Am I missing the obvious...

M

moanalot

Well-known member
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Up until about 18 months ago I owned a much larger firm employing 35 men all in brand new vans with all the ppe and tickets to prove they knew what they were doing.We had a manager and contracts manager plus supervisors.

We ran an efficient office and employed a full time driver in a brand new mercedes crane lorry.At any one time we had upto 25 housing sites on the go plus construction jobs plus private work.

The rates that we were getting were very good because we had so much work on we used to increase our rates not really bothering if we got it or not.
We owned our own gear through heavy investment in the early years.

The problem was we were'nt making any money..The cost of running a proper set up is mind blowing and I would love to know if anyone has had or got a firm that size that is not running on a massive overdraft.By the time you have paid all the out goings your'e PAYE,cotinuous training,claims and ******** contra charges there ain't no money left..

We scaled back kept a few select customers that pay up on time got rid of all the headache and am now better off than I have ever been...And I can now sleep well at night...
 
very true moanalot and it is gonna get harder not easier , SG4:10 on its own will add more cost, less production done, probably more training costs. add that to ever increasing transport costs, later and later payments from contractors who already used the financial crisis to screw your price down in the first place, employees wanting more money for less work or letting you down by not turning in, not listening to instructions properly earning you contra charges, competitors under cutting you or pikies thieving your kit or diesel.

there some lads on here think anything less than £15-00 an hour is an insult, im not saying they right or wrong , im saying its very difficult for some companies to actually afford that kind of money for multiple reason in this present financial market
 
Its the bigger firms that tend to send them under cos they are w*** payers .. supposed to be 90 days with some companies yet too many are getting away with it sometimes 8 months behind if ya lucky to get it . Stick to them ya know best...
 
Hi mate i can relate to what you are saying , back in 03 got up to 45 blokes done my fooin heed in , downscaled to 20 blokes following year and made as much money with less grief
Im back up to 30 this time with 4 office staff and a lot better !!!

Have no overdraft tho , been there and done new vans and they still smash them up and treat all your vans like **** so these days i just keep the fleet of vans no newer than 5 years old and buy them outright , Have a MAN crane truck !!! Mercs are to dear to run
We use invoice finance and that seems to do the trick pays the wages and bills every week , however payments are getting on for 90-120 days right old go slow accross the board
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom