Hello my name is Shane. I’m a veteran greaser but I have been out of the game for three years. I’m wondering what everyone thinks a fair wage would be for a helper with little experience. (Drive time and such.) I’m thinking 12 an hour including drive time and I will be the technician on every job. I’m in San Antonio Tx. I think that is a fair hourly wage however I know that business will be slow at first and possibly for several months. Opinions? Thank you all in advance for your feedback.
We have tried hourly and commission both. Don’t know where I will end up. I have a few ideas that will be great. Its along the lines of salary with bonuses based on truck productivity. Of course that encompasses more than just kitchen hoods for us.
If your prospective employee can pass drug and background tests, I’d be inclined to pay them enough to keep them loyal. If I paid just the minimum I thought I could get by with, I’d expect them to use my equipment for their own profit.
Or pay them commission and let them decide what they are worth.
My guys bust ■■■ all day when I’m not there because they would be wasting their own time if they were to kill the clock.
Since going on commission last year they make 2-3 times as much money per hour as they were before AND my cost of each job (percentage wise) is lower than before.
If a guy is slacking you will hear about it right away because they are wasting everyone’s time that is on site.
They can produce almost double the amount of work per day now as well, so I can schedule fuller days = less trucks in the road and more money for everyone.
Just make sure there is a good quality control system in place to make sure work is not getting skipped.
Sent from my iPhone using Pressure Washing Resource
Paying them hourly tells them the more time they take, the more money they will make.
While it may work in a retail environment, I do not think it is the ideal for labor oriented businesses.
If you do not want them knowing pricing, there is another way to go about it. Kinda like delivery drivers. Give them a flat daily rate and they are free to go home after all their scheduled work is complete.
Sent from my iPhone using Pressure Washing Resource
What I also do that most people don’t is I have my guys pick up the payment for residential. They never know what my commercial prices are because all of my commercial payments are mailed to me. They also don’t pick up any money for huge residential jobs such as house staining which could be in the multiple thousands but for our usual $300-$400 house cleanings they pick up the dough.
Also every day they’re given the days work orders and I already know how long each job should take and they usually come thru. I must be doing something right here because I have the 2 same full timers here now for 9yrs. Trust is big with me.
Thats Great Trevor I would like to learn more about this.
What do you do when you have to hire a new guy?, I would think paying him the same commission as a seasoned vet may cause some animosity between the guys.
Whatever system you decide on using; hourly, commission, plus benefits, keep the total remuneration below 33% of the total or you’re going to run into troubles. I think a nice target is about 25-30%.
Yes great point!! Be advise to anyone reading this, uncle Sam also gets a cut (around 33% or so a few % points) of your net profits. So that has to be taken into consideration here as well.
