Stacey K
I like making signs
The outlet covers aren't straight?
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Employee side business
- Thread starter capitate
- Start date
Boudica
I'm here for Educational Purposes
Top shelf is bare - because he can't reach it.
And your right, those outlet covers look terrible.
Yup. I've worked for small companies, and companies that employed hundreds of people - At every company they realized losing employees is part of the business. We've always paid for training...with a Caveat of if you leave within 6 months, you pay back the cost of the training - by the 6 month point, you more than broke even on any training there is.
People come and go... I always find it funny when you don't give an employee a raise for years, or give them a few pennies here or there.... Then you're surprised when they move to another job making a few bucks more per hour, and consider them "Ungrateful". Everyone will look out for themselves... If a new supplier swooped in and offered you rolls of vinyl at a 10% discount, you'd drop a supplier you've been with for 20 years to save that cash.... why should an employee be any different?
Treat every employee as they have 1 foot out the door, because they do. Cross train so if you do abruptly lose an employee, you arent shutdown until you find a replacement - Lots of ways around it, The current company I work for has 10ish people who have worked here for 25+ years... It's crazy.
Then on the flip side... I've been here 7... and make over double what they do. Once you hit a wall and have no more room for growth... the only way to make more, or "Challenge" yourself is to move into a position at a company that you can continue to grow in. I've only ever quit 1 job... and thats a very physical job that killed my back, I've been laid off, companies have shut down, I've moved to another city... I've probably had about 6 different jobs my life, and everytime I take a new one... theres always a significant pay increase. Sadly being "Loyal" To a company doesn't get you anywhere... job hopping and constantly moving up does... It's not something I want to do though... So yes, I will eventually run my own business...and I'm in a position to do that now if I wanted to. I could quit tomorrow and be fine - or get fired tomorrow and be fine - Which is what I like. I probably wont ever quit until I'm not needed, or until I get super bored... or until my house is 100% paid off and I buy a commercial building outright, and use it as an early retirement / work for myself plan
Point is! I'm not special, my situation isnt unique. ANYONE can work a second job and not take advantage of their employer. It can benefit both of you... I dont hire people I dont trust, so why should our trust end when they want to make some extra cash on the side?
Johnny Best
Active Member
Is that the Johnson’s kitchen on Little people big world TV show.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
With the amount of Modelo bottles we saw during construction, I'm surprised they're not upside down.
And yes Boudica... too short for the top shelf. But these are 10' ceilings in the Kitchen
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
I think you're special.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
be careful ikarasu... I think Notareal is starting to groom you
DL Signs
Never go against the family
I have a side hustle, came into this job with it, and it's perfect. When I retired I started doing ad designs for newspapers, publications, magazines for something to do... Stuff the shop doesn't do anyway. Works out great, anytime one of my clients needs signage or graphics I refer them to the shop, if a client of the shop needs assistance with advertising they refer them to me. I work with several other designers in the area doing the ad thing, we pass a lot of work back and forth, so I never have to worry about getting too much on my plate to do my day job, and if/ when I retire again I still have something to do to kill the boredom.
victor bogdanov
Active Member
Really good video about what can happen
Employee Secretly STEALS Our Best Customer While I Pay and Train Him to be VP of Our Machine Shop
Cool Plot twist at the end when the customer comes back after quality went downhill
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
Why in the world would you ever show any employee the ins and outs of your entire business? Then make a butthurt video showing the world how dumb you were? It's like a 10 minute long humblebrag, I would have quit too.
He sounds like one of those keynote / business speakers that are just trying to get you to pay attention - Looks like theyre a legit / good CNC company, so its probably just the way the guy is talking.... but it sounds like a lecture
See, the guy in this video is scummy. IMO, an employee who is upfront and buys a printer / cutter / whatever, and lets you know about it...and openly talks to you about their side business and what theyre doing, theyre more trustworthy than an employee who sees how much $$ being an owner is, and deicdes to quit quietly and start his own business.
This wasn't a guy who has a side business - it's a guy who wanted to open his own shop, quit and steal the owners customers. You can't stop that... You can limit what your employee knows - My last job the employees didnt get to know purchasing price, only sell price, everything was kind of firewalled off.
This industry though...at least in the shop I work at, and the people I know - Most people seem to know how much materials cost, how much labor is, how much the item is selling for... ontop of how to produce and make it all. If the owner died today, theres half a dozen people here who could take his place without there being any interruption...
I was trained to run the business from the ground up. I can take orders, I can order material, I know every customers pricing, I have every customers E-mails... I can setup artwork.. run the printer, CNC, Flatbed printer, laminator, graphtec... I do most of the repairs on said machines. It's set me up in a way that I know the business like the back of my hand - so I can streamline every process, I know the best way to set stuff up for screenprinting... I know the best workflows for dozens of unique jobs that arent as simple as setup an art file and hit print, etc. I run this place smoothly and more efficiently than it's been run in a decade. Then on the other hand... if I were like the employee in the video... I deal with a customer who ONLY orders decals. I was with them from the beginning... I setup their specs, setup their art... They are on track to do $240,000 in decals this year... with a material cost of $42K... Thats a 200K proffit. I could step out today... I'm 99% sure theyd follow me... then my salary just jumped to 200k to print decals for a few hours a day.
