earh about $80,000.

Most numbers I give are rounded, general, and sometimes a little off.

I will tell you exactly how many plumbers and installers I have.
I have to name the crews and there is one plumber and one helper on each crew.
Alex
Ted
Matthew
Omar
Luis

Then I have two crews that only clean drains and gives estimates.
Luis
Bill
That is 2 plumbers and one helper
Total 7 plumbers and 6 helpers = 13.
I have about 17 more employees.
Two work full time on out our buildings.
The total is 15 more. We have 8 employees who deliver flyers full time to your house and two supervisors to watch the 8 employees.
We're up to 25
My stepdaughter works in the office part time. That is 25-1/4.
We try to rotate our flyer deliverers so they work a four day week, but they always seem to get 5 days. We do water water damage restoration and we dry flooded structures with heat and dehumidifiers. This is big money that plumbers are walking away from. Plumbers are making the other restoration companies rich by referring the restoration companies. In our first year, we did not know what we were doing and we grossed $750,000 with only one crew. We always have three to five employees cleaning up flooded homes. Then I have to pay City Girl and my son manages a lot of business from Denver.

We turn away several calls and I am always looking for a plumber to give the excess calls to. This can be beneficial to the plumber and myself. Even though I charge only $49 to clean a drain and $65 for a sewer, I am willing to give another the entire $49 and $65, plus, since the price is low, I will pay another $10 out of my pocket. The plumber must have his own tools, use his own truck, and perform the work and represent only my company.

The company can keep all the money for any additional sales up to $300. Anything over $300, this company should pay Bestline a small percent of 20%. This is not a bad deal because you are not paying for the advertising.

I read minds! You want to know what the catch is. Read my post about why we charge $49 and you have to go the the link and look at the all the pictures that were taken by only one crew in only one day.

The catch is, this company needs to do represent Bestline as stated in the post. You need to look clean. No uniform necessary. You need to clean the drain and charge the customer only the advertisied price. You need to check the home, in a non-salesman, non-pushy, and non-aggressive way. When you see a necessary repair you need to call me and I will give you 5% to 7% of the sale.

I'm getting this mind-reading headache again! You are wondering if we are going to rip the customer off. This is the greatest of the benefits for you. You can stay on the job with us and we will show you how to close sales without ripping the customer. For the average sale you would earn about another $280 to $450 and many times around $750. Get your calculator out and tell me how much we are charging. I love the way members write posts with their calculations

This does not have to be a full time job. Some days or weeks we may not give away one call and on some days we may give away 10 or more calls.

We have a TV commercial that started two weeks ago and it runs 75 times. a week. As usual, in business, most things I do fail the first few times. The second I saw the commercial it was all wrong and I had already committed to running it. It only mentioned my drain cleaning price one time and it is not clear. I made a new commercial today and it only mentions the $49 throughout the entire commercial.

Next problem is, I listened to the expert and ran on cable TV. That is not our target market. I am moving to the regular stations in at the end of July.

Point is, I may need some more good plumbers.

I'm joking about reading minds. It is my poor sense of humor that I get from defending against bashers ad I laugh to myself as I walk on glass, nails, and eggshells, in an attempt to clarify before a fire breaks out.

I enjoy a good constructive argument and for the past few days I am satisfied. I make tons of mistakes and I stirred things up a little. It may have some good side effects.

Thank you for asking.

Leonard

[BENWANNABE]

FWIW;

I have managed people for the last 25 years; as few as 1 to over 200. About 14 years ago I found that working through employment agency's was the best way to go; they do the screening, drug testing etc. If someone does not work out, tell the agency and they deal with them. If you get a good one and you do!!!; by the time they get throught the 45-90 day requirement before you can hire; you know their work ethic; their attendance record and who they are.

[Tyman]

Dunbar, I disagree with you.

You may have been dealt a sh@@ sandwich, but get a hold of yourself. Starting a business is far from easy as you well know.

You have had a rough time it seems to me this year with your health, truck, and new business and I am sorry to hear about it.

Do no let negative thinking permeate your life. No good will come from it.

You're better than this.

[saysflushable]

Dunbar I don't want to sound racist. I hope young white guys don't take this the wrong way, but when I was doing new home plumbing. I noticed most of the young white guys could only work with 1 hand. The other was always holding a BLANKING cell phone to there ear. A carpenter was just complaining about this to me a couple weeks ago. What a crappy work ethic to have. Man the way they were ripping there boss's of still bugs me.

