Hey, I'm currently getting more work in than I can take on and now feels like a good time to act on it.
The trouble I'm having is that the range of work I have coming in is vast. I personally stick to maintenance work most of the time but occasionally take on construction jobs such as patios etc... The trouble is because I work alone I don't make as much on construction as I do maintenance as I just can't turn the work over fast enough. I am lucky enough to have big contracts coming my way that at the moment I'm simply passing up on.
I'd like to stick to maintanance but subcontract the construction work out but I literally don't have a clue where to begin. In my head I'd just contact someone who can do the work, get their price and relay that back to the client with some added costs but I can see myself screwing it up somehow. Everything is a worry, from tax to liability and I just wondered if someone, who has done this can give me some advice.
Hopefully someone can help me!
Thanks, Adam.
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Honestly, I wouldn't want to deal with the headache is something went wrong - badly done work, job not finished on time, cost overruns etc. You'd be the one getting grief. It may never happen of course, but is it worth it?
Recommending other companies is fine, but let them and the customer take the responsibilities.
If you'r getteing so much work, it seems to me that you should regulate the amount of work you can do by increasing your prices.
When you subcontract work out, you need to be charging about 30% more anyway, So I would suggest that you increase your prices by about 25% and see what happens. If you still keep getting too much work, just increase your prices.
Don't sub contract hard landscaping, there is so much that can go wrong, and many clients are " quite rightly" picky when the patio doesn't drain properly or a crack appears 3 months later.
It's not worth the hassle imo
I use sub-contractors but in my case this is grass cutting and not hard landscaping. In my experience it has worked out fantastically well for me. The one that mows playing fields for me specialises in large area mowing and is so efficient that he charges me half the contract price that I get for the work. Both sub-contractors are very conscientious and totally reliable.
I added sub-contractor cover to my P.L insurance and went through ‘compare the market’ and got the same cover plus the sub-contractor cover on top, with the same insurance company, for about half the price as going through my broker. It is less than £70 per year for one million cover. That’s all I need and it has never been questioned by any clients large or small which includes Councils, Schools, PCC’s, Businesses and large Country estates. The sub-contractor will have their own insurance, but you also need to be covered on their behalf just in case things go wrong.
We had a largish extension built last year and the builders [who are step cousins of mine] use several sub-contractors. This happens all the time in business. Most brick layers, plasterers, electricians and plumbers work in this way. So although there can be issues if you use the wrong people, your business will flourish with the right people. In the case of my extension, the builders oversaw everything, were on site quite a bit of the time, if only for short spells to oversee standards and progress.
This is the key. In the case of hard landscaping you would need to oversee things and project manage. It isn’t, as some may imagine, just a case of giving the sub-contractor the job and leaving them to it. In your case you could work alongside them so retaining control of standards and finish. You would still be able to do a great deal more work with several of you doing the job rather than just yourself.
The sub-contractor will bill you for the work [price agreed beforehand obviously] as you bill your clients for your work and you simply pay them.
So even with hard landscaping, which can be tricky with call backs over sometimes minor or non-existent problems, if managed in the correct way and by using the right people, it can be a really excellent way to take on more work and to generate more income.
Many on here employ people directly. That idea make me shudder. No, the sub-contractor route is the best idea. Taking on an employee means you need a constant supply of work for them. You have to pay them whatever. There is also a risk of taking someone on and then finding that they aren’t so good after all. You are then stuck with them. With sub-contractors you don’t have anywhere near the same commitment. If one turns out to be poor, you can tell them you don’t need them next time and then go and find a better one.
So, find a really good sub-contractor and go for it. You will likely already know who to approach in your area. Their reputation will be well known.
I would say you woukd need to be a very efficient and experienced hard landscaper to get yourself involved .
You would in effect be the project manager and problem solver so financially it could end up draining your resources if the people you hire get it wrong .
It would give me sleepless nights
It does seem to be a common theme presently inundated with work .