Calling all business owners or those with common sense

[Amplifier]

Oucherz, an HML? I hope you're far along on the refi process if you're planning on keeping this as a rental.

When you do your next job, presumably with subcontractors, make sure there is a penalty clause in your contract. You don't want this happening again right I imagine.

But in the future you can post on flippinghomes.com and get pretty good answers to questions like these.

p.s. What are the numbers on this deal?

 

[LuckyTaxi]

Just curious, what does the refi process has to do with this? I'm confused. We're just beginning the refinance process so we're about 2 weeks away from actual closing.

As for the contracts, is it just basically a set of written assignments with clauses? Are there forms that one can get from office max such as the lease forms?

 

[JulesMaximus]

More information please. What kind of project is this? What kind of things are you arguing over? What kind of renovations are being done?

 

[LuckyTaxi]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
More information please. What kind of project is this? What kind of things are you arguing over? What kind of renovations are being done?

1 - Single family home that was purchased as a foreclosed property. Property was gutted out and a new kitchen and bathroom was installed. In addition, new drywalls were installed where needed along with a new roof. A real crew consisting of a contractor and his people would probably have taken 2 maybe 3 months top to finish the house, assuming they worked 5 days a week. Well, we have a crew of 3 ppl at one time working 7 days a week and we ran into many problems along the day. 7 days a week didnt equal a full 5 day of work that your typical contractor would do. We have 9-5 jobs so we didnt spend 40 hrs a week on the house.

2 - I have never criticized her work since I dont know a thing about renovating houses. However, I do know how to put up a piece of drywall, paint, install fixtures and what not, but I stay out of plumbing, electrical work and other areas where a licensed person would need to get involved. I got my hands dirty by helping out on the weekend when I really didnt want to, but I did it for the sake of the company. We were strapped for cash so I worked along with my business partner on the weekend. So, I worked 7 days a week busting my ass, and I didnt have much of a life. Well, the house should've been done by now and I let go and stopped working as much since the final parts of renovation didnt require me to be involved. Stuff such as trimming for the windows, baseboard installation, installing floors and tiles are not my expertise. I had a problem with her not grouting the floors when they were installed about a month ago. Til this day it is still not grouted. Why? I have no clue and I brought this all up today. She didnt like the fact that I "question" her. it's my duty that the job gets done and if she doesnt finish it on time, it's my ass on the line. Also, the floor in the dining room was installed in a different way. One installs the parque (spelling?) floor next to one another. She decides to give them this diamond look, therefore, pieces had to be cut to fill in the gap. This means more time is wasted since she made more work for herself.

 

[Otaking]

I think it really depends on why deployment was delayed 2 weeks. Did the PM do a bad job of managing scope creep/change management?

I am a PM, so I do take a lot of sh!t (always blame it on the PM :roll: ), but it really depends on how the schedule was created. As long as you both agree on the risk/triggers/milestones, the schedule should come in hand in hand with proper sign-off from the contractors or whoever.

But yes, what dullard says is true. At the end of the day, it really comes down to how much revenue your company is making and how fat your wallet gets.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

I allowed MANY things to slide with her, but with a tenant moving in next week, the house needs to be completed.
She did a horrible job of managing her time. She went to our next project a couple of days ago to clean out the trash.
Mind you, the first project needs to be done! I questioned her and she told me to mind my own business?!?!?!?
I learned a lot from this project and I admit part of it is my fault. I shouldn't have let it gone this far w/o yelling at her about
stuff not being done on time. We never had stuff written down and no milestones were set. But be sure the next project I will
have everything documented.

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: lilcam
What do you consider a successful business owner? I wont type the whole story since it would be too long, but my project manager and I have been arguing constantly over our first project. The house we're renovating is 2 weeks past due and I have a tenant who needs to move in next week. To make the long story short, she told me I dont know how to run a company. She went on and stated that I should have hands-on-skills to successfully run our business, which is a real estate development/investment business. She basically doesnt want me on the jobsite and doesnt like when I question the work that was being done.

It's true that my skills arent in the remodeling business, but if the naked eye tells you something doesnt look right just based on common sense, then there's nothing wrong with pointing it out. She went on to say that the big development firms, their CEO knows something about the business they run. Ok, fine so I dont have a degree in construction, but that's why I hire people who oversee that. Unfortunately, she doesnt have the right people skills and organizational skills to oversee a project. I'm learning along the way and I usually dont say stuff unless I have to. I'm not Mark Cuban or George Steinbrenner, but it is my duty to see that the project gets completed on time!

BTW ... she's my business partner's wife. He feels the same way as I do. She's close to being pushed out the door.

She's the wife of the business partner? Who gives a sh!t then since she doesn't really have standing within the company. Tell her to run it if she's going to be that picky.

I'm a part of a family business, the people that start bitching get shown the door.

 

[CrazyDe1]

It's nice to have business partners without wives...and also business partners who are competent and pull their own weight.

As far as a successful business person you have to have a vision and be able to execute. If you're wrong...and you will be wrong, you have to identify where you made your mistakes and change them QUICKLY. Collect good data, rationalize, and don't let pride get in the way of getting things done. As a rule of thumb, whatever doesn't kill your business will make it better and you'll get through it.

There's no point in arguing. FIgure out a plan, execute as best you can, and figure out where you made your mistakes and fix them. If you can't do that and if you have no idea how to market properly you won't be successful.

By the way, screw hands on skills. When I start something I figure out what I want to do, then figure out how I want it to look and how we're gonna make money. Then I recruit people to do the work for me and offer them stakes in the company. Luckily, between my 2 partners and I we can basically do anything from advanced modeling, to designing hardware and software, to advanced DB design and evaluating real estate. I would say our only real weakness is accounting.

 

[Otaking]

I can't believe she would say "Mind your own business" in the context of business. If she doesn't understand the aspect of teamwork, she doesn't belong. :thumbsdown:

 

[LuckyTaxi]

i agree with what eveyrone is saying and today is a new day. I'm not worrying about her and her husband, my business partner, agress with me. We're moving on.

 

[Amplifier]

Originally posted by: lilcam
Just curious, what does the refi process has to do with this? I'm confused. We're just beginning the refinance process so we're about 2 weeks away from actual closing.

As for the contracts, is it just basically a set of written assignments with clauses? Are there forms that one can get from office max such as the lease forms?

Because an HML will kill your cashflow if you're slow on the refi. You said you had tenants moving in, I assumed you were keeping this as a rental.

As far as contracts go, stay the F away from Office Max/Staples. Your contracts need the following.

A) The scope of work
B) The compensation for the work
C) The due dates for the projects
D) Who buys the materials
E) Condition of the work area (keep it clean)
F) Late Fees

You don't need a lawyer to draft up a contract like this. You just need it to encompass all aspects of your job as well as your requirements.