[HVAC HAWK]

leonard
are you sure you don't know slyvan:D



rick.

rick i say this is slyvan :smack-head: just look at the length of his posts just like slyvan :rotflmao1::rotflmao1:

[bestline3]

What is a Slyvan? Is it long-winded?

I'm learning.

Is this better?

Leonard

What canl I do with all my free time?

[Tom W]

I investigated the possibility of starting an employment agency a few years ago, people would pay me to find them a job that fit them. To cut to the quick here is what you have to know to find someone a job that suits them. "In your life at what have you been a success for which you have not been paid?" Then you, the employment agency, find them a job doing the work they love. These are the people, myself included, who don't go to work every day. We go someplace and someone gives us money to do what we love to do. ( I happen to like dirt. I love to push dirt, dig dirt and truck dirt. I love to run machines wide open and make them work hard.) Look for those things on an application and listen for them in an interview. As an example if you are looking for a mechanic and you find a job seeker who builds drag racing cars on the weekends, you got your gear head. Looking for carpenters or other craft employees maybe someone who has a small lathe and fiddles with wood as a hobby or at least someone who builds things. Each job has 'hobby' corollarys that can be extrapolated to the current position offered.

Another way to find employees is to tell others in the field you have an opening, this is the way some executive searches work. Tell your contact about the job and that you know he is not interested but ask if he knows anyone who might fill the bill and be interested. The names your contact gives you will, in essence, be pre-screened.

It might take time but finding the right person for the job you offer pays enormous dividends.

-Tom

[bestline3]

You will never get it!

You don't know crap about people or about running a business. You cannot manage employees. There is no such things as a professional employee manager.

You set up systems and procedures for your employees to follow. You find people who follow your systems and procedures. You do not hire some butthead to whip your people any more.

Systems, systems, systems, systems, systems, systems, etc. You make systems. You write them down. You teach the employees the systems.

Your systems can be so perfect that employees will fire themselves if they don't follow the systems.

Get off your butt and write down what your employees must do. If your system does not work, modify it every day until you can go to the moon and your employees will follow the system

You hate employees because of yourself. You are the problem! I love my employees. They make me tons of money. I respect them for what they are and for what they can do for me, and for what their needs are. My employees are not me or I would be like you. I would be working for myself.

Go sit in a dark quiet room and try to visualize how your perfect business should be run. This is not a joke! Try this for 30 minutes and you may change your life. Try to visualize how the perfect boss would treat the perfect employee. Visualize everything from how you would drive up to the shop, where you would park, how you enter the building, how you greet your employees, how your office looks, how you tell your workers what to do, how your desk looks, and everything you would do until you go home. When you get home try to visualize how you park your car, etc, and how you treat your family.

This forum is the blind leading the blind. You will never improve your business because most of you don't want to. You are fat, lazy, and you just don't care.

How do I know? It is because I offered to share my knowledge with you and you refused it, even though I make more money in one week than most of you earn in an entire year. I took several hours of my time creating a link, for you, to give you free software and systems to run your business.

The definition of forum is: A place where expert meet. A forum is not a chat group. Millions of people out there are hungry for knowledge and you people can't even come to a conclusion about flat-rate pricing. Everybody is an idiot that charges residential customers time-and-materials, unless you are getting $280 to $340 per hours.

Yeah! Don't forget I can read minds. Put your money where your mouth is. You heard me right the first time. $280 to $340 per hour. That is what you need to run a business.

Spend 30 minutes of your busy life and make an intelligent decision at least once before you close your doors and blame your short-comings on your help.

Make a list of every expense it takes to run your business. Don't forget, that if your wife is doing your bookkeeping, you need to include a bookkeeper's pay in this small scientific study. One member of the forum hit the nail on the head a few days ago. He said he only gets to bill an average of 4-1/2 hours per day. Four hours is more accurate.

If you bill an average of 20 hours per week then you are billing for 1,000 hours per year. Include everything including telephone, worker's comp, liability, office phone, vehicle insurance, building rent ot lease, electric, gas, water, gasoline, retirement plan, uniforms, losses from non-payers, license fees, income taxes, accountant's fees, advertising, and of course you need to add for business growth. The business needs extra cash coming in so it can grow.

