Too many calls!

[weevilward]

As for taking on staff and growing the business...that's the other thing that I'm really wrestling with at the moment! All the reasons HandySparks has said have been putting me off until now. Some days I wake up thinking I'm ready to take on the world and grow the business and other days I think is all the extra aggro going to be worth it. I'm not obsessed by money, just wan't to live comfortably without too much stress. but on the other hand not sure I wan't to be one man banding up until retirement!! big decision really.

Dawsirn - Sounds like you and I are in a similar situation. For what it's worth here's my take on it:

Re: phone calls - I let calls go to voicemail then get back to people at lunchtime or after work. If i pickup during the day it destroys my train of thought and I get nothing done, it proper winds me up...

Re: too much work - i got busy to the point I could take somebody on, but the idea didn't feel right for the reasons listed above (loss of personal freedom / extra aggro). So instead, I started to filter out and turn down the jobs that I knew would be aggro, and I could focus on the type of jobs I wanted to do, closer to home. I'm never gonna be loaded but I've got enough to live on and I get plenty of time with the wife & kids, and generally pretty stress free.

Some of the happiest (and fittest) 60 year olds I know are one-man-band tradesmen, still trading.

 

[JK-Electrical]

Most days when my phone rings, if it's a name in my contacts I let it go to message..... If it's a new number I will often answer it.... If it's somebody with an fairly urgent requirement I have to tell them I'm booked for 3 weeks or so..... Unless it's a small job I can deal with on my way home.

I always call people back who leave messages.... But not everybody leaves messages!

I work the other way round!

If a name comes up, I will know who is contacting me, and I'll then make an instant decision as to whether or not I take the call. But if I don't recognise the number, I definitely won't take the call. The caller must then leave a message or send a text if they want to get hold of me.

I have this policy so I can eliminate cold-calls from sales people who waste my precious time trying to sell me goods and services that I don't need or want to buy.

 

[Marvo]

It sounds like you've got to make a decision about which way you want to go. Where you're at right now is not a good place, your builder customers are going to suffer, you're going to ---- of customers by not getting back to them promptly and if you're out most nights quoting and surveying jobs you health and family life is going to suffer.

Either, as already suggested you need to expand with another team on the road or someone taking care of admin, calls and quotes. Other option is you resist expansion but start getting more picky and choosey with the customers and jobs and also maybe increase your prices somewhat.

Over the years I've been both routes and I don't think there's a right or wrong way. I got to the stage of having >30 employees then in more recent years I've sold off several parts of my business and now just run a team of 3 guys on the road and a few labourers in my fabrication shop. From experience I can tell you that big isn't necessarily better or more profitable. Where I am now allows me to be extremely picky about my customers and the contracts we take on and whilst turnover may be a lot less, profit margins are much higher.

 

[Joseph Elliott]

Getting too many calls, always a good 'problem' to have...