When to Hire Your First Helper, and How to Keep Good Crew

The signs it is time

Most owners hire too late, after months of turning down work and working every Saturday. Watch for the signs: you are saying no to jobs you want, quotes go out days late because you are on the job, and the work you do not like doing, like prep, cleanup and running for materials, is eating hours you could bill. If a helper would free you to sell and run the jobs, the hire can pay for itself.

Know the numbers before you hire

A helper costs more than the hourly wage. There are payroll costs, insurance and the hours they are paid but not working on a job, like driving and training. Work out what a helper really costs you for a week, then check that your prices and your booked work cover it. If your pricing only works with you doing everything yourself, fix the pricing first.

Get the paperwork right

Whether someone is your employee or an independent contractor is not just a choice of words, and getting it wrong can be expensive. The rules on that, on workers' compensation insurance and on payroll taxes vary by state. Before your first hire, talk to an accountant and your insurance agent so you start the right way.

Bring them on the right way

A new helper is only as good as what you teach them in the first two weeks. Write down how you do the jobs you do most: how you prep, how you protect the floors and furniture, how you clean up and how you talk to a customer. A one-page checklist for each kind of job beats saying the same things ten times. It is also the start of a business that can run without you on every job.

Keep the good ones

Good crew is harder to find than good customers. People stay where they are paid fairly and on time, where they know the schedule ahead of time, and where the work is organized so they are not standing around waiting. Pay on the same day every time. Tell them the week's jobs before the week starts. Thank them in front of the customer when the work is good. Small things decide whether your best painter stays or goes.

Give them a way up

The helpers worth keeping want to grow. Show them the path: from helper to lead on small jobs, to running a crew. Every person you train to run a job is one more job that does not need you standing in it.

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