Add everything up that is cost for one year and divide the total by 1,000 hours. If you do not come up with $280 to $340 per hour them you are not honest or you made a mistake. Did someone say steak?

Get a better life!

Don't bother to respond to my posts. I not not officially a member of this forum because my IP address is still banned. Obviously, I am not a chatter. This message is only for people who want a better life.

From now on my name will be: 'You Are The Problem'

Yeah! I like that. It has a nice tone. It really rings a bell and gets me excited. I love being the forum jerk.

You can't change your employees until you change 'YOU'

Signed,

You Are The Problem

Yeah! I like that. I an going to open a new account with this name.

Mr. 'I want to control what people say', you have permission to ban 'Bestline3'

You Are The Problem

[bestline3]

I's sorry. The last post was not directed specifically to Tom or any other member. It was directed only toward the members that really want to learn how to run a business.

And to you members who not only work in sewer waste, bring on the bad mouth. I love it.

You Are The Problem

[bestline3]

Can I post a reply to my reply.

I would assume that this forum earns money from the advertising and from Ridgid. You will get more members and more people to click on the advertising when you have the members that post what people are looking for. People want good solid advice. People want to know what works and 'not' what might work.

Most of the advice on this forum is garbage from people who think they know what they would do as in 'not what they can do'.

I will only give members true knowledge that has been working for me for over 40 years.

You Are The Problem - People will not benefit from this forum until you change and stop banning members like City Girl. City Girl is a smoker. She is in the top 2% in this country. She is small, beautiful, looks dumb, but don't let looks fool you. Want a little bragging. She is still in the Philippines and just purchases $660,000 in property all my her little 85 pound self. She must have purchased her own Island. There are 7,001 islands in the Philippines. I am very proud of her.

I read minds. Did I hear you ask, "Why are you telling me?' It is because I an trying to tell plumbers that it is possible be be this rich if you stop talking all the crap, look, and seek the information you need to be filthy rich.

You Are The Problem - You need to change

[PLUMBER RICK]

looks like tieger has come to the west coast.

do your customers know you charge $280-$340 an hour:confused:

of course not.

it's hidden in your pricing you advertise.

amazing how your flyer ended up at a customers house last week.

it's 2 miles from me and 30 miles from you.

i live and work in my neighborhood. i don't need to travel to go to work. with 3.8 million people in the city of los angeles there is plenty of local work.

with honest prices i don't need to go door to door dropping off flyers to find work. my advertising budget is $0. and i am busy 7 days a week if i want to work it.

i must be doing something wrong:confused:

rick.

[bestline3]

Here you go with the ripping the customer off crap! That is all you can think about and the only thing that every plumber can think.

The only thing that matter is that you charge the right price. Did I not tell you to take a few minutes and calculate the right price. I went to several plumbing seminars, schools, and round tables. If over 500 people did the calculations and the price is $280 to $340, then so be it.

It is people like you who lie and cheat the customer. You members just talked about starting a secret forum so the customer can't see how your come up with your prices. The members stated that they don't want the customers, or maybe people like me to know their trade secrets. What secrets?

What is the problem with telling the customer how you come up with the price. Come and work with me a few days. I do tell my customers that I did the calculations and the right price to charge should be $280 to $340. Not every customer, because there is no need to tell every customer.

You are the one who is not honest and you think you will lose a customer if you tell them the truth. Do the math, baby! Then when you want to make some money, be honest and show the customer how much it costs to run you a business. You probably tell your customers how much you cost to run your business. Does that make sense.

Mike Diamond calls plumbers like you a 'bubba'. You think you have to be cheap and run a low budget operation. Mike Diamond thinks you need to charge the proper price to make you and your employees money. I'm reading your mind. You think both Mike Diamond and I are crooks. You are 100% wrong. While I don't agree with tacticts used by some of Mike's plumbers, he has the perfect business model. He has what most members in this forum do not have; the ability to create a business that gives him a beautiful lifestyle.

Come down to my operation, any time. Spend a few hours with me and then tell me to my face that I am ripping off customers. You don't have the balls to because you are so wrapped up with your I get customers by being nice crap.

The rebut your crap about why I advertise, 78% of my business is referrals and old customers. I serviced over 40,000 customers and I keep a list, in my truck, that contains over 24,000 customers. Customer die, move away, and whatever. With attrition, I my mailing list is reduced to only 6500 customers that have not died not sold their home. That leaves me with only 6500 customers to generate $million dollars in sales annually.