So I get the aprehension. But IMO, you'll always have shitty employees who are willing to cheat and steal (Materials, customers, whatever), The ones who are upfront and open about things... those arent the ones you have to worry about
[Edit] On then the other side of the coin. Being a 1 man / jack of all trades (Master of none!) I'm in a good position to be hired as a manager at most other print shops. If a bigger shop sees my Linkedin page and tries to poach me - offers me 20K more a year than the current company is paying me... Are they wrong to do that, and would I be an asshole to accept it? People move on, business is business. Look at the tech industry - its rare to stay at a job for over a year because everytime you job hop you get a 20-30% Raise. My brother in law job hops all the time - He's had the same co-workers at like 4 diff jobs randomly because they all do it. He's making 140K a year now programming for a hospital. He'd be an idiot if he stayed at the same 50k a year job making a 5-10% raise every year.
See, the guy in this video is scummy. IMO, an employee who is upfront and buys a printer / cutter / whatever, and lets you know about it...and openly talks to you about their side business and what theyre doing, theyre more trustworthy than an employee who sees how much $$ being an owner is, and deicdes to quit quietly and start his own business.
This wasn't a guy who has a side business - it's a guy who wanted to open his own shop, quit and steal the owners customers. You can't stop that... You can limit what your employee knows - My last job the employees didnt get to know purchasing price, only sell price, everything was kind of firewalled off.
This industry though...at least in the shop I work at, and the people I know - Most people seem to know how much materials cost, how much labor is, how much the item is selling for... ontop of how to produce and make it all. If the owner died today, theres half a dozen people here who could take his place without there being any interruption...
I was trained to run the business from the ground up. I can take orders, I can order material, I know every customers pricing, I have every customers E-mails... I can setup artwork.. run the printer, CNC, Flatbed printer, laminator, graphtec... I do most of the repairs on said machines. It's set me up in a way that I know the business like the back of my hand - so I can streamline every process, I know the best way to set stuff up for screenprinting... I know the best workflows for dozens of unique jobs that arent as simple as setup an art file and hit print, etc. I run this place smoothly and more efficiently than it's been run in a decade. Then on the other hand... if I were like the employee in the video... I deal with a customer who ONLY orders decals. I was with them from the beginning... I setup their specs, setup their art... They are on track to do $240,000 in decals this year... with a material cost of $42K... Thats a 200K proffit. I could step out today... I'm 99% sure theyd follow me... then my salary just jumped to 200k to print decals for a few hours a day.
So I get the aprehension. But IMO, you'll always have shitty employees who are willing to cheat and steal (Materials, customers, whatever), The ones who are upfront and open about things... those arent the ones you have to worry about
[Edit] On then the other side of the coin. Being a 1 man / jack of all trades (Master of none!) I'm in a good position to be hired as a manager at most other print shops. If a bigger shop sees my Linkedin page and tries to poach me - offers me 20K more a year than the current company is paying me... Are they wrong to do that, and would I be an asshole to accept it? People move on, business is business. Look at the tech industry - its rare to stay at a job for over a year because everytime you job hop you get a 20-30% Raise. My brother in law job hops all the time - He's had the same co-workers at like 4 diff jobs randomly because they all do it. He's making 140K a year now programming for a hospital. He'd be an idiot if he stayed at the same 50k a year job making a 5-10% raise every year.
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victor bogdanov
Active Member
had a tv show " CNC titans" so there is some of the show element to the narration. Now offers free CNC school/resources so probably is a lecture lolHe sounds like one of those keynote / business speakers that are just trying to get you to pay attention - Looks like theyre a legit / good CNC company, so its probably just the way the guy is talking.... but it sounds like a lecture
Stacey K
I like making signs
I know a couple businesses up here in which the owner is always vacationing...always missing in action. The employees run the business. I know one employee and he's scared the business will go out because the owners aren't very involved anymore. Perfect opportunity for a couple of those guys to start their own business. Can't blame them and if the owner allows too much control from the employees it's their own fault if they go out on their own.
Stacey K
I like making signs
I think you delegate certain things to certain people but not everything to one person?
In bigger companies, there's no way one person can know everything. In a small company, it's totally possible.
