Slowest time of the year ?

Whenever school is out we're always slow, add tax season to that, seems like nobody remember about carpet cleaning, last 3 days 80 % of phone calls are sales calls and the other 20 % are price shoppers, I did 1 job today, $ 100 minimum charge, no jobs tomorrow, yes you heard that right, I can't remember when did the last time I got no jobs, lol, and only 8 jobs scheduled between Thursday to Saturday, I can't wait til May when I'm going to complain about how much phone calls I get and that I wish these people would schedule a week in advance rather than asking for same day or next day service.
How about you guys ? Busy, slow, just about normal ?

Just recovering at the moment.....

Residential is still flat in this area despite some nice weather for a week. Commercial....well, you know how that has been going.

Its all up hill from here thank goodness Jan & Feb are in the rear view mirror. DP you'll start getting blasted once everybody gets their refund and everybody doesn't include me sob sob sniff sniff

No refund Mo?

Me neither.

you guys made me laugh, I was complaining to the wife today... how come we don't get any refund??

im waiting for april to send my check, no refund here either

business is OK, first slow week in a few months but I kind of feel I needed a week like this to rest a little

I agree Bus If I gotta pay they gona have to wait. Now if I was getting a refund I would file Jan 31 rapid refund

It slowed down last week and this. But it will pick right at the end of the month..renter moving kinda thing.

Yeah I'm not worried, just kinda thinking about the technicians, been thinking about salary instead of hourly, to even it out between summer and winter, I think I need Joe Gaito's advice on this, does it work well for you Joe ?

milspec6 wrote:No refund Mo?

Me neither.

It does feel better that you're paying more. Damm but that means you're making more

dp1 wrote:Yeah I'm not worried, just kinda thinking about the technicians, been thinking about salary instead of hourly, to even it out between summer and winter, I think I need Joe Gaito's advice on this, does it work well for you Joe ?

The guys love being on salary especially in Jan and Feb. But the salaries are painful to pay in January and February when revenue is down 40% or so from the other months of the year. For me, paying a good salary is better than having the additional headache of worrying about how my employees are going to survive the slow downs. I also don't worry about them slacking off or looking for another job because there is little chance that they will be able to find another job making over $40k/yr with salary and tips.

A technician salaried at 40k is pretty generous...I never made more 30k working for others and that was busting my butt the whole time.

The only concern I have with a salary is that you still need to have an incentive built in there to promote effort. If the guy is getting paid regardless of his level of effort, they will eventually take the path of laziness.

The same is true for tech on an hourly rate, by the way. I always include performance bonuses regardless of payment method. Nothing crazy, just enough to prevent the natural slacking off that tends to occur these days.

Of course, you still get a flake who is going to screw you no matter what you give them.....sure been bit lately.

milspec6 wrote:A technician salaried at 40k is pretty generous...I never made more 30k working for others and that was busting my butt the whole time.

The only concern I have with a salary is that you still need to have an incentive built in there to promote effort.  If the guy is getting paid regardless of his level of effort, they will eventually take the path of laziness.

The same is true for tech on an hourly rate, by the way.  I always include performance bonuses regardless of payment method.  Nothing crazy, just enough to prevent the natural slacking off that tends to occur these days.

Of course, you still get a flake who is going to screw you no matter what you give them.....sure been bit lately.

Their incentive is having a good job. If they are slackers I don't want them regardless of how they are paid. And they know if they slack off the chicken processing plants around here are always hiring gutters at $9/hr.

Guys our age understand that Joe, but these kids don't leave for other jobs. They leave to go hide in college where they don't have to work for a living thanks to student loans.

When I went through the University, nobody except the Frats could afford cars. We all lived on mac 'n cheese, did laundry at the parent's house, and couldn't wait to get out into the world and make some money.

Check out a campus now. The place has acres of new cars, students are buying houses, wearing latest fashions, vacations for spring break, big-screen tv's, eating out every night, and going to grad schools so they don't have to start paying those loans back.

After 6-8 years of "Hiding Education" they hit the real world with no skills, no work ethic, 200k dollars in debt, and the ability to vote for Presidents who want to wipe away their student loan debts to garner votes.

(Wow....kind of slid into a rant there, didn't I?)

I'm totally dead now, about the only calls I've been getting lately are sales calls. I guess the tax season slow down has come early this year?

How bout you guys?

Same here Dave only 4 jobs scheduled this week but Its giving me some to  work on my 83 Shadow. I made an attempt a couple of years ago. This years it's getting done I'm riding this spring.

were not slammed yet but still booked 2weeks.. last week was a bit slow but looking at records from past years this is normal for march.

Mil the student loan debt will catch up with them, theres a reason why they call it "college inc." now.

back in the day if you went to college you were almost guaranteed to be able to buy a house and retire comfortably.. those days are gone, it sucks for people in my generation.

They get tons of debt from school and many end up with a job that pays around 60k/yr or under which is hard to even live on in an area like Seattle let alone pay off a monster debt.

Mo wrote:Same here Dave only 4 jobs scheduled this week but Its giving me some to  work on my 83 Shadow. I made an attempt a couple of years ago. This years it's getting done I'm riding this spring.

I tried to start my 82 magna last week. Couldn't get it going, I think the carbs need to be cleaned. It was rough starting last year but ran good all season... I am ready to ride.
PS. We are starting to get slammed.

I rode a '81 Kaw Kz1000 Police for a few years and all I ever did was drain the fuel out of the carb....fired up every time after that. That is where the fuel gets stale after sitting.

Not sure what this M/C talk has to do with topic lol But........

If the fuel has been sitting in carb for awhile, it can gum up and clog jets requiring more then just fresh fuel to get it fired up again.

Might need to remove the carb and completely clean/blow it out.

carpetdaddy wrote:

Mo wrote:Same here Dave only 4 jobs scheduled this week but Its giving me some to  work on my 83 Shadow. I made an attempt a couple of years ago. This years it's getting done I'm riding this spring.

I tried to start my 82 magna last week. Couldn't get it going, I think the carbs need to be cleaned. It was rough starting last year but ran good all season... I am ready to ride.
PS. We are starting to get slammed.

Another classic Honda owner. Its older than mine Joe. I had to remove my tank, reserve tank, carbs fuel lines, calipers we frozen, brake lines clogged, fuel pump was a gonner. I got her purring right now. Just need a battery to take her for a spin. Then I have to ride it to get some new tires wish me luck.

Sorry for the hijack Dave. Do you still ride?

It hasn't been that cold and wet of a winter so I got the bike ready a bit early this year, I think I am going to buy a Kawi 300 ninja this year, they are a kick in the pants to ride on the tight mountain roads. I had  95 900 RR, 98 996, 06 250 Kawi. I had the most fun on my modded 250 up in the hills with my buddies never a dull moment always going through the gears Here is the 07 Kawi 636 " />

Nice bike Tom.
I'm thinking about getting a bike, may be next year

Slow still. I'm thinking of some way to put a freezer in the front to sell icecream because those guys are supper busy lol

Same here, picking up a little bit compare to last week but still nowhere near normal around this time of year, I think because economy is picking up for 2014, people owe more taxes ? I'm just enjoying the extra time cause before you know it, it'll be busy as hell and hot as hell, lol.

dp1 wrote:Nice bike Tom.
I'm thinking about getting a bike, may be next year

Did you grow up riding in Indonesia, DP?