No put this in your smoking pipe. If my company is good and closing sales and we sell many many customers entire repipes and drains with a lifetime guarantee, then how many of my 6500 customers can I re-sell large jobs to.

Is there something wrong with selling? Is every profitable plumber a crook?

What is so hard about being honest with yourself and with your customers?

Get off your butt and come and visit me. I think you will stop taking your crap if you do. I am a straight up person and I will be honest with you. I do not tell my customers what I think they want to hear. I tell them the truth.

I stated in a previous post that, almost every day I tell customers in a jokingly way, "I don't care about your money and I don't care how much this job costs. It is my job do the job the right way, the best way, and the money is your problem." Do you know why I tell the customer this. You are to wrapped up in this rip-ff crap to see. If you get diagones, with serious cancer, the doctor doesn't care how much it costs to cure you. The only concern that the doctor should have is making sure you get the best cure.

Did you hear me, 'THE BEST CURE'. The customer's money is not your problem. Your job is to do the job right and make the most money you can. No business sells their products for less than what the traffic will bear.

Signed,

You Are The Problem

If you want to improve your business, you need to get the garbage out of your head. If you don't like my post, then don't read them. I am stuck here until the 15th of July and have nothing else to do.

Right or wrong, hopefully I stir things up and give you poor soles with thoughts of dishonestly some food for thought.

Telling me that I am a rip-off tells me a lot about you. I know that you don't know what you are doing and you are not charging your customers the right price. The right price is the right. There is no way around what is the right price.

[ToUtahNow]

Leonard,

With all due respect, City Girl came on here like she was selling time shares to poor folkes and I received complaints from members who felt she was SPAMMING the site. I banned her, but I did not block her IP address as I do not have access rights to do such. I offered to undelete her posts and remove her ban if she contacted me with a little information regarding herself and her company. Instead she returned with a new username (Victorina) and sent me an email refusing to provide any information as it might risk her clients, marriage, relationships etcetera. At that point I banned her new username. It was not until sometime later the Administrator saw fit to block City Girl's IP address. I have not moderated any of your posts as you provided enough information so I could verify you were a real person. If City Girl really is your employee it seems like she could have provided the same information you provided and saved a lot of people a lot of hassle.

Mark

[You Are The Problem]

Did that good looking picture, of me, pop up. That was me back in Korea in 1972. I was a plumber is the service from 68 to 72. Do you see all those stripes pulling my sleeves down. I was the youngest staff searent is the Air Force. I think I was just about 20. I ran the entire base plumbing stop with 16 militart personnel and 16 civilian plumbers. Of course, I just sat back, sent the military personnel back to their barracks, and let the civilians do all the work. Easy money back then. Around $240 a month. I was 5' 7", had a 27 inch waste, and weighed a whopping 130 pounds.

Things are much better today, I got the weight I always wanted. About 60 pounds more. I have a 38 inch waist, and I make a lot more money. What more do you want to know about me?

My login is name is 'You Are Problem' because a forum is a place where experts meet to discuss their experiences. I would assume people in forums don't always agree with each other and they go to battle. That is me. I am going to try to help you by telling you that 'You Are The Problem'.

Like my predecessor, Leonard, I am here to share information to try to help you make your business stronger. If you do not want help, if you cannot have a good argument, and you don't can't assess the difference between criticism, insults, jokes, honsest and dishonesty, trying to reach thorough understanding, or the difference between trying to tell you how much money you can make and bragging, then skip over all my posts.

I will always say that 'You Are The Problem' because nothing will ever change until you change first. We (you and I) are not god. We do not have the power to change people. We can get what we want by chaning the way we think first. We can get what we want by learning how to get people to do what we want them to do.

Signed,

You Are The Problem

I'm better looking that that dude in the picture. Are most of the plumbers in this forum afraid to show their mugs because their customers might recognize them?