In my experieince of having my sister and parents both own businesses with multiple employees, they NEVER delegated payroll or bookwork out. My sister takes her laptop and does it all from the hotel and plays catch-up when she gets back. She has daycares and there's a center manager but they don't do ANYTHING with the numbers, it's strictly the child care part. Nothing with licensing, etc. She also makes plenty of sob stories about how absolutley miserable licensing and the state are and how she's SOOO busy with bookwork. She had those ladies scared silly. Of course, I know she's really watching Netflix and on Pinterest while painting her dining room instead of working LOL! My parents never left for more than a week in the old days before the internet. My Dad was one of those guys who walked uphill to school both ways in the snow with no coat and barefoot.
My Dad had lots of rentals and he always said, "I never drove my Cadillac to the rental properties, I always took my work van and dressed in my work clothes. I never wanted my renters to know I was making money off them."
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
I was also told to never let the person that is doing the books, sign the checks. Some people, successful or not, don't understand business and never will. As a small business owner, you are just another employee and if you make yourself not needed, then you will become unneeded. Especially if you train someone to do your job for you so you can go screw off everyday while they work. It can be done but you need to be large enough to where employees have individual roles.
Your dad was 100% on point about what he drove around customers. Same deal goes around employees. Showing everyone your toys is about the fastest way to kill morale and get the side eye from customers.
I'm a "Techy" type guy. I lost my job doing IT stuff when there was a semi-crash in our area a close to a decade ago, and I panicked and looked for a job wherever I could find it, with the idea I'd get a job so I'm not screwed...then find a better suited job for myself when I had time. That job happened to be in a sign shop - After they found out my background, I was moved to operating the printers and doing a few PC related things... I actually liked it and decided to stick around for a bit.
We're a traffic company, and I find traffic stuff boring - But as someone who walked into a building and saw a big 6 FT printer, and a flatbed printing that can print straight on materials as a tech guy... I was in heaven. I watched dozens of hours of youtube videos and tutorials to learn how to do my job properly, because the guy who was leaving and trained me wasnt the best at his job... and I stumbled upon sticker printing. I love seeing other people's designs and printing them - something we dont do at my current company. So when I moved and had money leftover... I bought my own printer.
So my side business started as a passion project - To this day... I love printing stickers as geeky as it sounds, and doing Canvas's and other peoples art. I've since moved up to a management position and never get to operate the machines at work - but I'm happy to have my own printer and the freedom to print and do what I want with it.
Do I "Need" a side job? No... but to be honest, I make more off my side job than I do as a manager pulling in roughly 80K a year at my current job... so do I want to walk away from my side income? not a chance... I paid off my 500k mortgage early, I have a hefty balance in my retirement fund... I can buy whatever I want, eat out 5 times a week... having a second gig allows me to afford to do the stuff I normally wouldnt be able to do.
I'm betting I'm just the same as every other employee with a second gig - I look around my workplace and there are a dozen people who have worked there for 25+ years... we have 2 employees who just hit 70+, and they don't want to retire.. I don't want to be grinding my ass off working for someone when I'm 70 because I have a mortgage and bills to pay. The economy today is a lot worst than it was 20 years ago, and it's about to get worst.
My townhouse... not even a real house, just got appraised at 960K. I paid 500K for it 6 years ago... it's almost doubled in such a short time. Anyone who hasn't already bought a house, isn't going to be able to afford one if theyre not on a 200K a year salary, Even the lowest condo in our area is about 400K right now, it's ridiculous.
For all the owners around here... I'm sure you remember what it was like when you first started your business, how stressful it was to get by, make ends meat - imagine trying to live off your employees wages... I'm not saying your cheap, but a fair wage doesn't get you far in this day and age. I want to provide a better life for my family - So if I can take my knowledge and make more money, pay off my bills so I can put money towards my kids college and give him an easier life, especially in a section of the industry my current employer isn't after... why not?
An employer / employee work relationship is symbiotic... A good owner understands they need their employees just as much as their employees need them. If you have an employee you're worried will steal your customers once they buy a printer, that guy shouldn't be an employee in the first place. And if someone you dont expect does that... Well, you're better off without them, and they can take whatever customers are willing to jump ship to some guy in his garage with him. You're better off in the long run!
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
You're in a different position than the standard employee. The high rent district you're in also throws a curve ball in going out on your own. You also have a game plan to retire early where a lot of people's goal is to make more money to buy more things. That greed factor makes a big difference in a person being willing to step on someone else, even when it gets them nowhere. Ive seen many trade guys step out thinking that they'll make a mint, mainly welders and mechanics. They usually fail once they start getting hit with all of the costs and realize they are working more and making less. I have a soft spot for people trying to get going but it usually burns me cuz they charge stupid money, don't have the right equipment and really don't know as much as they think they do.
You talking about money also reminds me of truck drivers that I worked with. 2 guys, both made the same amount, 1 was always broke and took all of the O/T he could. The other driver had a new car, house, wasn't up to his eyeballs in debt, always had money and would leave early every chance he could. We never could understand it. 2 of my employees are like that too, step brothers, both have kids/wife but one is broke the day after he gets paid and the other always has cash on him.
