Bought a business and need to work out customer priorities

[Hendrik]

Last week I bought a small earthmoving/excavation business, which included a Kubota KX41-3, a dingo and 5 tonne tipper truck.
First week was a bit hectic as I get into the swing of things but I made it.
However I am finding that with the weather and unexpected job difficulties I am getting behind on finishing the booked jobs.
I seem to spend a lot of time on the phone telling people that I have to reschedule their work and that does not impress them greatly.
I guess it is a matter of priorities, try to hang on to the regular customers and take the risk that I may lose some others.
For instance at the moment I have a post hole digging job on that I postponed once and when I got to the site the next day it turned out to be a devil of a job with rocks in the ground, so I couldn't finish it that day. So I had a chat with the site manager after he had a look at the situation. I tried to shift the job to next Thursday but he wouldn't have a bar of it, basically those holes need digging in order for concrete to get poured, in order for the veranda to get done.
The problem is that Monday I have a private job on for a new client which is not that big but the problem is that I agreed to do a small trench for a mate of his a couple of suburbs over, guess I have to ring him and tell him I can't do the second job or cart the spoil away on Monday.
So what do you lot do? Bring in more people/machines to catch up? Hang on to the good clients and let the rest fall by the wayside? Work 7 days a week until you burn out? Do the best you can and let fate decide?

 

[Cmark]

Hey Hendrik. Congratulations on your new purchase. This is my humble opinion.

With a business you need two things; customers and a good reputation, and you don't get one without the other.

My advice would be, when you're first starting out, don't turn down any work unless you really have to. After a few months, you'll have a handle on the important things, ie who is likely to give you more work and who are the good payers.

The guy with the post holes may just be taking advantage of his buying power to put pressure on you, with no intention of using you again after this job. The guy with the small job in his backyard may turn out to be a director of Leightons. It's hard to tell, so just put in the hard yards, be obliging, work Sundays if you have to until you've got that good reputation.

The one thing that should be at the bottom of your priorities though, is freebies for mates.

Once you've got a good name for youself, you can start to be a little more picky, but don't get too picky. The phone may stop ringing next week....

Good luck.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Friends, mates whatever, they can all go jump in the lake unless paying full price.....you just get screwed everytime. I too seem to waste half a day on the phone tending to clients needs but its a necassary evil. One job at a time and what you start you finish and finish properly...don't get a reputation for shooting off leaving the job 3/4 done. Do the best you can in the time you have. If the job takes longer such as hitting rock that should be built into your quotation. The downstream customers will have to wait. If the client wants extras thats different if you are fully booked, they may have to wait.

 

[Finish Blademan]

Last week I bought a small earthmoving/excavation business, which included a Kubota KX41-3, a dingo and 5 tonne tipper truck.
First week was a bit hectic as I get into the swing of things but I made it.
However I am finding that with the weather and unexpected job difficulties I am getting behind on finishing the booked jobs.
I seem to spend a lot of time on the phone telling people that I have to reschedule their work and that does not impress them greatly.
I guess it is a matter of priorities, try to hang on to the regular customers and take the risk that I may lose some others.
For instance at the moment I have a post hole digging job on that I postponed once and when I got to the site the next day it turned out to be a devil of a job with rocks in the ground, so I couldn't finish it that day. So I had a chat with the site manager after he had a look at the situation. I tried to shift the job to next Thursday but he wouldn't have a bar of it, basically those holes need digging in order for concrete to get poured, in order for the veranda to get done.
The problem is that Monday I have a private job on for a new client which is not that big but the problem is that I agreed to do a small trench for a mate of his a couple of suburbs over, guess I have to ring him and tell him I can't do the second job or cart the spoil away on Monday.
So what do you lot do? Bring in more people/machines to catch up? Hang on to the good clients and let the rest fall by the wayside? Work 7 days a week until you burn out? Do the best you can and let fate decide?

Welcome to the world of scheduling.I do it every week on a much larger scale than you my friend.I assure you,you arent the only fella that wants to pull his hair out.
BTW,congrats on your own business.Nothing like working for yourself.:drinkup
Gene

 

[stumpjumper83]

At least your busy, thats more than most can say...