[PLUMBER RICK]

it's amazing that all you have talked about is running a business. not 1 word or post about actually doing plumbing.

i'll put up a $100,000 bet that you can't hold a stick to me in hands on plumbing.

if it wasn't for your field guys, you'd be an unemployed business owner.

this forum is sponsored by ridgid. there are no advertisers here. it's a forum for both people in the trades and people looking for help.

out of the 5000 plus post i have here in the last 4 years, i can honestly say 25% or more of my post have actually helped others.

all you've managed to do is piss off a lot of real plumbers. not 1 word of actual plumbing advise.

so how about that bet? i can use an extra 100k.

or are you just a businessman and not a real plumber:rolleyes:

rick.

[bestline3]

Obviously, I am not trying to sell something for money. I love to see people get angry. At least, they are doing something.

I like my new statement 'You Are The Problem'. If you can't argue without getting mad then you have a problem. Angry people don't perform well.

Your statement shows that you did not do your homework. Check my web site to see how many license classifications I have. My state license numver is C-36, such as Plumbing C-36, Heating C-20, Roofing C-39, Ornamental Iron C-23, and B General Building Contractor. I have several certifications for water damage, fire damage, and mold remediation.

I'll take your bet for $100,000 any day. But really, I wouldn't do that to you. My goal is to help you. Taking your money would not be productive.

If you do your homework you will find that I own Bestline Plumbing Inc., Flood Control Inc., and a lot more. I personally built 227 townhomes in Lancasrter, Ca. in 1989. I still, for many reasons, work in a plumbing truck every day and do 4 to 6 calls every day with a helper.

I won't bet you anything because then, some idiot, and there are a lot of them, will think I am on the forum for, OH MY GOD!!!! PROFIT!!! I don't want anybody on this forum to tell my customers I am in business for profit. This statement reminds me of the movie, 'The Jerk'.

Maybe I sell time shares. That is a joke. I don't have a real estate license. Neither does city girl. We buy and hold properties. I only sold some of my personal homes and land when I realized I had no use for them.

Do you think you can out-plumb me? Maybe you can. I'm getting fatter and lazier every day. What are you going to do when you get too old to beat me up on a plumbing job? Don't tell me that a little more honest money may not come in handy. Better to have too much that too little! Only a fool would leave honest money on the table.

Signed,

You Are The Problem

[bestline3]

I appreciate the post from Utah. The effort shows respect.

Thank you very much.

Leonard

I am still going to try to change the way plumbers think. I can't change people but I can create posts that will get people open up their minds and realize that there are better ways and you don't have to be a crook to make a lot of money.

No, I don't have all the answers and I do have a huge head, but I know how to get the job done. I know what work and what does not work. I will alway tell the truth and the way it is. I will never make a false statement just to be friend with anybody. I don't want and friends. City Girl will be back on the 15th and we're going to do a little business before I go to the desert shooting, riding ATV's, and blowing things up.

[bestline3]

You appear to be happy with what you are doing and I respect you for that. Everybody has a different comfort zone. Every post, I write, is not directed specifically to you.

Still Friends? Don't forget I read minds.

Leonard

[ToUtahNow]

You appear to be happy with what you are doing and I respect you for that. Everybody has a different comfort zone. Every post, I write, is not directed specifically to you.

Still Friends? Don't forget I read minds.

Leonard

The word "you" when used in a group setting without addressing a specific person is somewhat vague. However, if your post was addressed to me I am very happy with where I am and what I am doing. I have done my homework and know a bit about you, your family and your employees. Of course as you read minds you know what is out there and what I've learned so there is no reason for me to post it here. Enjoy your time here and hopefully there will be mutual respect from everyone and we will learn from each other.

Mark

[JCsPlumbing]

Too owners and employees of Bestline:

Why do you ASSUME your business model is the superior one?
Why do you ASSUME it's the highest income producing and most ethical one?
Why do you ASSUME you can teach everyone something they don't know?
Why do you ASSUME everyone is doing something wrong in their business and that you have the answer?
Why do you ASSUME that you are making more income than others on the forum?
Why do you ASSUME that the highest income is the most important thing to others on the forum?

If you say you didn't make these ASSUMPTIONS, then you're lying.

A theoretical question to ask and keep to yourself: What is your measure of success? Now that it's in your mind.... Why don't you or didn't you ASSUME that others had reached that point of success or perhaps even SURPASSED it?

Learning anything about yourself yet???:confused:

And I guess my biggest question is: Why didn't you ASSUME that the others on the forum could teach you something about plumbing or business?

"You can teach a man nothing that already knows everything." J.C.

J.C.

