Looking at staffing-yikes!

Premier_2

emsywoo123 wrote: »

I'm sure I am being thick but I really do not understand what you mean....
I only accept companies with good previous credit history, as no order is cash upfront.
The telesales staff would have guidelines on minimum profit margins.
Do you have any better ideas?

What don't you understand?

You can have guidelines, or you can even have strict rules, but with no one to monitor and enforce them...

I've seen this type of scam going on by employees sat outside their (not very good) manager's office, so the opportunity to do so whilst the person is self employed and located elsewhere, in their own house even so you will not be able to gain access, will mean you have no control whatsoever.

My suggestion would be get an office, employ your own staff and get a manager in you can trust if you can't be there yourself at all times ... but as it's your office you could turn up at any time and inspect whatever you need to.

It's nice to know you can pick & choose your customers. In todays world most companies would be happy with any customer they could get (as long as they pay!). And if I was a customer and had to undergo rigourous credit checking in order to buy a pencil, I think I'd go elsewhere to someone who would welcome my custom ... and my wadful of cash. If you can already afford to pick and choose your customers as you suggest you do, maybe save money and don't bother with any additional sales staff.

Edit: is this the same business you only started 3 weeks ago???
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=30741215&postcount=51

CharlieBilly

I suspect op is trying to do this on cheap. What if your tele sales people then cold call will you take responsibility for this if customer then is angry you rang them?

paulwf

OP please give Business Link (or regional equivalent) a call and ask to be assigned an advisor so you can discuss this. Make sure you update your business plan now that you are trading so you have an idea of where the company will be in 6 months and a year.

Be very careful about thinking you can get round paying NMW by making your staff self employed...it's not up to the employee to decide this it is HMRC, get it wrong and it will be an expensive mistake to make.

To be very blunt you need to get real, a self employed agency worker based at home without the safety net of NMW isn't going to produce good results. Not only will sales be low and staff turnover high but your business image will suffer before it is even established.

I would suggest that after just 1 month the business isn't viable yet (not many are!) and you simply aren't in a position to take on staff which is why you are coming up with a "bargain basement" option. Perhaps your best bet would be to to work out how you can grow your business in the next 5 months so you can hand responsibilities over when you can afford to employ staff properly.

Be totally realistic as well, most new businesses will fail if their sole owner isn't 100% committed in the first year, and it sounds like you will have your hands very full (based on your previous postings) in 8 months time. Consider your exit strategy, even if you reserve this for Plan B when you revise your business plan.

emsywoo123

Premier wrote: »

Edit: is this the same business you only started 3 weeks ago???
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=30741215&postcount=51

Yes, why?

emsywoo123

CharlieBilly wrote: »

I suspect op is trying to do this on cheap. What if your tele sales people then cold call will you take responsibility for this if customer then is angry you rang them?

On the cheap or trying to find a financially viable way to build the business? I only asked a question and really wish I hadn't bothered.

emsywoo123

It was only an idea. that is why I put it on here rather than just go for it. Never mind.

paulwf

emsywoo123 wrote: »

I only asked a question and really wish I hadn't bothered.

You asked a question and got an answer, please don't take it personally...that's why this board is so good, you can throw around an idea and get honest opinions. It is better to do that than just go for it and make a mistake.

Most boards on MSE are full of mutual support and positive energy which is great...the business board is where huge quantities of peoples money are at stake which is why the tone is different. As long as people don't get personal I think that's a good thing.

housebuyer_abc

Premier wrote: »

Hmmm...wrt point 3, you surely want them to be bringing in work else why have them involved??? If you don't control what they do, they may decide to go into competition with you or perhaps decide to have all orders going through them with say a 50% mark-up. Lots of more complicated and profitable scams would probably be possible too.

Wrt point 4, yes if they are self employed, then NMW does not apply.

WRT point 4, it doesn't matter to you but depending on how they are setup limited or sole trader it will to them, if they work as a ltd company they have to pay their staff (i.e. themselves) NMW for the time they work

Idiophreak

I know nothing about business, certain things stick out at me while reading this thread:

One of your "sole trader" telesales people would have two options -

A) buy from "europe's cheapest wholesaler", sell at a profit, keep 100% of any profit they make - presumably what you've been doing thusfar.

Buy from you at a slightly higher price than the wholesaler, sell at a profit, keep 30% of the (slighly lower) profit.

I've just no idea why anyone would do B rather than A - have you thought about what you're going to offer these telesales people to make your proposition more appealing?

At best it seems a "if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it" kinda thing - and at worst it seems like the top layer of a pyramid scheme...

If you think this thing can make enough money to keep a decent telesales rep in business (which presumably you do), why not just employ one....Get a cheap office somewhere with a physical phoneline so you can ring in and check they're there. You'll end up with a much more motivated member of staff that will sell more and your company, having an address and phone number, will seem rather more professional, having the same effect...People aren't stupid...If I'm the only sales rep working for a company - it doesn't take me long to work out if I don't sell stuff I won't be in a job for very long, so I'm not going to sit there and rearrange my pencils all day...

emsywoo123

paulwf wrote: »

You asked a question and got an answer, please don't take it personally...that's why this board is so good, you can throw around an idea and get honest opinions. It is better to do that than just go for it and make a mistake.

Most boards on MSE are full of mutual support and positive energy which is great...the business board is where huge quantities of peoples money are at stake which is why the tone is different. As long as people don't get personal I think that's a good thing.

TBH I wanted opinions, not to be cross referenced in various threads and have the P*** taken out of me and my ideas.