Small business thread again-
Advertising pro Bill Fromm said you need to know what business you are in. He used the railroads as an example- because he felt they missed the idea of what business they were in- he said they felt that expanding the railroad track system would grow the industry and lost sight of the fact that building railroads was not the industry, transporting goods and people was and they are a fraction of their potential size today because they did not realize that, and adapt.
Here is how I made a similar mistake that went on 3-4 years and cost me a wad of money and time.
Wanting to be known as an extremely clean contractor, I purchased a small dump trailer for trash then a mid size one, then got a truck to tow it and a driver to do all the pick ups and dump runs. I was so proud. And stupid.
Here is what happened-
As the business grew the trailer was on the move constantly. Jobs were a wreck. Guys would not clean up, citing they had no place to put trash ‘til the trailer came. If it was handy it was likely full. Guys could not take garbage home and I certainly would not ask. We didn’t want it in the vans and trucks on top of tools.
We got flats every time we went to the dump. The kid driving the truck backed over every concrete planter in town. If it arrived at jobs full it angered clients that needed their job cleaned. The dump was a wreck when it rained. The dump trailer batteries would die. Once the bed was stuck in the up position- I had to drive through town that way.
The truck was 15,000.00 plus fuel and insurance, the insurance, wear and tear, lost time and drivers wages got us up to 75,000 plus a year and we weren’t even getting the job done.
Andy was now in the trash business. It was horrible. It was so stupid and it took me way way to long to catch on.
After a near bankruptcy I rethought it, made a deal to keep one at my shop and rent one occasionally on larger jobs. All the jobs started staying clean- the guys knew where a dumpster was at any time. The driver was free to deliver, help clean and chase parts and help the guys - in other words produce.
We saved about 60-65,000 annually, maybe a lot more- and the only energy to remove trash was a text.
Today I grin when I see a dump trailer being towed- unless you are a roofer that needs the mobility or can use it for mulch placement , etc, I see little reason to get into the trash business if you aren’t trying to.
The important part of this is to not get sidetracked into another business thinking it serves your clients if it doesn’t benefit you or them. Stick to your knitting.
Advertising pro Bill Fromm said you need to know what business you are in. He used the railroads as an example- because he felt they missed the idea of what business they were in- he said they felt that expanding the railroad track system would grow the industry and lost sight of the fact that building railroads was not the industry, transporting goods and people was and they are a fraction of their potential size today because they did not realize that, and adapt.
Here is how I made a similar mistake that went on 3-4 years and cost me a wad of money and time.
Wanting to be known as an extremely clean contractor, I purchased a small dump trailer for trash then a mid size one, then got a truck to tow it and a driver to do all the pick ups and dump runs. I was so proud. And stupid.
Here is what happened-
As the business grew the trailer was on the move constantly. Jobs were a wreck. Guys would not clean up, citing they had no place to put trash ‘til the trailer came. If it was handy it was likely full. Guys could not take garbage home and I certainly would not ask. We didn’t want it in the vans and trucks on top of tools.
We got flats every time we went to the dump. The kid driving the truck backed over every concrete planter in town. If it arrived at jobs full it angered clients that needed their job cleaned. The dump was a wreck when it rained. The dump trailer batteries would die. Once the bed was stuck in the up position- I had to drive through town that way.
The truck was 15,000.00 plus fuel and insurance, the insurance, wear and tear, lost time and drivers wages got us up to 75,000 plus a year and we weren’t even getting the job done.
Andy was now in the trash business. It was horrible. It was so stupid and it took me way way to long to catch on.
After a near bankruptcy I rethought it, made a deal to keep one at my shop and rent one occasionally on larger jobs. All the jobs started staying clean- the guys knew where a dumpster was at any time. The driver was free to deliver, help clean and chase parts and help the guys - in other words produce.
We saved about 60-65,000 annually, maybe a lot more- and the only energy to remove trash was a text.
Today I grin when I see a dump trailer being towed- unless you are a roofer that needs the mobility or can use it for mulch placement , etc, I see little reason to get into the trash business if you aren’t trying to.
The important part of this is to not get sidetracked into another business thinking it serves your clients if it doesn’t benefit you or them. Stick to your knitting.