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sally_in_wales Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 06 Mar 2005 Posts: 20809 Location: sunny wales
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 14 10:22 am Post subject: planning when/how to expand a business |
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We currently work from home, have several different types of product/activity/supplies needed and have got to the point where the floor is no longer visible in most rooms due to the sheer volume of business related stuff trying to fit round life related stuff.
We're also getting steadily busier, with increasingly higher profile clients, and there are a few things in the pipeline which if they come through, might mean we are in a position to really need to multiply production on things like the Plague Rats.
Several times this year I've had to turn down work purely for logistical reason, rather than because we weren't available on that given date, its just not been possible to close down one project/job in time to prepare for the new one. If we had a more useful space for a lot of the stuff, and maybe an extra pair of hands for a few hours, we could have managed it.
I'm pretty sure that if I could get the costumes, props, supplies and the Plague Rat empire into a small unit, and employ someone part time to be a 'technical assistant', setting up and packing down resources needed for the historic jobs and working on basic aspects of Plague Rat production in between those sessions, then we could take on those additional jobs and probably easily double or triple rat production.
However, whilst turnover is increasing steadily, we haven't yet got to the point where I can just gamble money on some premises and a helper and be able to write it off if it doesn't work. I'm also so busy with current projects that the time needed to set up a unit and work out the necessary stuff for employing someone is going to make it even more of a gamble, and could put me critically behind with commissions. If it goes well though, a couple of weeks setting it all up could magically free me up time, space and sanity to get commissions done twice as fast as currently.
There are small industrial units within walking distance, (the usual row of tin workshops sort that you often see small industries like panel beaters or furniture assemblers in), which could be ideal for a largely storage and prep type upgrade, but they work out around �600 a month, which seems truly terrifying at this moment, though probably not that much if turnover could be dramatically improved. Its not really practical to think about extending the house or building a big shed- its still vaguely on the cards, but wouldn't be big enough to allow us to move towards an employee and seriously useful working space.
I could explore storage units, and think in terms of essentially buying a room just for the historic stuff, and kit it out with racks and a prep table, but that won't be as flexible for other purposes, though it would come without additional costs like rates and power. It also wouldn't lend itself to staff of any sort, but could work for making the costumed work more efficient. I'm guessing thats going to be about �100 a month for a room sized unit?
I haven't yet calculated the likely actual cost of employing someone for maybe 2 days a week to start with. There is a scheme being run locally though that covers the wages of an 18-25 yr old for 6 months, which we might just possibly be able to apply for. First we need somewhere for them to work though.
I also need to plan for hiring some help for a serious website/webshop overhaul and upgrade. I haven't got the brainpower to think about that until I've decided what on earth to do about the space thing.
Something has to change, and it does feel like its time to take a little bit of a leap of faith and believe that we really can grow the business without killing ourselves in the process, but quite frankly I'm scared by the potential financial risk.
So, I'm after thoughts, ideas, inspiration, a good slap- whatever your experience with expanding a business when you can't think straight any more has taught you. |
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vegplot
Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 21301 Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45676 Location: Essex
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Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 9075 Location: South Wales
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earthyvirgo
Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 7972 Location: creating prints in the loft, Gerlan
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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wellington womble
Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 15051 Location: East Midlands
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joanne
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 7100 Location: Morecambe, Lancashire
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sueshells
Joined: 20 Jan 2009 Posts: 690 Location: North Bucks
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46247 Location: yes
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Posted: Wed Dec 17, 14 1:26 am Post subject: |
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what they say about prices for premises seems sensible
for storage nearish and secure are top priority
for a workspace to expand production near is vital
a combination of both nearby and very good value for money would be ideal
if you are thinking of employing staff a basic equation is their cost in wages etc should be no more than 50% of the extra work you get done ,ie charge them out at about(at least) twice what it costs you to hire them.
this covers overheads.downtime ,hols ,replacing them,treats to retain them ,insuring them etc etc as well giving extra turnover and some extra profits(try for 25% extra profit on a worse case scenario).
the numbers might need adjusting for"wats" or fancy stuff but the basic principal applies .
beware maternity leave ,potential employment law issues,hns,family or illness issues ,rogues etc etc
beware cash flow issues ,you can perhaps wait for wages but an employee must be paid as agreed by contract (yes law again , a written contract that will stand up in court if needs be is not a waste of up front money)
this might seem a ruthless way to consider taking on staff but it is daft to gain a lot of responsibilities and some potential risks for no (fairly) certain business gain.
i found directly employing one or two good uns fairly long term with a bit of churn not impossibly difficult to manage to everybody's benefit.if they are good they can become almost family in a small enterprise.
it can take a few rejects to get the right ones ,if you need quite a few at short notice sub contracting is a good option rather than a lot of hire /train/ reject hire again etc .
if a job is repetitive sub contracting it out can be a good option
i know much of what you do is very specialized and skilled but some of it is basic hands on skills ,would it make sense to separate these and subcontract jobs such as rat stitching ,tail inversion etc and concentrate on design,market development ,specialist historical stuff and the other things that you are good at ?
that was a free sample of my consultancy skills |
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earthyvirgo
Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 7972 Location: creating prints in the loft, Gerlan
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Posted: Wed Dec 17, 14 8:23 am Post subject: |
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dpack wrote: |
what they say about prices for premises seems sensible
for storage nearish and secure are top priority
for a workspace to expand production near is vital
a combination of both nearby and very good value for money would be ideal
if you are thinking of employing staff a basic equation is their cost in wages etc should be no more than 50% of the extra work you get done ,ie charge them out at about(at least) twice what it costs you to hire them.
this covers overheads.downtime ,hols ,replacing them,treats to retain them ,insuring them etc etc as well giving extra turnover and some extra profits(try for 25% extra profit on a worse case scenario).
the numbers might need adjusting for"wats" or fancy stuff but the basic principal applies .
beware maternity leave ,potential employment law issues,hns,family or illness issues ,rogues etc etc
beware cash flow issues ,you can perhaps wait for wages but an employee must be paid as agreed by contract (yes law again , a written contract that will stand up in court if needs be is not a waste of up front money)
this might seem a ruthless way to consider taking on staff but it is daft to gain a lot of responsibilities and some potential risks for no (fairly) certain business gain.
i found directly employing one or two good uns fairly long term with a bit of churn not impossibly difficult to manage to everybody's benefit.if they are good they can become almost family in a small enterprise.
it can take a few rejects to get the right ones ,if you need quite a few at short notice sub contracting is a good option rather than a lot of hire /train/ reject hire again etc .
if a job is repetitive sub contracting it out can be a good option
i know much of what you do is very specialized and skilled but some of it is basic hands on skills ,would it make sense to separate these and subcontract jobs such as rat stitching ,tail inversion etc and concentrate on design,market development ,specialist historical stuff and the other things that you are good at ?
that was a free sample of my consultancy skills |
Very wise advice re becoming an employer.
Law has made it overly cumbersome for a small business, so it's best kept as simple as possible by using as many .gov documents and basic templates as you can to save writing your own, when it comes to contracts.
Know and keep to the statutory requirements re pay/hols/maternity etc.
EV |
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kGarden
Joined: 01 Dec 2014 Posts: 178 Location: Suffolk, UK
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boisdevie1
Joined: 11 Aug 2006 Posts: 3897 Location: Lancaster
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MornieG
Joined: 17 Jan 2013 Posts: 933 Location: Bromham, Wiltshire
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vegplot
Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 21301 Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd
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