[plumberscrack]

Please Don't Feed the Animals :smack-head:

[JCsPlumbing]

Please Don't Feed the Animals :smack-head:

You're right. I apologize. People such as this will never see anothers' point of view or admit there wrong.

And MUST have the last word.

Expect a LONG response. :D

J.C.

[bestline3]

Breaking down your 'assume' means *** u me.

You tell me the answer. How many of my posts say I am willing to help only people who want to make their business grow and if you don't want help then skip my posts.

You can also answer the 2nd question. A very recent post tells the member that I respect his comfort zone.

Answer to your 3rd question. The information in members posts tell me what they want. Members grumble about how bad employees are. My posts give you a fresh insight to solve these problems.

Attack me. Blow me up. I don't matter to any member. What matters is that members that want to improve their businesses are about to get some new ideas that have been working for me for over 40 years. I've got some powerful crap.

I don't see members bashing my posts where I gave my phylosophy on hiring help. I'm hoping a lot of members opened to realize that the employee is not the problem.

You Are The Problem. You need to change, how you think about employees, only if you want to improve.

Take the time to read my post from yesterday and you will see that I told members to constantly write systems and procedures for their employees to follow. I had a problem with an employee on Wednesday and we almost went to fist fighting. Yesterday, I typed two pages of information about this incident. The employee came in this morning and we talked calmly for about 45 minutes. I added some new policies in my payroll system and hopefully, the issues that caused the argument will not come back.

Most other members would have called my employee an as......h..... The employee was wrong with the way he handled the situation. I was wrong because something was missing in my system and policies.

I am not like any other plumber you will ever meet. No, I am not better than you nor any other plumber. I am positive that you can teach this old dog a few tricks.

Good argument! Great!

[JCsPlumbing]

I ASSUME this is not the last word? :p

J.C.

[ToUtahNow]

Breaking down your 'assume' means *** u me.

You tell me the answer. How many of my posts say I am willing to help only people who want to make their business grow and if you don't want help then skip my posts.

You can also answer the 2nd question. A very recent post tells the member that I respect his comfort zone.

Answer to your 3rd question. The information in members posts tell me what they want. Members grumble about how bad employees are. My posts give you a fresh insight to solve these problems.

Attack me. Blow me up. I don't matter to any member. What matters is that members that want to improve their businesses are about to get some new ideas that have been working for me for over 40 years. I've got some powerful crap.

I don't see members bashing my posts where I gave my phylosophy on hiring help. I'm hoping a lot of members opened to realize that the employee is not the problem.

You Are The Problem. You need to change, how you think about employees, only if you want to improve.

Take the time to read my post from yesterday and you will see that I told members to constantly write systems and procedures for their employees to follow. I had a problem with an employee on Wednesday and we almost went to fist fighting. Yesterday, I typed two pages of information about this incident. The employee came in this morning and we talked calmly for about 45 minutes. I added some new policies in my payroll system and hopefully, the issues that caused the argument will not come back.

Most other members would have called my employee an as......h..... The employee was wrong with the way he handled the situation. I was wrong because something was missing in my system and policies.

I am not like any other plumber you will ever meet. No, I am not better than you nor any other plumber. I am positive that you can teach this old dog a few tricks.

Good argument! Great!

Maybe my take on this thread is wrong but it seems we have one-plumber who is complaining about employees he hired in a non-plumbing business being worthless and almost everyone else telling him employees are not worthless.

As for your point regarding having written policies and procedures for your employees I agree 100%. When we had our shop every employee had one and it was the final word. The book cut out all of the BS because it was part of their personnel file and the policies were black and white. Everyone knew what was expected of them.

Mark

[Masterplumb]

Would it be safe to assume you are "plumbingskool" you know "100 reasons in 100 days why you should have a website"?

[cpw]

As for your point regarding having written policies and procedures for your employees I agree 100%. When we had our shop every employee hadbone and it was the finally word. The book cut out all of the BS because it was part of their personnel file and the policies were black and white. Everyone knew what was expected of them.

Mark
Having expectations set clearly is the most important thing in any business relationship, whether or not is employer-employee, vendor-customer, partner-partner, colleague-colleague, etc.

[gear junkie]

Everyone is different and has different ideas about everything in their life. Just because someone else's idea are different doesn't make them a degenerant. We can all learn from each other, no one knows everything.

