[johnny bravo]

Sounds daunting to someone who has always worked on his own,  to expand or just have enough customers to suit ones self.
What are the main pitfalls.      If some one wants to take the pish  , it must be hard to get the best who want to work. as a windy
with all this pension stuff etc and employment laws.  looks a headache

[P @ F]

Its not hard to take on staff at all , the main prob is getting the right one who does not take said pish 
I did it some years back thinking it would make my life easier , but i found myself constantly checking up after them or recleaning what they had just done .
Mostly my own faults really as im not really boss material being too paly with them , now with all the latest regs i dont think i would have the push to go for it again to see !

Just wasnt for me really as i like things done proper first time , and in my eyes im the only one that can do that , i could well be the whingin boss from hell 

[Dane]

Its not hard to take on staff at all , the main prob is getting the right one who does not take said pish 
I did it some years back thinking it would make my life easier , but i found myself constantly checking up after them or recleaning what they had just done .
Mostly my own faults really as im not really boss material being too paly with them , now with all the latest regs i dont think i would have the push to go for it again to see !

Just wasnt for me really as i like things done proper first time , and in my eyes im the only one that can do that , i could well be the whingin boss from hell 

What if you take them on as self-employed which is at a first friend of mine does in the building trade - he has a few vans and a number of lads on that basis

[P @ F]

But i was under the impression that to do that it has to be their gear and van not yours , all it would take is for the taxman to crack on to this and jump all over you .
Plus , why isnt everybody doing this already if above board , and it also only takes one guy to see whats onyour books and proper stitch you up like a kipper   

[Dane]

I’m not 100% sure... they may even be their own vans with his sticker / signs on.. I just know he owns the actual company...

From what I gather being self employed means they can start / finish when they want as you’re technically not their boss? With regards to equipment I’ve absolutely no idea, whether you can just sub your equipment to them.

It may also work different with regards to brickies. Sure someone will put us right on here

[Stoots]

If they're self employed you have no control over them .

[P @ F]

I think if it were true then Lee Pryor would defo be doing it , i would hate to see his overheads bill 

[Dane]

I just called my neighbour who works for him (did his apprenticeship and is now qualified) - he is self employed but obviously doesn’t get paid when he doesn’t work, sounds like he just sub contracts it out to them and as he said to me “you have to think 3 of his staff are his brothers” -  didn’t think of it like that..

[nathankaye]

I might be thinking too small on this, but to me it would onky work if you want to grow very large or else why bother.
A two man team would have to take on hell of a lot of work just to cover the extra expenses and from what it seams like, a very small increase to ones own profit afterwards.  So why increase your work load and stress load for very little in return. I can understand married couples or life partners doing this but unless your growing large like ler pryor for instance, I really cant see the positives in doing so

[Arnold Palmer]

I just called my neighbour who works for him (did his apprenticeship and is now qualified) - he is self employed but obviously doesn’t get paid when he doesn’t work, sounds like he just sub contracts it out to them and as he said to me “you have to think 3 of his staff are his brothers” -  didn’t think of it like that..

Ha! And what? You reckon that's easier or something?

[SB Cleaning]

I have done it and its a headache...
Quality issues...paying them for bank holidays...paying them in really bad weather when you dont want to work yourself...tax and national insurance contributions...paying for damaged equipment..the list goes on!

Im much happier on my own i know where i am..when i get to the point i have too much work i will sell some on

[Stoots]

The thing is it's not just the staff it's the extra customers you have to deal with and service. More chasing payments and more scope for it to all get disorganised.

Also cashflow is a huge thing, paying wages before you pay yourself can be quite sickening.

I think everyone should give it a go though if you are the least bit interested in doing so.

Worse case scenario is you hate it and you waste a few quid and a few months of your life.

The way I see it is I have the rest of my life to be a sole trader so there's no harm in giving it a go.

Worse case scenario is you learn from it and move on. Also if you build work for an extra man then decide it's not for you it gives you a chance to pick your best work and sell the rest on.

Some days I love it some days I question whether I want to do it going forward but I think lime anything you must give it a fair chance.

[johnwillan]

Sounds daunting to someone who has always worked on his own,  to expand or just have enough customers to suit ones self.
What are the main pitfalls.      If some one wants to take the pish  , it must be hard to get the best who want to work. as a windy
with all this pension stuff etc and employment laws.  looks a headache

There are endless books, blogs, forums etc on this topic, it's obviously not impossible to achieve but it's not for everyone.

Like most things in life it pays to keep it simple.

Have clear defined goals
Recruit on personality, look after the good get rid of the bad
Ensure you don't run out of cash, Direct Debit will help enormously
Make sure you charge sufficiently to cover ALL overheads

HTH

John

[Dane]

I just called my neighbour who works for him (did his apprenticeship and is now qualified) - he is self employed but obviously doesn’t get paid when he doesn’t work, sounds like he just sub contracts it out to them and as he said to me “you have to think 3 of his staff are his brothers” -  didn’t think of it like that..

Ha! And what? You reckon that's easier or something?

Nope absolutely not, I can’t imagine having multiple staff being fun or easy although it has been proven to be possible... I meant that as someone mentioned above that they had to have their own vehicle etc then they probably do but with just their brothers advertising on it

[NWH]

Make sure they’ve done it before so you can get the ground running they just have to learn your work I mean,the main ball ache is time off sick and listening to there family troubles and it always seeming to involve you.

[NWH]

Don’t think that when you employ you will get the same freedom because for the first couple of years all you’ll be doing is building and working,one of the main things about our job is very good money and lots of freedom. When you employ it almost becomes a different job you look at all aspects of your day in a different way,do you want the freedom to work when you want do you want to have to find X amount of money a month before you get out of bed. You need to find the right person that’s the key thing and it’s tough to do in all jobs let alone this particular industry. You can pay crap money and good money and get the same results from people,my advise would be don’t employ anyone that has your  ambitions to earn money or seems a bit too switched on 😂,it’ll take no time for anyone with ambition to work out I’d be better off starting up on my own here. The trouble with window cleaning is it looks care free you get no hassle you clean windows put a card through the door get paid online etc happy days,lazy people looking for a job soon think I’ll have some of that but when they realise they actually have to work when they come in they soon come down with a bump from that cloud. If you earn good money on your own when you employ be prepared to go over and above the VAT limit within a year if he can pole to a good quick standard because 2 people fly through work WFP.

[NWH]

Wait till you start paying VAT and 40% tax and increased national insurance lol without there pay,you’ll be reminiscing about all the days you used to do fantastic money and home in time to watch a bit of the snooker 😂. Don’t chase money all your life we all end up in a bed wearing a nappy again in the end,regardless of how big our house is or what we drive.

[NWH]

I tell you another thing lol I wouldn’t want all the hassle a few have on here for a 100k a year profit either for employing 10-12 staff,they might come back and say yeah but I’ve got employees I’ve got a proper business I can sit in the sun while I’m earning,no thanks and I mean that I’ve learnt over the last 6 months with a family illness there’s more to life than trying to have the biggest window cleaning business in the UK 😂 when your dead your dead.

[High-Tower]

Construction industry is different regards to self employment. Many will be working under the CIS which means they make tax contributions before they pay the self-employed staff.

[johnny bravo]

im staying on my own.   no worrying.