Subcontracting excess lawncare jobs ?

If you’re extremely busy you’re doing something right.

It’s common for people who experience business growth to fail to take advantage because they haven’t thought about how to scale up the business. It’s kind of silly if you think about it. When you started the business you were so worried about failing you didn’t spend any time planning for success.

If your pricing is in the same range as the going rate, take a percentage for a referral to another company, maybe 10%. Then you’ll make an extra $5 to $7.50 for every job they complete. The other companies remain independent contractors and you don’t have to worry about dealing with employment law.

In the long term hiring employees might be the best way to go. Your ultimate success would be to have a staff doing all the work while you focused on overseeing the business operations, marketing, budgeting, public relations, etc.

I have two family members who own separate businesses in a particular field. Both are very successful in terms of customer growth. One owner doesn’t want anything to do with expanding the business, and that person works godawful hours doing everything they can to service as many people as possible. That business stopped taking new customers a couple years ago. They make OK money, but they’re frazzled and can’t enjoy it.

The other owner had plans in place in case the business took off, which it did. This person opened one new location, then another, then another, and ended up with five locations. Employees do the actual work for customers, and this owner’s job is to oversee and direct operations for all the locations. They work normal hours and have much less stress, and they’re making five times what the other owner is making, not to mention providing good jobs to a lot of workers and high paying jobs to the general managers at each location.

You’re where every entrepreneur who opens a business wants to be as quickly as possible. Strike while the iron is hot.

Greedy, greedy, greedy.  You entitled to nothing.  Call your customers and be honest with them, that you overbooked your calendar and the other guy was booked first.  Recommend someone else, and leave it at that.

You start a CREW.

Option A:

You send some people to house A and others to house B and if you still have too many, then you send some to house C.

— then you pay them.  They are employees.  You need to withhold taxes and have workers comp insurance and do everything that a business owner does for their employees.

Option B:

You hire people and work together so you get the job done faster and go to more homes.

– you pay them.  They are employees.  You need to withhold taxes and have workers comp insurance and do everything that a business owner does for their employees.

Option C:

Maybe money is not the most important thing and you don’t take this work

– then you don’t have employees.  You don’t need to withhold taxes and have workers comp insurance…

You aren’t going to get referral money.

And these people doing work at other houses don’t qualify as subcontractors.