My business has been going for 6 months. We do leather, vinyl and fabric restoration. Our primary target market has been the automotive business. We have done almost double our projected revenue in our business plan and we're in the positive financially- revenue was the highest yet in September. I'm not sure if business will get slower during the winter.
My husband is the primary and only technician right now. He keeps his days filled but there are slow times. We have dealerships that except him to be there on certain days of the week. We also do windshield chip repairs. The response to that has far exceeded our expectations.
I want to branch out. I want to optimize our website, I want to start targeting other markets. Bus fleets, restaurants, hotels. We live on the Ocean and there are yachts and boats all around us. The possibilities are endless.
This is my main question. What if I get on the phone and get all kinds of business and my husband can't keep up. I am able to assist him with some of the work. We are coming into a rainy season and we are a mobile service so there is going to be alot more time required to set up a portable tent to drive vehicles under. Should I be looking at our business plan and trying to get a business loan to pay another salary? I'm new to biz...
Do we hire someone now and start to train and hope we get enough business to pay his salary? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

If you are expecting a big increase in business then It may be a good idea to take out a loan and start paying and training this new employee so you don't get caught with your pants down. Eventually the increase in business will pay off the loan and then some. What kind of loan were you thinking of applying for?

Rich

>If you are expecting a big increase in business then It ma
>be a good idea to take out a loan and start paying and
>training this new employee so you don't get caught with your
>pants down. Eventually the increase in business will pay off
>the loan and then some. What kind of loan were you thinking
>of applying for?
>
>Rich

Thanks Rich,
I would be applying for a business loan through the Woman's Entrepeneur programs.
I'm also thinking of hiring someone to help with the marketing.
Thanks again!

Sheila:

It is very good to see someone THINKING about the future. What you need to do is sit down and Think through the process. You have a sales event that finds customers who "may" use your service in the future and a service that needs to respond at a moments notice.

A couple of things you can do:
:-) Look at history for Customer Sign-up vs. work performed. The idea is to get a feeling of how much work to expect from one new customer. (Yes I know they are all different - business is not a walk in the park...)
:-) Now make a list of customers to approach and sign
:-) ALSO make a list of houly workers you could get to help you. Maybe friends and family have Saturdays free and you could give s discount to the customer for Saturday work...

Whne looking for capital, loan or equity, you want the money to be used for the bottom line not just to cover expenditures. If you cannot add new profits to the bottom line then the employee may not be the right answer.

Call me or contact me if you would like to talk

Respectfully
Bill Joyce

If you are looking to hire someone to help with the marketing I would suggest hiring a marketing agency or web design agency which will help keep the overhead costs of having to add another employee to the payroll. I own a Marketing and Web Design firm that could help you to keep your costs down. Once your business starts profiting more that you can comfortably afford a full time employee then you can decide if you still want to have any outside agency manage your marketing or if you want to handle it all inhouse. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks,
Ty Thompson
President
Gynx Design
www.gynxdesign.com

Do you have a school nearby that has "shop" or a technical college? Possibly you can find someone who really is interested in the industry whom your husband can mentor; for pay of course, part time now. OR some areas have Worksource or Unemployment offices and if you find someone there you can train, you maybe eligible for discounts.

That would give you part time help that could end up full time. You can even hire two part timers.

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On the other hand, if you were my client, this is what I'd tell you to do. Write a one-page business plan for what your husband position in the company, and one for your part of the growing company.


Then write one for all the things you want a new employee to do or a marketing person. Include in the "new position" everything you don't enjoy doing but need to be doing to run a business you can someday sell it. (ya, I know it's early to think abou this, but growing businesses in the "know" structure their businesses with the end in mind. It's much easier doing it this way than changing everything a year from now.)

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What usually happens when a growing business hires others, is that your business grows. And at the rate you're going, it's a big possiblity that is what will happen to your company.

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And if you don't have a good system for accounting, that includes a payroll system, I'd work on that pronto.

Thank you all! Sorry I took so long, but been very busy!
Thanks again for all the ideas.