Think back over this past year—were you working 60+ hour weeks without a break? Can’t leave your crews in the field alone cause you think you have to be there and your customers insist on it? Were you able to attend your little girl’s dance recital or your sons’ ball game? Didn’t your spouse or significant other get mad when you just “couldn’t make it there” because you had to work?

Have you sat down and figured out just how much money you’re making per hour? Bet you have employees making more than you, right? Been there, done that. Okay, a new and more prosperous year is approaching and this may be the time to make some New Year’s resolutions and stick to them!

I’ve been in this boat and I wasn’t a happy camper. I had to make some improvements, to keep a lot of people happy and myself from burning out on this business. My first step was to take my year’s income and divide the number of hours I was working into it. The result—a whopping $5.16 per hour. Not good! Next, what is my family’s schedule of events and what is important for me to attend? Ball games, PTA, a night out for pizza, Saturday BBQ with the family?

You’ll note that there was no thought given to the business, other than you have to think about supporting that little group at home, and that doesn’t mean working 24/7! 

I finally figured out that I really didn’t have to be on that jobsite if I trained my personnel and established quality control systems to ensure that the job was done correctly. They do get better. I may go out and set the plants in place and come back later to check on it, but during that period, I was accomplishing more stuff rather than wasting time on the job. Yeah, some of the maintenance customers wanted to know where I was, and my response was that I’d be out to check it. Eventually, if the quality continues, they really don’t have the time to visit with you anyway. More time saved.

My biggest problem was disciplining and restricting myself to work during the hours of 7 to 5, Monday through Friday, and taking those quality weekends to relax and spend time on the really important things. I had to begin to prioritize my schedule of activities and take care of the main stuff that either benefited my biz, my family or me; if it didn’t, I didn’t do it. But hey, surely you don’t waste any time out there? Isn’t all your time both productive and profitable? Nah! 

September 11, 2001 was a big eye opener for a lot of people, and they’ve improved their conditions and been even more prosperous. Give it some thought, or deal with your children’s crying eyes and hurt feelings when you aren’t at their special events. 

Editor's Note: Bill Phagan is president of Green Industry Consulting, Inc., and can be reached via email at gibiz@greenindustryconsulting.com.

12/06