Life is a gamble every day. And starting/ building/ running a small service business even more so! So (like all gamblers) cleaning and restoration contractors are always instinctively (and subconsciously) calculating their odds. For example…
1)“Will this adjuster let me charge for a HEPA air scrubber on this loss?” or 2) “Can I get away with sending the new tech to Mrs. Jones?” or even 3) “Should I take a chance on hiring this new guy?”
While any of these ‘gambles’ can have long lasting consequences none of them will be a disaster if you lose your bet. After all, if needed you can 1) eat the air scrubber charges (they were mostly gravy anyway!), 2) apologize to Mrs. Jones and make ‘symbolic atonement’ with a gift card and 3) fire your new hire quickly before he or she does any more damage!
In other words, you can eventually recover from most of your business blunders. So could you make a business gamble (while unaware of the gravity of the situation) and NOT recover? Absolutely! For example, you are blithely gambling your family’s future…
When you fail to constantly ask, “What would happen if…?” Think about it…
I ask every SFS Training group, “What would happen if… you get hit T-boned by a car full of drunk teenagers goring 80 MPH… and you wind up in traction for three months? (Or worse.) What happens to your business? What will happen to your family?” (There is always a thoughtful silence in the room!) This is a serious gamble, folks, and you should be ‘hedging your bet’! Remember too that your injury doesn’t need to be ‘dramatic’…
I recently lifted a 35# box (OK, it was a full case of wine) over the freezer with my right arm fully extended and… heard two super loud pops from my elbow! And incredibly agonizing sudden pain hit me! (Even though I didn’t drop the wine!) Urgent Care gave us an initial diagnosis of a detached or ruptured tendon. (Either two months in a cast or surgery with a 5 to 6 month recuperation time.) What would happen if YOU ruptured a tendon or etc, etc, etc?
Happily, the orthopedist said no surgery was needed and my arm just needs rest and physical therapy. WOO-HOO! But even this sweet diagnosis would have meant I couldn’t push a cleaning wand for four to six weeks. “What would happen to your business… you were me?” And more importantly, what should you be doing now to ‘hedge your bets’ against not being able to work?
1. Work safe. Drive defensively, slow down on the job and yes, even on the little things like setting up for a job ask yourself: “What happens if…?” (In SFS Training I call this “proactive safety”.)
2. Take care of yourself. Eat right and stay well-hydrated. (Does anyone have a worse diet than the typical cleaning or restoration contractor?) Do your stretching and work out regularly. Also try to stay well-balanced emotionally. Nothing (and especially your health) is worse stressing out over. Remember the mantra: “This too will pass.” And it always does…
NOTE: An essential part of both #1 and #2 above is to invest in ergonomically designed, work-saving equipment. For example, rotary extractors will not only give you much better results- they will also save your back! Consider more efficient options such as an electric Hose Reel. And try to improve your daily set-up routine with less trips back and forth to the truck.
3. Develop Strategic Partnerships. Find honest, quality competitors (yes, they are out there!) who will back you up in an emergency (or vacation) and won’t steal your clients. Then you be a safety net for them too!
4. Keep an ongoing list of on-call, part time employees. More quality people than ever before want well-paid, part time on-call work. (And yes, you CAN pay on-call employees more since you only call them when you have work available.) Plus this on-call period is a perfect opportunity for you to do a Trial Hire before offering a candidate a full time position! Plus you can offer these part-time folks…
5. Regular commercial ‘encapsulation routes’. Keep these regular, contract routes to six (no more than seven) hours and only one night per employee per week. Pay your part time employees 25% of their gross (this will be HUGE money to them!) and give them a mileage allowance when they (hopefully) provide their own vehicle. The secret sauce here? Even an owner-operator will have ongoing revenue not dependent upon their own efforts! Yep- you will be ‘hedging your bets’!
NOTE: These first five steps should be implemented no matter where you are in your business growth. In fact, this safety net is even more essential for a ‘Lone Wolf’ owner-operator. Of course, the very best way to ‘hedge your bets’ against suddenly not being able to physically do the work is to…
6. Develop a ‘Critical Mass Business’ that can run without you. I know, this may be an intimidating prospect for someone who (just like me) started out as a ‘humble rug-sucker’! But hey, I did it AND without the Business Infrastructure received in SFS Training!
NOTE: Do you have the ‘fire in the belly’ to build a Critical Mass Business (CMB)? Then CLICK HERE for a checklist on the first five steps in building a CMB! (How are you doing so far?)
All thoughtfully submitted and ‘let’s git ‘er done’!
Steve