Employee incentives

[Steve]

What kind of employee incentives do you offer to get your employees to help your business grow? This is from an older post discussion I had with James where we talked about his business cards but also discussed employee incentives. Steve: “James can you tell us the advantage / disadvantage to not having a name on the business card?” James: “Well part of our bonus structure promotes our foreman to bid jobs and actually become salesman. This eliminates the need to have individual cards for everyone. Plus we are growing quite rapidly, and I don’t want everyone knowing I am the owner. People automatically assume that since I am the owner, I can magically fix everything. Billing issues is the secretary’s job. On the job issues…ie…gates left open…(they do need to be handled, but I force my foreman to take responsibilities. If a customer calls the office to mention the gate issue my secretary calls the foreman and not me. The big one is, EVERY CUSTOMER WANTS MY CELL NUMBER!!! Plus I like the look of it with less lines on the business card.” Steve: “That is fascinating and I think a very smart move, it must be cost effective! Getting to your bonus structure, would this mean if your foreman is out on a job and the customer says they need a new retaining wall, your foreman can create a bid on the spot to do the job? Or how does that work? How are they trained to know how to bid?” James: “In a situation like that, they would fill out an estimate request sheet in their daily route book with their name on it. My secretary sets up the estimate. Upon receiving complete payment, he or she get their bonus. It ranges between 2 and 4% of the total job not including tax. So if it’s a $10,000 job, he can stand to make up to $400.00. Not bad huh?? And it’s all factored in to the numbers of the estimate so it doesn’t cost me a dime. For lawn estimates, they get the amount of the first cut as a bonus.”

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[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Any thoughts on this? Or do you have your own ideas you can share?

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[MMYardService]

Originally Posted by Steve

Any thoughts on this? Or do you have your own ideas you can share?

I like it.. Would like to hire someone to do nothing but sales, and pay based on contracts signed.. Just not sure how to work it out..

Matt

[jklawncare]

the thought of this will forever be in my head
things would run so much more efficiently
i plan on sticking with this job even out of highschool.

i went job hunting and i never thought of it..but compared to working for minimum wage.. im making a KILLING

i have my doubts and flaws but people keep reassuring me that i can do it.
im a smart business oriented kid and i can work things out.

i may not be school smart but this is one thing i can do.. even the math portions some how..

well as that was completely off subject

this is a great idea and i LOVE that lawn estimate idea of them getting a bonus of the first cut.

that would encourage alot of workers to go out and get new accounts for me.

[Steve]

i have my doubts and flaws but people keep reassuring me that i can do it.

What doubts or flaws do you feel will hold you back? I think a lot of newer business owners battle with this and a discussion on it might help everyone dealing with it.

[jklawncare]

What doubts or flaws do you feel will hold you back? I think a lot of newer business owners battle with this and a discussion on it might help everyone dealing with it.

Alot holds me back and i have alot of doubts on myself and my work, im not the most confident of people.

I tend to overthink alot and it frustrates me to the point where i lose confidence.

I doubt often that my company will really take off. Mainly because once it gets going something intervenes to ruin it for me. Even if i have no control over it i still tend to blame myself for it. I have many flaws that the list could go on and on but related to the business id say my top 3 are: Making Decisions

i cant make decisions for the company, it has gotten easier and i think i have a good way to view things. Plus everyone here helps when i cant seem to choose. Im afraid one thing i do will send me down the drain.

my second flaw would be saving money:

ever since i was a kid i couldnt save my money for what i wanted. I always had to go out and buy the new toy instead of getting the one i wanted for a year. Its the same today. Im a little better with the companies money than my own but i could still improve. I think a list of things i need before i spend it on advertising, minor equipment etc will help alot.

sales kill me. like the overstock sale at 696 signs where i bought my car decals. I could have refrained from that but i had to get it. Its a good thing he did a good job and i dont regret it or id hate myself for it haha

my third flaw would be trust

i trust people too well and i let them off too easy
if im going to run a business i need to crackdown on this
i started with a partner that didnt work much and wanted more and i encouraged him to stay until i realized that i couldnt run a company with him.
Ive hired several friends and when they don't do a good job i let it go and fix it myself. Im too nice a guy i suppose

i plan on changing that as well

So my main goals for the new season next year are too:

Save my Money for the mower, trimmer, and blower.
Make better company decisions including who i hire to work.
and
Be more confident. If i tell myself i can do something it will work.