[Service Guy]

Bestline, you sound pretty arrogant, telling everyone that THEY ARE THE PROBLEM, if they don't follow your methods. Your methods may be fine for you, but don't assume that your way of running a business is superior to everyone else. You sound like a jerk, maybe you could learn a thing or two if you stop assuming everyone here needs to learn from you, because in your own mind you are the superior businessman.:kma::finger:

[bestline3]

You did not read all the posts.You did not get the message.

You Are The Problem means, "stop whining about everything and stop blaming everybody for everything that goes wrong." Stop complaining about me and the help, and the gas prices, and customers, and your competitors. They are not the problem. I don't care if everyone tells me they don't have any problems. Everyone has problems. Most people prefer to blame everything on something or someone else. Your post is proof that you let the small things in life bother you.

Don't read my posts if they bother you. It is that simple to solve you problem.

I like to focus on what I want to accomplish. I can't focus when things I do not control bother me. If you chew with your mouth open and pop your bubble gum that annoys me. I can't focus on what I am doing. I can't stop you from what you are doing, do I need to make changes to myself. I Have The Problem. I need to solve my own problems.

Mr. Myagi says, "you must focus." (Karate Kid).

Did you ever go to fools.com. It is a very large and powerful stock trading web site. They refer to everyone as a 'Fool", with respect, of course.

I have to go mop and wax the floors in City Girl's office City Girl (Victorina) called and said she may be coming home early. If she finds out, what I have been up, to I'm depending on you for a job. You should see how shiny I get her concrete floors. I will download some pictures to the web site if you don't believe me. I think this july heat fried my brain.

O-k, I'll change my signature to

With all respect,

Jack

XOXOX

Yeah! That rings a bell to. That is my real alias.

[bestline3]

I'm sorry! That was motleyfool.com should you care to look at how everyone is called a 'Fool'

I have to go practice my guitar and piano. I have a gig coming up at a Japanese church. The job pays a little extra cash and the benefits are unbelievable. Can't mention the benefits on the forum.

Yours truly,

Jack

[Tom W]

Boy oh boy I leave for a few days and miss all the good stuff as it happens. No more kayaking for me I am glued here.

Anger, according to Family Systems Theory is: an affront to our sense of narcissistic omnipotence. Very loosley that means, I AM THE KING everything I say is correct, how dare you contradict me. People who proffer that mindset are angry.

The above is a total non-sequiteur and not meant as an implication aimed at any of the posters to this thread.

-Tom

[bestline3]

Want to be in my banc? I sort of have a band at my shop.

Show one of my posts where I told you what to do.
Show me a post that said I am right.
Show my posts that said I will tell you what has been working for me for 40 years. Pull them from the archives and beat me to the ground.

I listen to you and I am learning a lot. I don't jump up and down, but I see some pretty knowledgable people in this forum.

I see many different needs. My shrink would ask, "what are you getting from the forum?" I say with a big grin and a hairy chest, " people need input" (Johhny Five in Short Circuit).

"Input, Input, me need input."

You gots me addicted. Wish my shrink was not off for the weekend.

You got me trained and it took only 7 days.

Actually, and I mean this sincerely when I say, I think everyone has been fairly friendly.

Jack

Jack, is my alias. Whenever a solicitor calls, I tell them that Jack is the boss and to call back in about a month. When I have a problem with a customer, I use the name 'Jack' 'as' to act like an outside mediator. Is that like illegal or dishonest? "Beat me up Scotty." Never watched one episode of Star Track. Last time I watched the news what when I watched 15 minutes of 911. Weird! Ha?

[DUNBAR]

???



I'll get back to this thread later when it finally dies.


More salesmanship in this thread than a car sales convention.

[stxrus]

More salesmanship in this thread than a car sales convention.

i'd say more B.S. than salesmanship. a real floater

steve

[garager]

Not to far back, I was mad about an employee and wrote this....

http://www.ridgidforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16746

[nb pete]

many employers tend to hire a certain type of person i would make sure that im not overlooking some very eager but not necessarily cool people. too many employers falling for bull.... when they should be looking for substance.

[NHMaster3015]

Hey Dunbar, What in god's name was this thread about in the first place. I tried reading back through it but it seems like a continuation of or the beginning of 4 or 5 other threads on the forum that all seem to have the same argument going at once.

Anyhooo. ;)