Being a part of a big company is quite easy – you do your job and there are no problems. Yes, you might feel like a cog from time to time, but at least you are a cog in a well-oiled machine, and that is the best kind of cog to be. However, what about one-man businesses? There are no cogs or machines there as one person does it all – from setting up a marketing strategy and finding a suitable transportation vehicle to negotiating and executing jobs. There is no one to answer to, but no one to rely on either. And while some just love being self-employed and working on their own, that is quite hard when you have more work than you can handle. And that is when you start wondering – is it time to expand?
A Day at a Time
If you are a handy handyman and do your job right, you will be able to service more and more clients than you used to when you were starting. And this will lead to new contacts, more praises and positive comments that, ultimately, always lead to even more work. And more work is always good, right? Well, not really.
Being a one-man business is great as long as you can do everything on your own. Nevertheless, suddenly getting more responsibilities than you can handle will create an immeasurable amount of stress which will prevent you from working efficiently. As work-related stress can damage your health, try to reduce it, or just start expanding slowly and do not take a huge workload at once.
Create a Team
When it comes to plumbing business, things are not that simple – one single person can physically not do all the work alone. This is not like being a graphic designer or a freelance writer where you are in a position to handle both marketing and executing tasks at the same time. Rarely is a good plumber successful at marketing or accounting, which is why they need a team to back them up.
“Being fully committed to your work is the key at making it in this competitive market”, claim Sydney-based blocked drains specialists, “and that means that plumbers are supposed to stick to their line of work and nothing else”.
The easiest way to handle the acceptance of a new employee is by leaving them in the background – at the office – to take care of customer service and business transactions, while you visit clients at their homes and take care of the plumbing-related issues. This way, you will still do what you were used to doing back when you were a one-man band, but now with a backup singer or two who will make your job easier.
What about the Cash?
Hiring an employee can be quite expensive as you have to provide them a salary and insurance and cover various expenses. And all of these are hard to come up with on an average income of one person. But, consider this: having another employee – no matter if that is a guy in an office taking calls and handling marketing, or another plumber working alongside you – means that you have already had too much work on your plate. That, furthermore, means that you were probably earning more money, so hiring a new person should not be a problem.
Timing is Everything
Truthfully speaking, there is no right time to expand and you can never know which time is right until you actually do it and see how it goes. What you should consider are your bank statements and the amount of work you have: enough of the former indicates that an expansion is something you should seriously consider.
