Put it this way.
He does everything from quoting / invoicing, to artwork / production, right?
Lets say he knows you make $10,000 per month. And you pay him $2000 per month. He can easily figure out material costs $1000, rent / utilities costs $1000, and thats $6000 profit for you, when you don't even step foot into the shop.
Now he's the one who deals with all the customers. He's done all the artwork, so while you may own the artwork... He can easily reproduce it. All your customers relationships are with this guy, and not you - How long before it clicks in his head, all he needs to do is spend xx amount of money. and seeing as how most, if not all the customers will follow the guy who knows what he is doing, who they've been dealing with since day 1, and who they've come to grow a good business relationship with, He'll realize he can make his money back easily, and that $6000 profit now belongs to him.
I'm not saying give this guy 50% of you're revenue - But you need to either A - Have some part of the company to show the guy you care, an absentee owner is an easily replaceable owner. Or B - Make it worth his while to stay. If you offer him $20 an hour to do the work of 4-5 people, why wouldn't he quit and leave to another company, and get paid the same for doing half the work?
If you don't think you can afford more, giver him profit sharing. The company I work at gives us xx amount at the end of the year, based on profit. Ours is split among 20 some people... So it works out to like $1000 a year, it's not much...But if it's a 1 man show, you can give him 5,10% or whatever. That way you're not taking on more risk of business slowing,and he'll see a fat cheque that shows how much you appreciate his hard work every year. It'll also let him feel like he has a stake in the company, while not actually giving up any control of your company.
Either case... It sounds to me like you're not interested in the business anymore. Thats ok, but you're essentially turning the guy into a Manager / CEO type person. So I would definitely say you should pay him way, way more than an installers rate. How you end up getting to that number is up to you / him.
Sit down with him and have a chat. Tell him you're going to be persuing other ventures, and want him to take on a bigger roll - And with a bigger roll comes bigger pay - Ask him what he think is fair. Not everyone is greedy... He may even ask for a couple dollars more per hour, and then in a year based on how he is doing.. you can throw him even a couple more.
Just remember - He's the one who will be growing your business. Giving him incentive, and showing your appreciation goes a long way.
He does everything from quoting / invoicing, to artwork / production, right?
Lets say he knows you make $10,000 per month. And you pay him $2000 per month. He can easily figure out material costs $1000, rent / utilities costs $1000, and thats $6000 profit for you, when you don't even step foot into the shop.
Now he's the one who deals with all the customers. He's done all the artwork, so while you may own the artwork... He can easily reproduce it. All your customers relationships are with this guy, and not you - How long before it clicks in his head, all he needs to do is spend xx amount of money. and seeing as how most, if not all the customers will follow the guy who knows what he is doing, who they've been dealing with since day 1, and who they've come to grow a good business relationship with, He'll realize he can make his money back easily, and that $6000 profit now belongs to him.
I'm not saying give this guy 50% of you're revenue - But you need to either A - Have some part of the company to show the guy you care, an absentee owner is an easily replaceable owner. Or B - Make it worth his while to stay. If you offer him $20 an hour to do the work of 4-5 people, why wouldn't he quit and leave to another company, and get paid the same for doing half the work?
If you don't think you can afford more, giver him profit sharing. The company I work at gives us xx amount at the end of the year, based on profit. Ours is split among 20 some people... So it works out to like $1000 a year, it's not much...But if it's a 1 man show, you can give him 5,10% or whatever. That way you're not taking on more risk of business slowing,and he'll see a fat cheque that shows how much you appreciate his hard work every year. It'll also let him feel like he has a stake in the company, while not actually giving up any control of your company.
Either case... It sounds to me like you're not interested in the business anymore. Thats ok, but you're essentially turning the guy into a Manager / CEO type person. So I would definitely say you should pay him way, way more than an installers rate. How you end up getting to that number is up to you / him.
Sit down with him and have a chat. Tell him you're going to be persuing other ventures, and want him to take on a bigger roll - And with a bigger roll comes bigger pay - Ask him what he think is fair. Not everyone is greedy... He may even ask for a couple dollars more per hour, and then in a year based on how he is doing.. you can throw him even a couple more.
Just remember - He's the one who will be growing your business. Giving him incentive, and showing your appreciation goes a long way.