 

[willie59]

Above all...be honest. If the post hole job is a worthy job and holds you up, call your scheduled job client and tell the exactly what's going on and they're the next in line. Most "good" customers will appreciate an honest person and will be patient. Just don't invent excuses, tell them what the situation is. If they are patient, they're probably good a customer. If they'll have none of it, they'd probably be a headache to ya anyhow. The thing I like about being honest, when you lay your head down at night...you don't have a problem going to sleep.

 

[Hendrik]

BTW,congrats on your own business.Nothing like working for yourself.:drinkup
Gene

Dunno, spend the week in mud, spend Saturday covered in grease and Sunday it's in the office.
It will get a bit easier as I get things in place and can palm off some of the office work onto the missus and also get more efficient and experienced, so I can have more of an idea of what I can do in a day.
I dare say a lot of new business owners probably feel overwhelmed the first few weeks.

 

[Hendrik]

Above all...be honest. If the post hole job is a worthy job and holds you up, call your scheduled job client and tell the exactly what's going on and they're the next in line. Most "good" customers will appreciate an honest person and will be patient. Just don't invent excuses, tell them what the situation is. If they are patient, they're probably good a customer. If they'll have none of it, they'd probably be a headache to ya anyhow. The thing I like about being honest, when you lay your head down at night...you don't have a problem going to sleep.

I managed to free up Monday arvo if everything works out to go finish that job and got an extra pair of hands to get the job done quicker, so hopefully by Friday I will be caught up.
And thanks everyone for your wise words and encouragement.
Yes I do work honestly mainly because I don't have a good enough memory to remember what bit of bulldust I spun to whom

 

[Hendrik]

Friends, mates whatever, they can all go jump in the lake unless paying full price.....you just get screwed everytime. I too seem to waste half a day on the phone tending to clients needs but its a necassary evil. One job at a time and what you start you finish and finish properly...don't get a reputation for shooting off leaving the job 3/4 done. Do the best you can in the time you have. If the job takes longer such as hitting rock that should be built into your quotation. The downstream customers will have to wait. If the client wants extras thats different if you are fully booked, they may have to wait.

Well that's the thing, commercial customers are top of the food chain, they have schedules to keep to. Like that post hole jobby out in the boonies, the frame work for the veranda roof is in place, the material to finish the wood work is on site and the next link in the chain is the holes so the concreting can get done. I would have gone and done it today but I am looking after the kids and they are too soft to be out in the weather watching me get annoyed.
Anyway I have a plan, the original plan called for 38 holes, 300 wide and 750 (or until into solid ground) deep. After a chat with the site manager I have been given some leeway to go for a bigger hole if I need to. This will make pulling the rocks out easier. So basically I'll use the 300 auger until it hits a rock and then use the 400 to open the hole up and pull the rock out. Obviously Mr Site Manager never mentioned rocks in the initial booking and funnily enough after I run into a fair few and rang him to let him know he remembered that I might run into a few little pebbles.
If the concreters get stroppy I'll ask them what they prefer, mixing up mud or hand digging holes with lots of rocks in the way?

 

[RocksnRoses]

It will get a bit easier as I get things in place and can palm off some of the office work onto the missus and also get more efficient and experienced, so I can have more of an idea of what I can do in a day.

I can assure you Hendrik, it doesn't. I have been doing it most of my life and I have worked a fair few weekends this year, already. There will always be weather problems, equipment breakdowns, problems like the rock you encountered on the job and a myriad of other things that you never would have thought could happen. Aside from all of that, congratulations on having a go, there is a lot of satisfaction comes out of running your own business and if it doesn't work, at least you can say "I tried". One of the most improtant things in a business like yours, which is similar to ours, is not to over book yourself with commitments and time frames, leave a little bit of time up your sleeve for all of the above problems, which can and will occur. So many contractors and tradesmen take the work on, start the job to secure it and then shoot through and start another job and you don't see them again for days or maybe weeks. That really p....s people off. Sometimes you have to turn work down and from my experience, people will often respect you much more by telling them you are busy and can't come straight away or even for a few weeks and you will find that quite often they will wait until you can do the job for them, because you have been honest with them up front.
Squizzy makes a very valid point, one job at a time.

Rn'R.

 

[Squizzy246B]

If the concreters get stroppy I'll ask them what they prefer, mixing up mud or hand digging holes with lots of rocks in the way?

Exactly, thats the spirit!....you can only do what you can do...just make sure that if they are kept waiting then they get a good job done properly...and they will forget about having to wait.