Employee vs subcontactors

[endobear]

Ive been an owner operater of a small paint company for 22 years. Always had employees. Up tp 7 at a time. Its always been tough to find help and over the last
couple years its been nearly impossible.
Buddy of mine thinks i should hire subs to do my jobs. Ive never wanted to do this because i take such pride in the work we do and treat every home/job like its my own.
Im pretty much done with doing the work myself and i just lost my foreman of 8 years a couple months ago.
Is dealing with subs going to be a royal pia compared to having employees?

 

[Rvrluvr]

Dealing with anyone now-a-days is a pain in the ass. Nobody wants to work and do their job the way it should be done. Lazy fucks

 

[Havasu blue label]

If you have good reputation in the field it’s the way to go less head ache show your face on the jobs and it’s all good make sure your supply’s are on job

 

[DILLIGAF]

Good subs just as good employees are hard to find. If you find a good sub use him. Just remember they can't be standing around waiting for you as they have a family to feed as well. Best case scenario is to have enough work to keep that sub busy. Another thing to do is keep in control of the account. Have shirts made up and make it mandatory they wear your shirts while on the job site. You lose some control but if you work it properly on the front end, check on the jobs in progress and be that final contact with the customer you should be good. The subs will cost you more hourly but a lot of other overhead goes away.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Make sure you dot every i and cross every T with expectations and so forth. Don't get sloppy with any paperwork.

I have used subs for decades thru out the USA but now do not have the volume of work necessary to keep their interest. Makes it tougher and random at times for the work required.

 

[BHC Vic]

It depends... imo if you are just running a business you can sub it out. If it’s your craft and your name and you take pride in it I probably wouldn’t sub it out. Somebody posted that not too long ago... myself, I’m a carpenter... that person posted they are a business man that just happens to own a construction company. Neither wrong or right just two different point of views. Not sure it makes sense, but in my head it did.

 

[Orange Juice]

Ive been an owner operater of a small paint company for 22 years. Always had employees. Up tp 7 at a time. Its always been tough to find help and over the last
couple years its been nearly impossible.
Buddy of mine thinks i should hire subs to do my jobs. Ive never wanted to do this because i take such pride in the work we do and treat every home/job like its my own.
Im pretty much done with doing the work myself and i just lost my foreman of 8 years a couple months ago.
Is dealing with subs going to be a royal pia compared to having employees?

I have found many sub contractors are sub contractor, because they smoke pot, and can’t pass the drug screening process, since THC can be detected up too two months for a heavy smoker, and a couple weeks for light smokers.

 

[Gelcoater]

What’s the foreman job pay?
I’m looking to GTF out of California!

Oh wait. You live where it’s cold AF and snowing in May...Nevermind

 

[hallett21]

If you were to sub out work, would you just mark up their number? Or would you charge a supervision rate?

Can you stay competitive with that business model? Everyone’s busy right now so obviously people are willing to pay more to have guys show up and do a good job.

If work slowed down to “normal” could you still secure jobs?

Residential is tough unless you’re doing ultra high end homes. Everyone’s “got a guy” who’s always cheaper than you. As I’m sure you already know.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RichL]

In your position it might be hard to find subs who will live up to your quality of work/workmanship. That being said, I've a core group of subs I've relied on for many years for a variety of work and they've typically been able to keep me happy (not always easy to do). I will say I've always made it a point to get my subs paid the moment I get their invoice. They know they won't have to wait for money from me unless there has been some significant problem and I can't remember the last time that happened. Good subs can be hard to find but if you do, be sure to keep them happy.

 

[TCHB]

Good luck.

 

[Gelcoater]

I have found many sub contractors are sub contractor, because they smoke pot, and can’t pass the drug screening process, since THC can be detected up too two months for a heavy smoker, and a couple weeks for light smokers.

Dude, he lives in Colorado.

 

[Gelcoater]

It depends... imo if you are just running a business you can sub it out. If it’s your craft and your name and you take pride in it I probably wouldn’t sub it out. Somebody posted that not too long ago... myself, I’m a carpenter... that person posted they are a business man that just happens to own a construction company. Neither wrong or right just two different point of views. Not sure it makes sense, but in my head it did.

Vic and I don’t see eye to eye on some things, on others we do.
He has a good perspective of the construction trades, albeit from a Union guy standpoint.
I agree with him here.

Residential is tough unless you’re doing ultra high end homes. Everyone’s “got a guy” who’s always cheaper than you. As I’m sure you already know.

Ultra high end.
That’s this dude.

http://www.house-crazy.com/colorados-famous-spaceship-house/

He painted that.
Twice.
Once to paint it, once to fix it again after a bad ass hail storm.
They have real weather there, lol.

I’ve seen some airplane hangers he’s done too. Top to bottom including epoxy floor.

 

[cpdad93]

my problem with subs is the insurance. Our jobs generally require 4 mill GL and 1 mill on vehicles, all with WOS. My quartz guys have no problem with it. However most other subs can't meet the ins requirements. Any jobs where we could use subs, they can't even qualify for the bid bond. We must list all suppliers and subs on contracts. All you need is a sub to show up with an illegal or someone with a criminal record on a military base job.

 

[wet hull]

I am running a mix of the 2. Use subs for most everything. Was getting and still getting slaughtered on workers comp. I do have 4 full time guys. 2 helper types and 2 skilled craftsmen for the tasks that need to be flawless. My craftsmen and I review every job prior to turn over as quality control. Like others have said, I do not shop subs, they know this. I get the price I need and they get guaranteed work. Win win situation for all.

 

[Mandelon]

Your suspicions are correct. You will lose some quality control and it will be harder to compete on price. You'll need to find a quality sub you can trust.

 

[C-2]

Just like any trade, the fact you are great at what you do does not mean you'll always be successful.

Contractors may be equally skilled craftsman (prime vs sub), but one may be more polished at business practices and drumming up work.

For that reason, I think that's why some contractors prefer to work as subs; "A man's got to know his limitations"...

Find a sub like that and you should be good.